Management panacea or fishing in troubled waters? This episode explores how policy makers and fishermen implemented a vast network of marine reserves off the coasts of Oregon and California. It looks at the creation of these reserves and the consequences (both intended and unintended) to fish populations and local fishermen.
Special Guests
Karista Bennett
Karista Bennett began her career in 2002 after attending Scottsdale Culinary Institute. She worked her way through professional and client kitchens as a prep chef, cheese specialist, sous chef, culinary instructor, and private chef for 12 years, and more recently, transitioned into the world of food writing. In 2013 Karista was selected one of four DaVinci Wine Storytellers in the Culinary Arts Category, and in 2020, Karista published her first book, The Oregon Farm Table Cookbook: 101 Homegrown Recipes from the Pacific Wonderland, by Countryman Press. Currently, Karista is a regular on-air recipe expert for KATU AM Northwest in Portland, OR, and a chef ambassador for the Oregon Blueberry Commission. She is writing her second book, The Perfect Catch: 100 Flawless and Flavorful Seafood Recipes That Anyone Can Cook with Countryman Press. Karista finds great joy in her work and spending time creating delicious food in her kitchen.
Aaron Longton
Aaron Longton, a commercial fisherman of 20 years, started fishing as soon as he was able to hold a rod. He grew up in Roseburg, OR, playing on the Umpqua River Basins, but has been living in Port Orford for 23 years now. The son of a Navy Man and riverboat manufacturer, it is safe to say that he grew up on the water. He purchased his first commercial boat in 2000, and the f/v Golden Eye in 2003. Aaron trolls for salmon and tuna, longlines for groundfish, and uses rod and reel for nearshore lingcod, and rockfish species. Aaron and a small group of other local fishermen helped create the Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve, a place for spawning rockfish to thrive in the area. The Redfish Rocks Community Team works to promote marine stewardship through outreach, education, and community engagement regarding the Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve and MPA.
Jenn Caselle
Dr. Jenn Caselle is a Research Professor at the Marine Science Institute at University of California, Santa Barbara, where her research is broadly focused on the ecology of coastal marine organisms, their role in nearshore ecosystems, and the response of these ecosystems to environmental change and human impacts. She currently splits her time in both coral reef and kelp forest ecosystems studying community dynamics, recruitment and larval dispersal and movement patterns of fishes, including top predators. Through these research themes, she has been closely involved in design and monitoring of Marine Protected Areas in California and around the world. Dr. Caselle designed and manages a large-scale, field-based monitoring program of kelp forests in the California current ecosystem with goals of assessing long-term changes due to climate and anthropogenic impacts. This program has become the basis of Marine Protected Area monitoring throughout California and the west Coast of the United States.
Mike Conroy
When Mike Conroy was 8, his father took him on a boat targeting rockfish out of Santa Cruz, CA, igniting his fascination with the ocean and fishing. Today, Mike is the Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) and Principal of West Coast Fisheries Consultants, where his focus is on supporting and promoting the science-based management measures that ensure the sustainability of the stocks we harvest today and into the future. West Coast Fisheries Consultants is a boutique consulting business focused on the legal, management and operational aspects of fisheries operating off the west coast. Before carving out this niche, Mike practiced corporate law, and operated commercial passenger carrying fishing vessels and commercial fishing vessels.
Show Notes
The term “Rockfish” refers to a large variety of fish that live around rocks. In addition to their delicate flavor and flaky flesh, rockfish were one of the key drivers of sweeping reforms in fisheries management and conservation just a few decades ago. Responses to the decline and depletion of rockfish were complex, but a chief mechanism used to protect these species were called marine protected areas. In these protected areas, fishing would either be prevented or significantly curtailed, allowing fishing populations to rebound and critical habitat to be protected. In this episode of Fish Talk, we’ll learn more about these areas of the west coast, the fish they protect and fisheries they support. We begin in the kitchen, with Oregon chef and cookbook author Karista Bennet, cooking rockfish with a blueberry ginger salsa.
While we give the flavors time to mingle, let’s find out more about the nuts and bolts of these marine protected areas from one of California’s most prominent fisheries scientists, Jenn Caselle. Dr. Caselle runs a lab at the Marine Science Institute at UCSB and has spent much of her career studying and implementing marine protected areas. While marine protected areas became popularized in the U.S. in the 80s and 90s, the concept of restricting areas of the oceans for harvest has been around for centuries. Marine protected areas come in a huge variety of sizes depending on their goals. As an ecosystem protection device, Jenn believes they are meeting their goal of protecting the entire habitat rather than one particular species. No other fisheries management tools do that. However, climate change is causing our systems to change so dramatically that it is difficult to keep track of the benefits of the areas.
While scientists like Dr. Caselle see one thing, fishermen who rely on these habitats for their livelihoods might see another. Next, we hear from Mike Conroy, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA). Having been a fisherman on the west coast for 30 years, Mike shares his perspective on the emergence of MPAs. For some species and habitats, he does credit their helpfulness. However, in terms of overfishing, he doesn’t know if MPAs are the answer. He explains the sour taste many fishermen feel regarding MPAs, which came from a lack of transparency in their development.
Just up the coast from Mike, the fishermen of Port Orford, Oregon realized early on that the creation of a marine reserve off their coast didn’t have to be a zero sum game. Where some fisherman found frustration, they saw an opportunity. We hear from commercial fisherman Aaron Longton of Port Orford Sustainable Seafood. Anticipating an MPA would be coming to their area soon, the fishermen wanted to be part of the process of developing it, rather than be affected by it. They collaborated with academia and groups such as Eco Trust to start a non-profit which placed their own marine reserve in the area, rather than having someone else do it for them. Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve is small in comparison to others along the coast, but encompasses more habitat benefits comparatively. Aaron shares the good and bad changes he has observed over the past 10 years that the reserve has been established.
As the episode draws to a close, we return to the kitchen with Karista for the rockfish recipe reveal. Additionally, Karista shares about her new book The Perfect Catch: 100 Seafood Recipes That Anyone Can Cook. Thank you for listening and see you next time!
Key Ideas:
0:00 – Hosts Paul and Nic introduce the podcast series.
1:15 – Preface for today’s episode.
3:10 – Introduction of Karista Bennett and today’s recipe.
10:40 – Dr. Caselle explains marine protected areas, their initial emergence, and their impact.
22:10 – Mike Conroy shares his perspective on MPAs.
34:50 – How fishermen in Port Orford, Oregon engaged with their area’s new MPA.
47:30 – The big reveal of today’s rockfish recipe.
Links:
Paul Greenberg and his books Four Fish and American Catch.
Nic Mink, and the company he co-founded Sitka Salmon Shares.
Learn more about Karista Bennett.
Learn more about Dr. Jenn Caselle.
Learn more about Mike Conroy.
Port Orford Sustainable Seafood and Redfish Rocks.
Episode produced by Alana McKeever
