Consumer Conservation

Consumer conservation is a term Tom, the director of Project Green Jungle has been using a lot lately.  It is the manifestation of conservation needs and lessons learned at the Florida International Teaching Zoo, and in the field.

Melting the two types of ideals, captive wildlife, and wild conservation, Tom began understanding that the current system used by the wildlife trade could be drastically improved just by including an environmental and socially ethical business practice.

Instead of paying local indigenous 5% what the to be traded animal was worth, while collecting it from the wild (Creating Silent Forest Syndrome), then packing them in tight enclosures and shipping mass amounts of animals at huge markups because of the high mortality rate, you could apply a Responsible practice to each segment.

Almost before Project Green Jungle got to apply this to a reptile and amphibian breeding facility in Costa Rica, the Lionfish invasion of the Caribbean started gaining publicity.  Green Jungle and FITZ had many meetings about how to deal with the animal, and Tom went out to sample the fish.

Once he tasted it, Tom knew the commercial market using Lionfish as a seafood would be successful.  ”It really truly is one of the best tasting fish I have ever had” was the response to FITZ board members when they asked the feasibility of using the fish in the seafood industry.

“Consumers are smarter than they used to be, there is interest in delving into an interest because the information is there.  If we have a product B which is at least close to the same price as product A, except it is caught and process sustainably, and provides direct lines to conservation, the consumer is generally going to pick product B.  Let me introduce you to product B, The Lionfish.”

If product B is the Lionfish, product A might even be something like tuna.  While Green Jungle knows that is a big leap, Tom says we have to be aware of the possibility and foster the growth if it is in fact there.  ”The lionfish appears to be a truly sustainable source of seafood, it tastes great, it is a massively successful breeder and voracious feeder.  We need to take advantage of the very traits the lionfish has that makes it such a potentially damaging invasive species.”

With Fulfillment partners like Traditional Fisheries, and David Johnson, we are organizing the harvest and shipment of lionfish to restaurants and grocery stores all over the United States.  Add to that, another Fulfillment partner, Reef Protection Inc., and we have a tool specifically designed for the lionfish.

“Partnering with the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) has given the project some legs,” said Tom.  ”We need an organization like NOAA to assist with the media and the organization aspect of the project.  In addition to that, the need to have a standardized set of data that is collected from each area is of utmost importance.”

With a project like the lionfish harvesting being supported by the private sector, it is important for the guidelines and needs to be laid out bare, and in plain site.  Just like the consumer, given a set of options where businesses can still make a living while doing it the “right way,” the majority are going to do it the right way.

It remains to be seen whether this type of thinking will work, but the early reviews are great.  ”Consumers want to do right, we just have to give them an option that IS right.”

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