Harvest Seafood Responsibly

Editorial from the Charleston Post and Courier, December 3, 2016Harvest Seafood ResponsiblyYou’d think that the mission of an organization called Seafood Harvesters of America would be to support harvesting seafood. And you’d be right — with a caveat.The mission is to support fishing sustainably, so that future generations will be able to fish, too.It will take some effort. For hundreds of years the oceans have provided bounteous seafood — more than enough to satisfy the appetites of commercial and recreational fishermen. So when some species became too sparse and the government imposed limits on them, fishermen bristled.Still, numerous success stories can be told of species that were in jeopardy being resurrected. And that trend inspired commercial fishermen from the East Coast, West Coast and the Gulf of Mexico to form Seafood Harvesters. The organization recently had a membership meeting in Charleston.Several of the organization’s leaders, all longtime fishermen, told us that commercial boats can make plenty of money and do their part to keep catches sustainable.One tactic the organization supports is to allow fishing of vulnerable species year-round, but to monitor the catch carefully and to prevent fishing in spawning preserves.Monitoring can be done electronically to diminish the temptation for fishermen to under-report their catches. Seafood Harvesters would like to make monitoring more cost-effective to use.California fishermen could be an inspiration for others. In 2010 a number of rockfish species were in peril because of over-fishing. Reasonable limits were imposed, and they have since rebounded fully.Seafood Harvesters of America is made up of fishermen, not scientists. But its members have determined that the best way to manage fisheries for the present — and the future — is to be conservationists too and to implement policies that are based on sound science. They have found that it is financially and physically worth modifying their habits as necessary.The organization wants young people to fish, and believes that they will understand and embrace the need for conservation.It says people don’t have the right to fish. It is a privilege, and it comes with an obligation: Do no harm.“You don’t inherit the ocean from your father, you borrow it from your grandchildren,” said Rhode Island fisherman Christopher Brown, president of the organization.Getting fisherman to recognize the necessity of a sustainable approach can be a challenge.But it is, as Mr. Brown said, “a matter of enlightened self-interest.”In other words, if it’s vital for the fish, it’s vital for the fishermen.