Jim Cannon

Biography

Jim’s aim in life is to make it easy for fisheries ministers to protect ocean wildlife. Fisheries ministers are torn between environmentalists complaining fishing quotas are too high and marine protected areas are too small, and the fishing industry complaining the opposite. In most countries, most of the time, fishing industry interests win. That’s because fishers are the only people who fund and vote for a political party based on their fisheries policies.

Jim’s job is to tip that political balance of power, by persuading fishers and local seafood processors to argue the case that marine conservation helps them maintain access to lucrative export markets, protects the jobs of seafood-processing workers (who vote!), and increases GDP – all things government ministers tend to listen to.

It’s a tough sell, but Jim and his team have two tricks up their sleeves. First, they are experts at finding viable solutions that protect both the fishing industry and ocean wildlife at the same time. And second, they work with major retailers and seafood brands worldwide to require their suppliers to be pro-active advocates for conservation. Retailers and seafood brands are willing to do this, because they want a diverse, stable and plentiful supply of responsibly-harvested seafood.

Jim and his team then work with suppliers worldwide to help them agree on solutions and engage fisheries ministers. Which is why Jim reluctantly spends more time cooped up in corporate and government meeting rooms than out on and in the oceans he loves.