An Overview Of Our Solution
360° Fisheries
Who is this solution impacting?
Ecosystem
海洋/海岸
Community Type
城市的
郊区的
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: 北美
Problem
Describe the problem
360° Fisheries seeks to ensure that seafood caught around Los Angeles is sustainable and safe, and supports resilient fishing communities. Our approach is three-pronged. First, we work with local commercial fishermen to achieve sustainability and build grass-roots markets for their products. We also collaborate with recreational and commercial fishermen to develop research and monitoring projects to assist the state fishery management agency fill gaps in fishery management data and engage fishermen in management. Finally, we work with fishermen and agencies monitoring contamination levels in seafood to educate Los Angelinos about seafood contamination and which local seafood is safe to eat, not just what is unsafe.
Biodiversity Impact
Adjacent to the nation’s 2nd largest urban area, there are a myriad of factors threatening the health of the Santa Monica Bay. These include discharge of treated wastewater and urban runoff, industrial-scale ocean intakes, and the filling-in of coastal wetlands. The state’s fishery management agency does not have the resources to collect much needed information about fisheries, the means to write fishery management plans, or the manpower to enforce their regulations. Local fishermen see these problems, but don’t trust the environmental groups enough to join forces to fight for improvements. Furthermore, the commodity model of fishing, makes developing low volume, high value fishing techniques unwise, because they have no way of differentiating their higher value product. By building grass-roots markets for local seafood products we will develop a branded-model for local fishermen, align their incentives with effective fishery management, reconnect the public with local marine resources, and build a constituency for a healthy Santa Monica Bay. By working with local fishermen to gather information needed by the state fishery management agency, we improve our government’s capacity to manage fisheries, develop better relationships with fishing communities, and build trust among fishermen in fishery management data. By addressing the local seafood contamination concerns with science and outreach, we will protect public health, discredit the inaccurate myth that all fish from the Bay are dirty, and encourage consumption of sustainably produced local seafood.
Solution
Santa Monica Bay sits at the interface between the cool temperate waters of northern California and the warm temperate waters of Baja California. The southbound California Current is pushed offshore by the coastline and the warmer, northbound Davidson Countercurrent slips inside along our coast. The offshore islands create eddies and attenuate wave energy from North Pacific storms allowing for the underwater equivalent of old-growth kelp forests. These factors conspire to produce one of the worldƒ??s biodiversity hotspots, home to over 300 species of marine fish, 400 species of marine algae, and 5000 species of marine invertebrates. This biodiversity is threatened by development, pollution, and overuse. Politically powerful developers, energy producers, and water suppliers are intent on maintaining the status quo. New threats of ever more development, new uses of ocean intakes such as desalination, and new forms of offshore energy development are continually rising. Fishing has been the one impact that the state has been able to regulate, so local fishermen feel betrayed by both the government and the environmental groups. By working collaboratively with fishermen to improve management of their fishery, develop new markets for their product, and bring them into the debate on other environmental issues (water quality, development, etc), we build trust. By linking educational outreach on sustainability and seafood contamination with grass-roots markets for local, sustainable seafood, we create an informed and invested public for the protection and improvement of ocean health. // The 360?ø Fisheries project benefits the subtidal rocky reefs off the mainland coastline from Point Mugu to Bolsa Chica, San Clemente Island, and Santa Catalina island. This is where the fishermen we work with fish. It amounts to roughly 50,000 hectares.
Replicability
How many years has your solution been applied? 1 year // Have others reproduced your solution elsewhere? No // 360° Fisheries is a project of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation (SMBRF). The SMBRF is the non-profit partner of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, a state, local, and federal partnership established under the US EPA to improve water quality, conserve and rehabilitate natural resources, and protect the Bay’s benefits and values. The SMBRF receives grants from the Feds, the State, and private foundations to pursue our mission. Grant funds received are given a project code, to which time and expenses are allocated. No more than 10% is spend on overhead. SMBRF is audited by the EPA every 3 years. The 360° Fisheries project is the brain-child of SMBRF Marine Scientist and Project Manager, Lia Protopapadakis. Currently, it has no funding of its own. Much of the work until now, has been paid for out of general funds, such as a contract with a cultural anthropologist, who worked with 4 local commercial fisheries to assess interest in and recommend a plan for developing low volume, high value strategies. SMBRF supported this work out of general funds and Lia managed the contract. Another example is the all night effort, measuring, weighing, and sexing lobsters caught by recreational divers on the opening night of lobster season that Lia organized. The data have been given to state fishery management agency biologists. Funding from Rare Solutions would allow Lia to spend more energy establishing booths at local farmers markets, and developing outreach material about sustainable and safe seafood products.
Human Well Being and Livelihood Impact
360° Fisheries helps local commercial fishermen improve their livelihood and well being in a few ways. Developing ways for fishermen to sell their product directly to the public gives them an alternative to the current commodity model, where they sell to a wholesale seafood buyer at the buyer’s price. Selling directly to the public makes them a more visible part of the community, fulfills their sense of pride in their work, allows them to sell at a higher price, and gives them freedom to experiment with methods of improving the quality of the fish they catch. For example, sea urchin roe is currently graded based on its color even though the color does not guarantee that the flavor will be good. If a commercial urchin harvester knew what conditions to look for that would produce the tastiest urchins, he could focus his effort there. And because he sells directly to the public, he has the ability to differentiate his product from other harvesters. The 360° Fisheries project reaches more than 600 people directly and has the potential to reach over 25,000 people indirectly. We are working with fishermen from 4 commercial fisheries and 2 ports, which employ approximately 250 people. Our collaborating recreational fishing clubs have approximately 150 members each. Thirty undergraduate students enrolled in our internship program assist with our collaborative research program. Roughly 50,000 people buy direct and local produce at Los Angeles area farmers markets. If half were reached with outreach material on sustainable and safe seafood, we’d be reaching 25,000 people.// Lia works with state fishery management agencies to identify data gaps that can be filled as part of the 360° Fisheries collaborate research effort. To date these projects have been to collect missing life history information used in stock assessments that form the basis of developing much needed fishery management plans for fisheries that are high priority. The Palos Verdes Shelf, at the southern end of the Santa Monica Bay, contains 4400 hectares of sediment contaminated with DDT and PCBs. Lia works with local environmental monitoring agencies that are involved with monitoring the public health risk from this contamination to identify information needs regarding safe seafood. This information is often left out of education and outreach material.