St. Andrews by-the-Sea — New Brunswick Green Party leader David Coon was in St. Andrews this weekend to meet with marine biologists after admitting that the influx of green grabs in the Bay of Fundy region (and recently Shediac Bay) was the result of a failed advertising campaign for his party.
Coon, who came clean about the plan after rampant infestation of the crabs hurt the area’s ecosystem and fishing industry, appeared remorseful over what he called “a lack of judgement and foresight.”
He said the Green Party’s campaign was meant to encourage residents to learn more about their local flora and fauna, and to raise awareness of environmental issues and conservation efforts in the Bay of Fundy. The plan, codenamed #Crabs4Coon, backfired when it became clear the green crabs were, in fact, not native to the area.
“It all started during the 2014 provincial elections, when I hand-painted little QR codes on each crab with links to our website and fundraising page and let them loose in the ocean,” Coon said. “But by the time I was done, QR codes weren’t even a thing anymore.
“I got pinched a bunch of times and one of the interns lost a finger when she mistakenly handled what turned out to be a rather large and aggressive lobster,” he added.
Now, Coon is on a self-proclaimed “apology tour” to fishing communities in the province that are battling the pest, admitting it was a mistake to link his political party to a species of habitat-destroying decapods, too small and unappetizing to be of any real value to the populace.
During a press conference at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre, Coon said he would try to avoid similar marketing missteps in the future, already scrapping one plan to leave live green turtles in constituents’ mailboxes, and another that involved dropping green algae from drones.
“We need to get the message out that the environment is important,” he said. “Next time we’re going to try to do that without actually destroying the environment.”
By way of apology, Coon said he would spend the rest of the week in St. Andrews helping local fishermen scrape barnacles off the hulls of their ships, and swab poop decks as needed.