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Activists' claims subject of new report
"Diminishing Common Sense," a new report from Positive Aquaculture Awareness (PAA), was released today in response to the many false allegations anti-aquaculture activists had made in a document from the Raincoast Conservation Society entitled "Diminishing Returns."
"The report released by Raincoast was written by an activist writer, sponsored by an activist group and paid for with US$15,000 from a rich, activist US foundation," said Laurie Jensen, President, PAA. "It's not surprising, then, that the conclusions of the report were anything but objective," Jensen said.
"Yet Raincoast spokeswoman Theresa Rothenbush is using this report as the basis for her attacks against BC's sustainable aquaculture industry," said Jensen. "'Diminishing Common Sense' demonstrates how hollow Rothenbush'sargument is since the Raincoast report is little more than fiction masquerading as investigative fact," Jensen said.
Said PAA Communications Director Ian Roberts, "As a grassroots organization -- and unlike the anti-aquaculture activists -- we didn't have US$15,000 to spend on exposing their misinformation, but given their incredible bias and lack of scientific fact, our critique came fairly easily."
"In 'Diminishing Common Sense' we expose the anti-aquaculture movement's blatantly false and unsubstantiated allegations," said Roberts. "We demonstrate, using a fact-based analysis, how far the activists will actually go in order to stretch the truth," Roberts said.
"Diminishing Common Sense" is also an appeal to the billion-dollar US foundations that finance BC's anti-aquaculture activists to re-examine how their money is spent.
Said Jensen, "We hope this report -- by exposing the activists' falsehoods against BC's sustainable aquaculture industry -- will be a wake up call to US foundations. We want these foundations to stop wasting millions of dollars on useless misinformation campaigns, and actually start using their money to do some environmental good," she said.
"The Lazar Foundation, which financed the Raincoast report, should start this process by asking the activists for its money back," said Jensen.
The PAA report "Diminishing Common Sense: Activist Misinformation, Scare Tactics, and Sensationalism," is now available at www.farmfreshsalmon.org (click on "Reports"). | 
