. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. i e I d notes Pollution and Seafood: What People Think In recent years, noted media outlets such as Consumer Reports, The Wash- ington Post, USA Today, Time and The Today Show have taken swipes at the seafood industry, claiming the prod- ucts are uninspected and contaminated by toxins, heavy metals, bacteria and viruses that pollute our coastal waters. In some cases, this negative informa- tion has caused decreases in seafood consumption. But how do news reports about coastal pollution really affect people
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. i e I d notes Pollution and Seafood: What People Think In recent years, noted media outlets such as Consumer Reports, The Wash- ington Post, USA Today, Time and The Today Show have taken swipes at the seafood industry, claiming the prod- ucts are uninspected and contaminated by toxins, heavy metals, bacteria and viruses that pollute our coastal waters. In some cases, this negative informa- tion has caused decreases in seafood consumption. But how do news reports about coastal pollution really affect people's feelings about the fishermen's catch? Will stories about syringes on the New Jersey shore stop people in North Carolina from buying flounder fillets at the grocery store? No one knew until recently. Two Sea Grant scientists, David Griffith and Jeff Johnson, anthropolo- gists at East Carolina University, recently completed a two-year study aimed at understanding people's perceptions of coastal pollution and its effects on the quality of seafood. They interviewed and asked questions about seafood and pollution to a random sample of 140 individuals in two North Carolina towns, Siler City and Hobucken, and in Baltimore, Md. Then the team analyzed and interpreted the results. Their findings suggest that con- sumers do agree there is a direct relationship between seafood safety and pollution. But people aren't exactly sure what that relationship is and how it works. For instance, they understand that PCBs contaminate fish. But they aren't sure if certain species of fish are more susceptible to contamination than others or where the PCB concentrates in the fish's body. Griffith says that people tend not to discriminate between different types of pollution, believing that the presence of any kind of pollutant will have negative effects on human health. And interestingly, the general public puts great faith in its powers of taste and smell to detect any contami-. nated seafood. "
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
