Frankenfish, Monsatan, and Killer Canola Making Good Decisions in the Midst of Environmental Controversy

Abstract

On January 9th 2004, the journal `Science' confirmed that farmed salmonis higher in industrial pollutants called polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) and other toxins than wild salmon. The fishmeal component of thefarmed salmon feed was cited as the likely source of these contaminants.One way to avoid this toxin loading is to use a salmon feed thatcontains genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. This new feed wouldsubstitute wild South American fish meal for transgenic canola as itsmain protein component. Although this option has many environmental,social, and economic benefits for Canadian consumers, it will alsolikely be met with opposition from certain special interest groups, andbecome a popular target of the media. The Canadian salmon aquacultureindustry has in some cases been vilified by the popular media andcertain environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). Whetherthis portrayal is justified or not is debatable. What we do know is thatan excessive amount of conflicting information makes effective decisionmaking extremely difficult for Canadian consumers. Informationconcerning transgenic feeds can be highly complex and unfamiliar to manylaypeople. Our research demonstrates that the public already holdsmisconceptions regarding the salmon aquaculture industry. Thesemisconceptions hinder an individual's ability to make good decisionsabout salmon aquaculture food products, and must be addressed beforethis industry attempts to disseminate additional information concerningnew controversial technologies (i.e., transgenic feeds). We have foundthat it is possible to effectively communicate the risks and benefits ofcontroversial issues while addressing misconceptions through a processknown as the mental models approach to risk communication, as describedby Morgan et al., 2002. This paper discusses the results of our riskcommunication experiment and shows how this process affected ourrespondents' understanding of factual information, their confidence asconsumers, their acceptance of this issue, and their purchasingdecisions.