Hi everyone.  I’m Chuck and I used to blog primarily over at Ya Like Dags?, where my main focus was on interactions between apex predators (sharks mostly, but I also occasionally dabbled in other large fish and sea mammals) and those other top marine predators, humans.  This was not in the “shark attack” sense, but in the context of fisheries management.  Writing about this subject and living it as part of my research have given me valuable perspective on marine science and conservation that I really didn’t have as a freshly-minted Bachelor of Science.

Unfortunately I see more extreme versions of my old perspective show up in countless blog comments, posts, and tweets by perfectly well-meaning people whose only issue is that they’ve fallen for a simplistic, “us vs. them” attitude towards conservation.  Consumptive uses of the ocean, such as fishing, are inherently evil and must be opposed.  This no-compromise approach sounds cool and may bring in the TV ratings, but is it truly helpful?

Read More