Photo by Richard A. Huston
November 2004
Hook, Line and Source
More Puget Sound area seafood buyers — that’s us — are demanding to know the where, how and who of their fresh fish. Happily, more local fishermen and markets are providing sustainable answers.
by Joe Follansbee
A middle-aged woman in a black shirt, jeans, lime green sandals and matching bag almost shouts at tuna fisherman Joe Malley. A big man of medium height, he’s behind a table at the Wednesday afternoon Columbia City Farmer’s Market in Seattle.
“Where were you?” the woman asks. “Where were you last week?”
“I was in Astoria,” Malley says, adjusting his cap, his patient voice gravelly from an old cigarette habit. “The boat came in with a big load of tuna.”
“I was afraid you were out and you were not coming back,” the woman says, relieved.
Ruth Tomlinson of Seattle is one of Malley’s regular customers, buying frozen, vacuum-packed tuna steaks from a cooler on the bed of his pickup. She peruses his custom Fishing Vessel St. Jude’s cans of tuna, stacked four or five high by flavor: garlic, Mediterranean, jalapeño, natural, original, dill and olive oil.
Another regular customer, Tracy Thwing of Seattle, tastes a sample of Malley’s tuna jerky, which comes in Hawaiian, teriyaki, garlic pepper, lemon pepper and honey flavors. Her six-year-old son clings to her leg in the crowded market.
“I know the fish are healthy for me,” says Thwing. “And I know Joe is a man of integrity.”
Tomlinson and Thwing are in the vanguard of Puget Sound-area consumers increasingly picky about their seafood, especially fish. They’re no longer willing to take on faith what the supermarket supplies as the source of salmon, halibut and tuna.
These sea-savvy consumers want to know where the fish was caught, how it was caught, and above all, who caught it. They’re suspicious of fish raised in pens or ponds, and brand names no longer impress them. Instead, they want to hear the names of men like Joe Malley.
“I can meet them and know them,” Thwing says. “I’ve developed a relationship with the people.”
Malley and other fishermen, as well as some chefs and green activists, have responded to consumers’ concerns with “sustainable seafood” or, more precisely, “sustainable fisheries.”
Demand for sustainable seafood is rising in opposition to industrialized or “volume” fisheries, which supply most of the packaged and prepared seafood in fast-food restaurants and chain stores. It’s the ocean version of the “small farmer vs. corporate farmer” debate.
Family farmers promote organic techniques as an alternative to agribusiness defined by chemical fertilizers on fields practically the size of small states. Malley and his colleagues employ techniques they say do much less harm to the sea than mechanized producers using a fleet of 150-foot catcher-processor vessels.
Fish story for nutrition
Every producer, large and small, agrees on one thing: Fish is good for you. They cite the omega-3 fatty acids (some people call them “good fats”) that protect people from heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends you eat “fatty” fish such as salmon twice a week. These healthy oils lower other kinds of fat in the body, reduce the potential for heart-damaging blood clots and lower blood pressure. Some studies claim benefits for people with arthritis, psoriasis, lupus, asthma and even cancer. No one argues about fish’s nutritional value. (See sidebar.)
The health debate diverges from there, and most of the argument revolves around the meaning and impact of small amounts of pollutants. Every new study sparks a kind of food fight.
For example, in the summer of 2003, the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group published a report that measured polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other cancer-causing chemicals in farm-raised salmon. The results alarmed researchers, who recommended consumers eat no more than one 8-ounce serving per month. They also said consumers should buy wild salmon, which had lower levels of PCBs.
Fish farmers blasted the report, noting that researchers examined only 10 fillets and applied guidelines promoted by the Environmental Protection Agency, not the Food and Drug Administration, which has authority over the nation’s food supply.
The FDA sets a standard of 2,000 parts per billion for PCBs. The Environmental Working Group found 27 parts per billion in its samples.
Closer to home, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has found higher PCB levels in wild Chinook salmon than local farmed salmon. But the levels were still far lower than FDA standards.
State senator Dan Swecker of Rochester, who is also secretary-treasurer for the Washington Fish Growers Association, says Copper River salmon have tested as high as 7,000 parts per billion. He says environmental groups consistently exaggerate the PCB risks in farmed fish. “They use [fear of PCBs] as an opportunity to recruit more members,” he says.
The debate over chemical pollutants will likely focus next on polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE), a flame retardant recently found to be more abundant in farmed salmon than wild salmon. Environmentalists have raised the alarm. Fish farmers say the levels are too low to worry about. Activists are skeptical about the meal fed to farmed salmon, saying the fish food is high in pollutants. Swecker says the industry is switching to less problematic forage.
Trolling for answers
Traditional operators and environmentalists lock horns with large processors over methods. In 2002, the National Marine Fisheries Service studied the effects of bottom trawling, the practice of dragging large, weighted nets over the ocean bottom to capture halibut and other bottom-dwelling fish.
Imagine hauling a massive linked chain over an open meadow and you can guess the potential impact on the ocean floor. Green activists jumped on the report, which said bottom trawling rips through feeding grounds and hiding places for young fish and crabs. The West Coast Seafood Processors Association, which represents large operators, praised the report because it noted that trawling in the North Pacific and other large areas of the oceans was relatively light. WCSP said its members were working with researchers to design less destructive nets.
Small fishermen use nets, but they will tell you that they use nets more responsibly. Pete Knutson of Seattle catches coho, sockeye and halibut in Alaska and sells the fish from his boat, the 40-foot, 25-ton F/V Njord, most weekends at Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle. To catch salmon, he sets nets with a smaller mesh than some large operators use.
Knutson says the small mesh does less damage to the fish. Once he brings a fish aboard, he cuts the live animal’s throat and lets the heart pump out the blood. Then he guts the fish and throws it into the on-board freezer. It’s frozen solid within 45 minutes. One Saturday morning, the ponytailed, lightly bearded Knutson explained to a customer how to store his three-and-a-half-foot-long sockeyes:
“Just take a hacksaw and cut them into two or three roasts while they’re frozen.”
Salmon taste test
Taste is another bone of contention, especially for salmon eaters. Connoisseurs swear up and down that wild salmon tastes better than farmed salmon. The wild ones just have an extra tang, an edge, is what you will hear.
The WFGA’s Dan Swecker almost, but not quite, agrees.
“It’s getting to the point where the taste of farmed salmon is close to the best of wild salmon,” he says.
People in the Northwest raised on wild salmon prefer what they’re used to. But in taste tests, “routinely, there’s a fairly even split in between farmed and wild salmon.” Swecker adds that most Americans prefer mild flavors and consistent quality.
“If the consumer wants predictability, there’s no question they should choose farmed salmon,” he says.
But what are “consistency” and “predictability”? What do fish catchers, farmers and sellers mean by “high quality”? How do you know whether someone’s practices are “sustainable”?
It would be welcome if there were a fish analog to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “choice” and “prime” grades for meat. Maybe the USDA ought to define “sustainable,” as it has defined “organic” in recent years.
Unfortunately, no federal agency is working toward this goal. Instead, as was the case with organic farmers years ago, a number of private organizations are competing to set sustainable seafood standards. One of the leaders is the UK-based Marine Stewardship Council, which has developed a certification and labeling program.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California simply hands out lists of fish labeled green (”Best Choices”), yellow (”Proceed with Caution”) and red (”Avoid”). (See sidebar.)
Jennifer Hall, a Seattle board member of Chefs Collaborative, a national nonprofit promoting sustainable seafood, is skeptical of a government inspection program.
“I don’t know how you would do that. Several hours or days could go by before a catch was inspected,” she says. “It would be extremely tricky.”
Nonetheless, one Seattle area supermarket chain is using the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s system to help consumers. PCC Natural Markets hands out pocket cards explaining the green/yellow/red codes. It also publishes a twice-yearly pamphlet on seafood health advisories.
Paul Schmidt, the company’s director of merchandising, adds that labels on PCC’s packaged fish note whether the fish is farmed or wild. (A spot check of competing chain groceries near the West Seattle PCC store showed little or no extra information available for consumers to study.) Schmidt says the program fits into the company’s overall mission of offering healthy food and environmental stewardship. “I want to ensure my grandchildren and great grandchildren will enjoy the same products I enjoy,” he says. Schmidt also notes that more than two-thirds of the country’s fish is consumed in restaurants. Seth Hutt, a chef at Le Pichet restaurant in Seattle, believes his customers want seafood caught in a responsible manner by local producers. He’s willing to work with large producers, as long as they follow sustainable practices. But he prefers to buy from local fishermen whenever possible, including Native American fishermen. “We are supporting the local economy,” he says. “The more we support the local economy, the more we benefit.”
Without an independent stamp of approval, however, consumers must weigh the facts and competing claims, confusing as they are.
Price isn’t even a good guide. Consumers often pay more for organic or “sustainable” products. But an unscientific spot price check at a Seattle supermarket found fish labeled “fresh” priced higher than Pete Knutson’s.
Ultimately, a decision to buy may boil down to a feeling: Do you trust the man or woman you’re buying from?
When you talk to tuna fisherman Joe Malley, he looks you right in the eye. He tells you how he started fishing in 1978, knowing virtually nothing, in hock up to his chin, spent 32 years at sea, and now owns the 95-foot F/V St. Jude, which brings home food that sustains the families he serves.
The point for Malley is accountability. Unlike corporate fishers, “I’m accessible,” he says. “I’ve got my phone number on the can.”
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