Profiles In Fishing

Meet Megan Westmeyer
Sustainable Seafood Initiative Coordinator, South Carolina Aquarium

Sustainable means that we use our natural resources in such a way that those resources will still be available for future generations. By our mere presence on the earth, our population has an impact on the environment. As responsible stewards of the earth I believe we have an obligation to minimize that impact. When applied to fisheries, sustainable means fish for the future. We have to be careful about how many fish we take out of the ocean and how we impact oceanic habitats, or we won't have fish to eat in the future. We'll never be able to stop impacting the oceans completely, but we can lessen our impact and still derive the same benefits.
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Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.

Profiles In Fishing

Meet Kathi Lefebvre
NOAA Fisheries Scientist

In terms of fisheries management, sustainability means utilizing the ocean's natural resources in a way that protects the environment and maintains healthy productive marine communities. In order for fisheries to be sustainable, we must balance our resource use with the natural productivity of the marine ecosystem. Simply put, we cannot take more from the system than can be naturally replenished and our activities must promote the continued health of the marine environment. >> read more

Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.

Profiles In Fishing

Meet Monty Berg
Supervisory Consumer Safety Officer, NOAA

As an inspector of fishery products, to me sustainable means the restoration of species that we have seen in decline for many years. During my career of 31 years, I have observed the decline of the resources available to the public at a level that has been quite disturbing. Now, having the first hand opportunity to see some of those stocks rebound and become commercially available for processing and distribution is incredibly rewarding. It proves, even for those of us not working the research vessels, that fisheries management works. >> read more

Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.

Profiles In Fishing

Meet Dawn Martin
President, SeaWeb

To paraphrase Aldo Leopold, sustainable means taking resources from the environment only if it does not disturb the "integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community," and doing so in such a way that our world can naturally replenish itself. All that this planet has to offer has to be maintained to ensure a healthy environment for generations to come.

I have witnessed the urgent need to apply sustainable practices to fisheries, not only in the United States and Europe but also while visiting local communities in the Pacific islands that are dependent on the seafood they catch off their shores for food. The voices of these communities' leaders still ring in my ears, telling stories of how industrial fishing fleets from other countries are now targeting these biologically rich areas. Lacking good management practices and enforcement mechanisms, the fisheries and their habitat are rapidly becoming depleted. By working with local communities to employ sustainable practices and a holistic or ecosystem-based approach to managing their resources, we can perpetuate these fisheries and therefore these cultures. Such an approach can serve not only these communities but also fisheries around the world. >> read more

Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.

Profiles In Fishing

Meet Susan Spicer
Chef, Bayona Restaurant, New Orleans, Louisiana

Sustainability is being far-sighted, with minimal impact on the world's resources - i.e. avoiding overfishing, catching smaller and smaller fish, or farming fish in a way that negatively affects their surroundings and/or wild counterparts (or other wildlife - or humans). >> read more

Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.

Profiles In Fishing

Meet Bob Rheault
Aquaculturist and President of East Coast Shellfish Growers

To me producing "sustainably" means being able to do what I do (farm oysters) knowing that I am not impairing the ability of future generations to enjoy a clean and healthy marine environment. I get a lot of satisfaction in knowing that by farming oysters I am actually providing ecosystem services (removing excess nutrients and providing habitat) that would be provided by a healthy ecosystem. >> read more

Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.

Profiles In Fishing

Meet Timothy W. Thomas
Fishing Master - F/T Northern Jaeger

Sustainable means ongoing healthy resources and habitat for generation after generation. A commitment to sustainability will guarantee to the best of our abilities the opportunity for all coastal communities to continue a legacy of a life in balance with our oceans. Protecting our environment, preventing overexploitation of fishery resources, and rebuilding depleted stocks as necessary are actions paramount to ensuring the future of fish stocks and habitat. I am proud of the fact that the Alaska pollock fishery has been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as a sustainably and responsibly managed fishery. This certification should reassure consumers that large-scale, industrial fisheries such as Alaska pollock provide an affordable and healthy product that meets the highest standards of product quality and is responsibly managed. >> read more

Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.

Profiles In Fishing

Meet Larry Jennings
Recreational Angler

On the surface, it's simply harvesting no more fish than that particular species can replace when it next spawns. However, in researching historical harvests of numerous species one finds that in most food species, the harvests are often less than half or even single digit percentages of their peaks and commercial harvests continue a "sustainable" harvest.

Looking toward the future, sustainable harvests of wild species become problematic as human populations grow and increase demand for seafood while bringing more development and pollution which reduce the potential harvest. Very few people realize that most seafood in their market comes from aquaculture now but in time, wild seafood will become increasingly rare – it just won't be sustainable in a couple of decades. >> read more

Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.

Profiles In Fishing

Meet Sam King
Chief Executive Officer of King’s Seafood Company

The concept of sustainability is at risk of turning from "green" to beige: becoming bland and all things for all people. Everybody wants it, whatever "it" may be. "Natural"? "Organic"? "Nice." In its simplest sense, the word "sustainable" describes a practice or policy that maintains the conditions on which it depends. But "maintenance" smacks of status quo and lacks the vitality that attracts entrepreneurs like me. For sustainable to be maintainable, I believe that growth—the cycle of consumption, production, and decomposition—must be central to sustainability. In this way, I am drawn to the United Nation's 1987 Bruntland Commission definition of "meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." >> read more

Conrad Lautenbacher: FishWatch

Do you know what fish are sustainably fished and which are not? Do you know what fish are good for you?

Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, talks about FishWatch.