Fish

Fish — No Comments
28
Jul 10

We went to the Cape and ate fish + bivalves

oysters1

I have two things I’m quite proud of in this life. One is introducing Kristi to oysters, and the other is learning to shuck them. And I suppose that eating them together counts as one of the great pleasures in this world, as well.

We don’t eat a lot of fish or oysters, but we bought a pound of fresh local haddock and two Wellfleet oysters this weekend while we were in Provincetown. Kristi oversaw the preparation of the haddock - bread crumbs from a leftover Iggy’s baguette were combined with Kate’s butter and a whole lotta garlic from our CSA. We covered one side of with the breading, slid the two fillets into a crappy pan at our rental cottage, and cooked them slowly, letting the butter poach the top parts of the fish and drip into all the rest. It was perfect.

I oversaw the shucking. For those of you who’ve never tried, you wedge the point of a short, strong knife into the hinge of the oyster and move it until you feel the hinge pop. Then you glide the knife, ever so gently, between the top and bottom shells, careful not to spill the liquor inside. When you remove the top shell, there’s a bit of the oyster clinging to it, so you have to be careful to cut if off before you separate the two. Lastly, and not everybody does this, I run the knife under the oyster, separating it from the bottom shell, so that it’s easier to tip into your mouth. We ate them with a squeeze of very unlocal lemon, but decided after that even such a simple dressing was unnecessary.

Later, we tried to determine what made oysters so good. The conclusion: it’s impossible to describe.

CSF / Fish — 2 Comments
24
Jul 09

Here’s a better response to the Cod question

So, in looking around on the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) website, we found that Adam had also posed his question about collapsing cod stocks there. NAMA is, like the Gloucester Fisherman’s Wives Association, affiliated with the Cape Ann Fresh Catch CSF.

Most everyone, including us, found the Wive’s Association answer wholly inadequate. But this one is decidedly more adequate.

Hi Adam,

Thanks for your comments and questions. Sorry it has taken us a bit to get back to you. You raise three different issues:

First, I should say that at NAMA we are not a very big fan of the red, yellow, green cards regardless of which entity produces them. This is because in our opinion they don’t go far enough, they are too focused on species and they don’t instill ecosystem-based principles in seafood consumers. To balance that, we have issues our own set of seafood guidelines that gets to the principles we believe anyone buying seafood should consider. You can read our Green Seafood Guidelines here: http://namanet.org/factsheets/green-seafood

If you compared what we are saying about principled seafood choices to food grown on land, our perspective might become clearer. Most of us who eat animals don’t make the decision to simply not eat chicken because so many are raised on factory farms. Instead, we choose to eat chickens that embody the principles we believe in: they should be raised humanely; be given plenty of space to roam and live a relatively normal life; not be pumped full of pesticides, antibiotics or hormones; not live in a polluted environment; raised by small scale farmers… to name a few. We believe these principles should not only be applied to chickens, but the cows or sheep or ducks or whatever other animal we eat from the land to ensure that the animal who has given its life for us has lived a good one before reaching our plate. Or that what ends up in our bodies as a result of eating them doesn’t kill us prematurely.

We at NAMA feel we need similar principles applied to the seafood choices we make. Otherwise, we haven’t changed how people catch the seafood so all sea life are treated with the respect they deserve and the ocean is seen as an ecosystem that it is, while supporting community based fishermen. We don’t want to simply shift the burden from one animal to the other – say from cod to something that’s on the green list – we want all these species to reach healthy populations which means the ocean as an ecosystem needs to be healthy.

Second, you asked about cod specifically. According to fisheries managers and scientists, Gulf of Maine cod is considered healthy enough to allow for certain amounts of fishing. In fact, according to the most recent stock assessment, it is the Georges Bank cod that you hear about being severely depleted, not the Gulf of Maine (where boats that supply the CAFC fish). This same report indicates that the Gulf of Maine Cod is projected to be fully rebuilt within the next few years. Until that happens fishermen follow strict guidelines of how much cod can be caught, where it can be caught, and during what time of the year it can be caught. It might be useful to note that amount of fish permitted to be caught has been steadily increasing as we get closer and closer to a healthy number of cod in our local waters.

By advocating for CSFs, we hope that amount – however big or small – is caught by fishermen who care about how they fish. Just like the farmer who chooses to treat his chickens humanely, we choose to work with fishermen who choose to fish differently regardless of the kind of gear they use. By supporting these ecosystem minded fishermen, they will be able to survive through the hard times and constitute the fisheries of the future, rather than letting our oceans be controlled by conglomerates. Current management practices employed by fisheries regulators do not recognize the ecological benefits of principled-base fishing much like the family farmers’ way of work was dismissed until recent years when we became more aware of the processes that bring food grown on land to our tables. Part of our motivation for creating CSFs was to encourage fisheries managers and regulators to recognize who fishes matters. This is an important point as current fisheries management regulations are leading the way for agribusiness style of fishing to take over. Even more scary, some are encouraging hedge funds and financial institutions to take over fishing rights rather than community based fishermen. We need to stop this trend and we believe CSFs are one way to do that.

Third is about trawling. The boats supplying to the CSF use variety of gear, including trawling. Although some might argue against NAMA’s position, for now we have decided to focus on the scale of a fishing operation. This wasn’t a decision we reached lightly but rather based on what we know and have experienced about various fishing gear and how they can be used – or misused. We believe that by first addressing the issue of scale we give the fishermen the political space to think about the impact of their individual gear. To use the chicken analogy again, if a farmer knew they didn’t have to compete with the factory chicken farm down the road, the incentive to have a humane farm, treat their chicken well, feed them wholesome and create the space for them to roam would increase. And if they knew they could do all this and make a living wage, well there would be nothing to stop them.

Again, current fisheries management practices do not recognize the ecological and economic benefits of the small scale fishermen (or the good chicken farmer!). In fact, the opposite is true where the agri-business level of efficiency is given higher value than the equivalent to the family farm operations. At this juncture, there are even moves afoot to further industrialize, privatize and consolidate the fishing industry. It is our strategy to stem this tide through CSFs and direct marketing efforts. We want to show that the public doesn’t believe hedge funds and financial institutions will be better stewards of our oceans than community based fishermen. In this economic climate, you’d think that would be a no-brainer, but it’s not.

So in the end, we believe by removing these economic, marketing and management barriers we can ensure than any gears used to catch fish - whether hooks, gillnets or trawls - have the smallest footprint on the ocean. And, ultimately create the atmosphere were fishermen can choose whatever gear or reduce the impact of any gear they believe will meet their goal of leaving the oceans for future generations possible.

Don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions about why we are doing what we are doing. It might take us a while, but we will get back to you.

All the best,

Niaz

CSF / Fish — 14 Comments
21
Jul 09

Does local always = sustainable?

cod61The short answer is yes. At least we think so. But first, a parable.

Our friend Adam has a share with Cape Ann Fresh Catch. Like us and the other 898 members, he’s been getting a lot of cod from the community supported fishery. Through the magic of the internets, he found himself surfing the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s web site recently, where there’s a very thorough guide on how to eat seafood and protect endangered, overfished species. As it turns out, they had this to say about cod:

Atlantic cod from North America has been fished heavily for the past 50 years, resulting in massive population declines. Scientists agree that we are now fishing the last 10 percent of this population. … Fishermen often catch cod with bottom trawl gear, which involves dragging large nets across the seafloor. This damages marine habitats and results in bycatch.

Adam, like us and probably the 898 other CSF members, is a conscientious eater. He doesn’t want to consume the last 10 percent of cod. So he contacted Cape Ann Fresh Catch and asked for some guidance.

Two days later, he got an email back from the president of the Gloucester Fisherman’s Wives Association (which is facilitating the CSF). This is some of her response:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. What the Monterey Bay Aquarium has on line about the Atlantic cod is not the truth. For the last 32 years the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives association has worked with the regulators to make sure that we preserve the fish stocks in the atlantic.

The fishermen of the eastcoast have made many sacrifices for conservation. They fish under the most restrictive regulations in the world …. The latest news from the scientists was that the cod stock of the gulf of Maine is in recovery and by the year 2012 it will be fully recovered.

Keep in mind that the boats that catch the fish that we deliver to you is done by small boats between 40 to 50 feet, they are on the fish ground only few hours a day because they are allowed only to bring a total of 800 lb of cod per day. The catch is inspected at the docks by federal agent.

Yes our boats are bottom draggers but remember that they have fished as draggers for over 100 years and they still fish in the same fish grounds and it takes a 10 minutes tow to get 800lb of cod. so you see there are pleanty of fish for us to enjoy.

I hope I have given you enough information, if you need more please let me know.

No, we didn’t need to publish all of that. But, in a way, we did. Implicit in it is the answer to the question in the headline on this blog post.

Couple things:

It’s really great that Adam asked this question. It’s really great that he got a prompt, warm answer — and an offer for more info. It’s really great that he shared it with us and that we’re sharing it with you. This is an active engagement in a food system and it is the number one way to dig ourselves out of the hellhole where most of what America eats is presently cultivated/swimming around in.

cod2If all of our fish (if all of our food…) were coming to market through small, co-operatively owned models like Cape Ann Fresh Catch, it’s probably fair to say the ocean would be in better shape. Because the success of the fishery hinges on the success of its membership, Adam’s question mattered. Because of its scale and proximity, he could have an actual dialog with the people in charge there. Any of us could.

On the matter of cod and who is right about whether it’s safe to fish: It’s impossible for us non-fisherman, non-scientist types to really make the call on this one. We don’t have full access to the complexity of the situation. And so the true word on cod remains a mystery to us.

In a way, that’s OK. What matters more than solving that mystery is resolving the problems that precipated it at all.

On its page about ‘green seafood,’ Cape Ann Fresh Catch issues this sentiment — almost precisely. This is sort of perfectly expressed.

We wouldn’t have to think this hard about what we eat from the seas if policies and regulations were ecosystem and community based. NAMA believes that through a grassroots movement of fishermen, fishing community organizations and those who eat their catch we can transform today’s fisheries policies towards ones that recognize the oceans are complex ecosystems and not bodies of water that magically produce single species of fish that pop onto our plates.

CSF / Fish — No Comments
30
Jun 09

CSF: Week 3

These little whiting were quite delicious! We scaled them with a few quick strokes of a knife, cut off their heads (and pulled out theirimg_4230 guts) and battered them in a simple batter that was filled to bursting with fresh oregano. Then we fried them in oil for just a minute or so on each side. Their delicate meat flaked off the bone, leaving the skeleton behind. Also in our share is a large flounder.

We got an email earlier today saying that we could expect whiting. So I googled it, and wikipedia told me that some Americans called whiting hake. So I looked up hake, and was worried for the rest of the day that this was coming.

 

cimg6699aWe’re so happy it wasn’t this fellow! No offense. I’m sure you’re very good at being a fish.

CSF / Fish — No Comments
1
May 09

OMFG — CSF (Community Supported Fishery)!

Go — now! — to sign up for Cape Ann Fresh Catch. Fresh fish, 12 weeks, $180 half share/$360 full from the northern shores of Boston!

Other spectacular features we can share with you… which came to us this morning from Niaz Dorry, an organizer for the CSF:

Cape Ann Fresh Catch is a collaboration of shore-side residents and the local fishing community. Members give the fishing community financial support in advance of the season, and in turn the fishermen provide a weekly share of seafood during the harvesting season to shareholders — just like a regular ole CSA.

What you will get: a variety of haddock, cod, flounder, hake, dabs, grey sole, monkfish, Pollock, and redfish – and possibly other seafood such as clams, lobsters and scallops. (!!!) The fish will be dressed (cleaned and gutted, NOT filleted), and packed on ice. A 12-week subscription to our summer CSF will start in early June.

In traditional markets fishermen are forced to chase whatever species is fetching the highest price that week. By taking a mix off these species at the same price week-to-week (about $3/lb), fishermen are able to fish areas that are not stressed by the rest of the fleet, and give species and ecosystems time to recover and replenish.

This cooperative system also keeps fishermen safer because they don’t have to fight the weather to go offshore for a certain species; if the weather is dangerous, they can stay close to shore and catch only what the CSF needs that week. At the same time, shareholders are guaranteed the freshest, highest quality fish caught. The fish caught for the CSF will never be old or frozen, and it will always come from fishermen who believe in working with the ocean and the community.

Where you can get your hands on this share: Organizers are trying to get enough people in Cambridge/Boston interested so they can have a drop-off in the city, possibly at a farmers’ market — the CSF is running the same months as your typical veggie CSA.

It’s small and local, because: There is an essential quality to seafood that you only get when it’s harvested locally and delivered to you just hours out of the ocean. The boats they’re using are family-owned —  which means they’re paying attention to the way fish is caught and focusing on strengthening our local food community, economy, and the sustainability of the ecosystem. The long-term health and abundance of the Gulf of Maine are important to all of us. (Read Bottomfeeder and you will understand this in a very visceral way.)

Apply?? Here!

Fish — 2 Comments
15
Oct 08

Tuna fisheries a “disgrace,” Boston Localvores go fishless

Actually, we hardly eat any fish at all. It’s not that we don’t like fish - I have fish and chips and greasy newsprint in my DNA, and Kristi has been known to Doyle a Meal (a phrase we picked up in Ireland from a tiny, delicious chip shop there). It’s that the seas are possibly an even bigger disaster than the land at this point, and most every major species — especially predator species — are fished to collapse. I’m reading about this stuff in Bottom Feeder, an immensely depressing book. But today the BBC reports that major tuna fishing nations are actually backing calls for a closure of the Mediterranean tuna fishery.

It’s such a disgrace that JAPAN - the biggest consumer of tuna in the entire world, yes-you-heard-me-right JAPAN - voted in favor of closing the fishery. Read the article here.

Cod, by the way, that old friend that we here in New England like to delude ourselves is always local, is in rough, sad shape. The greatest fisheries, off of Newfoundland and Iceland, are close to eliminated, and our hunger for fishsticks has altered the ecosystem by basically removing one of the oceans great predators, the swimming garbage truck that is cod. Now, smaller fish are becoming the top of the food chain. Good work, school cafeterias and ketchup-smeared fourth graders.

There are three other things that stick in my craw about eating fish. Briefly, you cannot guarantee much about a fish (i.e. talk to the farmer), including A). where the fish is coming from, if it’s been legally caught or even if it’s the species it purports to be. B). The trendy practice of alerting folks that fish are “line caught” is a bit of a misnomer. These lines are miles long and have tens of thousands of hooks. They are only slightly better than the ocean trawlers that roam the seas with giants nets, decimating underwater landscapes and catching everything in its path, much of which will be thrown overboard, dead, because it’s not the species the fisherman on that boat are looking for.

And C). This should stick in every craw. I’m sure that, like me, many of you have met those who are ethical “vegetarians” but who eat fish. I suppose that, like me, these pescetarians  have never seen a big fish like a tuna or cod caught. It’s a revelation; a brutal, man vs. fish fight to death. These tuna, for example swim, no joke, like 70 miles per hour. They don’t give up the ghost without a battle….

Several people have inquired about whether we’ll be adding a fish page to our site: they wanna know where they can get the goods and feel OK about eating them. Well, we wanna know too. It’s just that so far our efforts have been delayed by me getting a 9 to 5 and Kristi trying to write a thesis. (More on that later; it has to do with all of you, blog reader types.) But do stay tuned, OR, better yet, DO volunteer to help us realize this research.