Sustainable Fishing
One of the most surprising and eye opening jobs I‘ve had during my years as a marine scientist was the year I spent as a freshwater sport fisheries biologist. The primary role of my job was to study fish populations. Specifically, I would dissect the fish and look at the scales and the otoliths of various species of Bass. The fish we took samples from typically came from local, regional, and even national fishing tournaments on Lake Mead. It was the tournaments that really opened my eyes to the world of fishing and challenged the way I had been thinking about anglers and the relationships they had with the fish they caught.
In school we are taught about the importance of managing resources in order to protect them and ensure their long term sustainability and a lot of those conversations were often focused on top down regulation. I am by no means discounting my education, but as I have gained a variety of different experiences during my career, I realized that there were a few missing pieces. One of those pieces was the HUGE potential from bottom up impacts of individuals.
As a sport fisheries biologist when I would attend tournaments, I had the opportunity to talk with local anglers and learn about their passions, their frustrations, and hear about how important the resource was to them. For someone who comes from the science side of things there always seemed to be a disconnect in the goals of the hobbyists and the goals of resource managers, but in this case, it seemed like we were all on the same page.
So many of the individuals I spoke to were adamant about respecting size and catch limits and not just because it was the law, but because it was important for the sustainability of the species; it's hard to go fishing if the fish aren’t around. At each of the events we had numerous individuals come up to us to ask how the state’s fisheries habitat programs were doing and how many areas had been restored or improved.
Having been around fish my whole life, in one aspect or another, I had an impression that anglers were just out there fishing because it was an excuse to get out of the house, and drink beer with friends all day or they were out there for the glory of the catch. There is more to it than that and it wasn’t until I worked as a sport fisheries biologist (a job I thought I wouldn’t care for, but ended up loving) that my eyes were opened.
I am a firm believer that as humans, we work to protect what we love and part of that starts with appreciation. But how do we respect fish? They reside in a whole different world from us and unlike other animals we are around, it's not that easy to connect with or interact with them.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection acknowledges this, saying “Water is such a foreign environment to us that fish are seriously underappreciated by most people — they are literally “out of sight, out of mind.”
But the department doesn’t leave us hanging; they provide several different options and ways you can view fish, such as at public aquariums, fish hatcheries, or special viewing windows created to count fish at fish ladders that are installed at dams. If you prefer to get a closer view of the fish and their underwater world, you can try snorkeling or scuba diving. Coastally located schools often have opportunities to go out on boats, do a collection, and observe the different species. These are all great ways to see fish, but they really are just a snapshot into their lives.
Peter Gotfredson was on to something when he said “There’s something with fish that makes it different for some reason. I think it’s because it’s easier to humanize a deer than it is a tuna.” Perhaps it might be easier to connect with fish, and easier to appreciate and respect them if we understood them. Surprisingly, science might actually be able to help with that.
One of the areas I am interested in is animal behavior especially with respect to fish. Recently, I was asked to present at a conference, and during my research for the presentation, I came across a lot of studies that have been done to illustrate the intelligence of fish. I even came across studies that showed some fish are self aware! Here are a few examples of fish behavior that illustrate their intelligence:
Swordfish coordinate and signal each other when hunting
Cleaner Wrasses have been found to be self aware.
Cichlids are capable of group learning.
Archer fish can do complex math to catch prey
Goldfish have spatial recognition and can navigate
Learning about fish and some of the things different species are capable of helps us to connect to them, which is a stepping stone for respecting and appreciating them as individual species and as a resource.
Respecting the resource isn’t just focused around connecting with fish, it's also about sustainable fishing. While it might sound potentially complicated but it's straightforward.
Sustainable fishing is a way of harvesting fish that ensures the preservation of fish populations and the health of aquatic ecosystems. It involves using fishing techniques and management measures that minimize the impact of fishing on the environment and prevent overfishing. When fish are captured at faster rates than their populations can sustain they will decline, this is known as overfishing, it is one of the biggest threats to ocean ecosystems.
Sustainable fishing aims to address this through usage of appropriate fishing methods, fishing tools, catch limits, and sizes. It's easy to assume that the responsibility for reducing overfishing lies on the shoulders of large commercial fisheries, but like I mentioned above in my realizations, bottom up approaches are just as important as top down when it comes to conservation.
R/V Pilar Captain Jake Russell agrees, saying “Sustainability is something we should be teaching people at every level. From kids in school to adults that may have never got the message in school, or from their parents.”
Sustainability isn't just a word tossed around for marketing purposes, it is one of Jake’s core beliefs and is one of the pillars of the R/V Pilar’s mission. We pride ourselves on sustainable fishing and our respect for the resource. When I asked Jake where the drive for sustainability came from he said this- “I was fortunate to have a dad that was an outdoorsman and a conservationist. He taught me at an early age, if we were skin diving or fishing, and I was “fortunate” to take something, I better make sure it didn’t go to waste. And we took only what we needed to prepare a meal for the family. He explained that if I practiced this, I would always be able to come back, jump in the ocean with my dive gear or cast my rod from the beach anytime, and have success. He taught me to appreciate the resource, and be thankful we had it at our doorstep.
This says nothing about the skill it takes to be successful. Any true waterman or woman will tell you that they are always learning. Every experience with the ocean is different and there are no guarantees. Patience is key. And this is just the harvesting part.
Surprising my mom with a lobster or a halibut for dinner was the meal preparation part. No words can really explain the feeling you get providing for your family. It never gets old. I felt a lot of pride sitting at the table, enjoying a meal my mom made from fresh fish I caught or speared, using the skills and principles my dad taught me. I could feel the happiness they felt after we ate and they thanked me for the fish. Sustainability was the lesson. I never thought it would have the added effect of bringing us closer together as a family.”
So I am curious, what does it mean to you to fish sustainably and to appreciate the resource?