fishermen conservationists: the port orford csf<\/strong><\/p>\nperched on the edge of the pacific, port orford \u2014 pop. 1,100 \u2014 is the westernmost and oldest coastal settlement in oregon and a traditional fishing community. but when longton first arrived there in 1999, the town was facing plummeting groundfish stocks and a salmon population crisis. in response, oregon\u2019s state government and other non-governmental marine organizations were pushing regulations to close off traditional fishing grounds across the coast for conservation purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cour fishing opportunities and ability to make a living was eroding at such a rapid rate,\u201d longton said. \u201cwe joined up because we wanted to have local input on our future.\u201d<\/p>\n
partnering with four other commercial fishermen, longton joined the port orford ocean resources team a small startup non-profit dedicated to crafting community-led solutions to the port\u2019s problems. leesa cobb, who has been heading the team as director for the past 14 years, is a fisherman\u2019s wife and longtime advocate for fishing issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cwe\u2019re really looking at taking innovative ideas that we either come up with or learn from our colleagues around the country and applying it here,\u201d cobb said. \u201cthe marine reserve is a good example of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
following the triple-bottom line concept, the team asked the state and ngo\u2019s to allow the port orford community to craft its own reserve proposal in collaboration with scientists and local citizens. high resolution and gis mapping were employed to find out where a protected area would be ecologically effective and have the most minimal impact on fishing activities. the team also ran a large social outreach and education campaign on marine reserves, facing resistance from community members in the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cit\u2019s extremely difficult working with fishermen. they\u2019re very individualistic,\u201d cobb said. \u201cand when you talk to people about doing something different in their businesses practice, whether it\u2019s conservation based or anything, they tend to get a little defensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
while a protected area would ultimately help ensure the ecological survival of the fish stocks, it also involved an immediate income loss for a community that had already been hit hard by timber conservation efforts. so in 2009, the team decided to start a new initiative to market their member fishermen\u2019s products directly to customers \u2014 and the port orford csf was born.<\/p>\n
\u201cit had been 30 years since you could buy port orford fish in port orford. anything that was sold here was sold to corporate interests and left in a truck,\u201d longton said. \u201cthere was no multiplier effect and no access. it was like a seafood desert in a fishing town just because of the way the system was designed.\u201d<\/p>\n
the revolutionary approach changed the economics of the entire fishing port. by doing their own processing, delivery, and marketing of premium-quality seafood, the csf was able to cut the middleman costs and pay their fishermen more for every pound of fish, in turn pushing the larger corporate buyers to up their game. all the fishermen in the port, even those not affiliated with the csf, are benefiting from the increased competition, according to longton.<\/p>\n
\u201cseven years ago these fish were being purchased for 50 cents a pound and i imagine it could have been the same now had we not been there. we went to 80 cents and we got matched, then we went to a dollar and we got matched\u2026 we\u2019re about a $1.50 now,\u201d longton said.<\/p>\n
from the occasional farmers market and local co-op sales, the csf now serves 350 members in other nearby coastal cities such as bandon and coos bay, as well as larger inland markets along the i-5 corridor. a testimony to the success of the triple bottom line concept, port orford\u2019s reserve remains the only one out of nine marine reserves implemented in oregon that was planned, sited, and proposed by local fishermen, rather than large ngos.<\/p>\n
this reserve, named redfish rocks after the vermillion sub-species of rockfish that dwell in the area, is being managed by a community stakeholder team that handles education initiatives and research. tom calvanese, one of the scientists working on the team, called the reserve a \u201cliving laboratory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cwe already have evidence that says that a marine protected area is better equipped to deal with things like ocean acidification and global warming because the population there is more diverse, more resilient, and healthier,\u201d calvanese said. \u201cbut you can\u2019t just fence it off and walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n
his current work involves studying fish movement patterns and biodiversity at the redfish rocks reserve, so that future protected areas can be designed to have the maximum positive impact on ecology and fish stocks. in true port orford style, this research will in turn benefit the fishermen\u2019s understanding of their marine resources and management of the fishery.<\/p>\n
cs fishery in garibaldi<\/strong><\/p>\nnearly 200 miles north up the oregon coast, in the port of garibaldi, fishermen jeff wong has taken a different tack on sustainable seafood. the cs fishery incorporates direct restaurant sales and wholesale channels as well as the traditional share system. according to wong, this allows him to quickly distribute the larger hauls that fishing boats often bring in.<\/p>\n
cs fishery in garibaldi operates nearly waste-free, reusing fishing byproducts as bait and selling the rest to local farms for compost. with a creative business approach and a focus on social change and education, wong compares his csf to a \u201ctech startup.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cwe\u2019re trying to do things that not only benefit us locally but also raise awareness of bigger issues,\u201d wong said.<\/p>\n
one example is the fishery\u2019s upcoming sustainable canned tuna brand for which a percentage of the profits will go to prevent human trafficking and slavery in the thailand seafood industry. wong also leads tours of the west coast oyster industry for his csf customers on which he speaks about the negative effects of warmer waters and ocean acidification on shellfish.<\/p>\n
the fishery is also using its mutual relationships with restaurants to promote lesser known species and catch-of-the-day to food aficionados in the metropolitan portland area.<\/p>\n
\u201cwe have chefs that are kind of able to pivot on the fly,\u201d wong said. \u201cthey are able to utilize these products to create a trend and a demand, which are two important aspects to get people to eat underutilized species.\u201d<\/p>\n
currently, wong is campaigning for restaurants to serve large quahog and gaper clams \u2014 which are being shipped to canada as bait \u2014 instead of the small and popular but severely depleted manilla clam. cs fishery\u2019s fishing fleet also is targeting abundant west coast octopus stocks in a bid to replace imported octopus products from spain.<\/p>\n
working with larger food providers like restaurants is one way of increasing the reach of traditionally small scale csf\u2019s, but challenges still remain in scaling up the model.<\/p>\n
\u201cthe reality is a lot of the seafood that is eaten isn\u2019t consumed by the individual consumer that participates in a community supported fishery, \u201d said niaz dorry, director of the northwest atlantic marine alliance which helped found the csf movement.<\/p>\n
however, according to dorry, that may be beside the point. the growth of the csf nationwide has sensitized consumers who were only concerned about land food issues to the overarching problems of the marine industry and empowered fishermen to become more active players in shaping fishing policies, she said.<\/p>\n
indeed, whether it is through triple-bottom line management in port orford or social outreach initiatives in garibaldi, these fisheries are changing the idea of seafood as merely a resource to be extracted and consumed.<\/p>\n
it is this vision that may prove crucial as climate change looms on the horizon, with outbreaks of toxic algae already threatening the crabbing industry on the west coast and warmer waters disrupting traditional fish movements.<\/p>\n
by acknowledging that valuing human livelihoods means valuing the ecosystems that support them, the csf model may hold the key to enabling fishing communities to survive and thrive in this challenging environment.<\/p>\n
if you are interested in learning more about csfs or joining a csf near you, see localcatch.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"oregon\u2019s port orford sustainable seafood and the cs fishery in the port of garibaldi are pioneering a new fishing model to revolutionize the way consumers think about the ethical and environmental impacts of the seafood they eat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4900,5196],"tags":[205,2754,1248,169,591],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-12697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-green-living","category-past-storyfest","tag-community","tag-community-gardens","tag-fishing","tag-green-living","tag-storyfest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
stewards of the sea: community supported fisheries charting a new course for oregon\u2019s seafood industry - planet forward<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n