On Slow Life On Sustainable Fishing Practices:
Learn about seafood accountability and demand for tracing where our fish comes from while artisan fish producers are courted and groomed to participate in profitable global markets.
Hugh Robertson- CFO CleanFish
Sustainably Produced, Authentic Artisan Seafood
Q & A- CleanFish CFO
Where does the fish you eat come from and why should you care? I spoke with San Francisco based CleanFish CFO Hugh Robertson on the business of saving eco systems, eating healthier happier fish and working with small producers on honing and improving their already sustainable fishing practices all over the world. Seems there’s plenty to care about as he illuminates our problem with over fished oceans, the massive population demand for marine protein, and the fragility of ecosystems ravaged by industrial fishing practices wiping out many living things in the process of catching our dinner. There is a better way and it pays.
WA- What does Fish You Can Trust Mean to you?
HR- Fish you can trust is all about transparency and traceability. More and more consumers are demanding to know where their fish comes from. We are constantly faced with choices and one of the things Clean Fish does is brand fish by going to the artisan producer, sees how they catch their fish, what the fish are fed, what the ecological impact of their practices are and we bring their fish to market and help them brand and market their product. We do the work behind the scenes to make sure their way of fishing is valued and economically rewarded. Chefs and consumers can trust the source if the fish comes from the CleanFish alliance.
WA- What is the biggest problem with the seafood industry?
HR- Clearly the oceans have been over fished and by-catching is common practice where many other fish, plants, organisms get caught in fishing nets and other equipment. It’s a very wasteful model and cultivating smaller more time consuming yet responsible methods is a hard sell but the implications of industrial scale production just like we are seeing with fossil fuels is staggering. The larger social impact of over fishing and destroying ecosystems is not sustainable as the population continues to explode and the demand for marine protein escalates.
WA- It is always about economics. Since this is your area of expertise, how is this branding, hand picking producers and creating a more pricey and delicious fish actually catching on so well in this economy?
HR- We are pulling the artisan fisherman out of obscurity, branding their fish and telling their story. This is a tremendous incentive and the consumer likes it. Yes, the fish is more expensive but it is not being pumped with chemicals, or hormones, no harm is being done to coral reefs and other ecosystems, and there is greatly reduced killing other species to get to the plate. There is a large holistic picture here that is catching on. Money is being made and the fish is being brought to market. We are rolling up our sleeves and helping that fish get distributed through our network by educating the consumer, encouraging the producer and linking the market.
WA- What kind of growth is the company experiencing?
HR- Steady double- digit growth every year.
WA- So the trend is growing in more mainstream markets such as franchise food chains, supermarkets etc?
HR- We have people coming to us all the time saying we need a sustainable program and story for our fish and need to implement it. Consumers are asking a lot of questions and distributors and restaurants don’t know how to answer. That’s where we come in to help guide the big distributors to our artisan producers and create a network. Clean Fish is on the ground, in the water, out in the world working with the small farms and the wild producers finding ways to do it better every year and explain how, why and where. We are the go to sustainable resource in seafood.
WA – What are some of the most popular species?
HR- For the US, the first would be salmon and second is shrimp. We also have lot of other types and bring in fish such as Blue Tilapia and lantern scallops from Peru. We have a long list of farmed and wild caught on the website www.cleanfish.com. These fish are farmed, fed and /or caught in eco friendly ways. Due in part to regulation, the supply is sadly limited in the US, so we find the best globally and work with the individual, artisan producer to continue their efforts.
WA- Doesn’t that create more of a carbon footprint transporting frozen fish from far-flung places to our restaurants and markets?
HR- We encourage artisanship, responsible practices and high quality seafood wherever we can find them. Until the US federal and state governments help, or at least don’t hinder, more Aquaculture operations we will have to work with offshore artisans. We want to support environmentally responsible, artisanal fishing practices. It’s also good business and there is a demand for better fed, lower volume, more humane practices. People will pay a premium for this. We would dearly love to work with more domestic producers. Did you know that half of the seafood consumed each year in the US is farmed and virtually all of it comes from other countries? With problems in the areas of balance of payments, unemployment, and global warming, I find that deeply distressing.
WA- Why were you attracted to the economic aspect of this company? What do you see as some of the biggest opportunities?
HR-Clean Fish is the first and only company engaged in the mission of helping maintain the health of the oceans while providing much needed protein from seafood delivered by a market mechanism. We are helping to undo the commodity mentality of fishing practices by branding the artisan producer. We educate consumers on the different farmers and fishermen and people will pay more for the fish. This puts money in the pockets of the fishermen, tells the story about the seafood and creates a business model that sustains and hopefully flourishes. This is a market driven, sensible and highly rewarding way to work.
WA- What are your biggest challenges?
HR- Bucking trends. The seafood industry is more than a $ 100 billion dollar year industry that is fragmented, commoditized and has been for many years. The way fish is caught, processed and sold in a commodity market is no longer viable for this planet and our growing needs. CleanFish is geared to swim against the tide and it’s going to take a lot of work.
If someone is at the market and sees shrimp from Vietnam at half the price of Laughing Bird shrimp from Belize they might go for the cheaper shrimp even though it is full of chemicals to fend off the disease that comes from substandard growing conditions and so it retains water to weigh in at that heavier weight. The quality and method of the two doesn’t compare. Neither does the flavor!
WA- Finally, how will the Gulf oil spill effect CleanFish?
HR- CleanFish doesn’t currently work with many Gulf Fishermen. But more broadly, this disaster is an argument in favor of certain kinds of aquaculture operations--for example shrimp farms located inland--away from high-cost and environmentally sensitive locations. CleanFish sells Laughing Bird shrimp from a state-of-the-art inland farm in Belize--chefs and diners love it. So does the WWF. Tragically, seafood from the Gulf of Mexico may be unsafe to eat--or perceived as such--for many years. The US needs farms like my Belize example to improve the quality and sustainability of its food supply, improve food security, improve balance of payments, provide jobs, preserve environmental quality...you get the idea.
It is also a profound example of how massive, industrial-scale production is anathema to our environment. The larger and more complex our systems--think drilling under a mile of water--the more massive the fallout of inevitable error.
To learn more about CleanFish, the Alliance, the seafood and distributors, please go to their website at http://www.cleanfish.com.
The Ecological Advisory
The CleanFish Ecological Advisory is the research and consulting arm of CleanFish. We explore and vet new producers, and offer a number of consulting services to the broader industry. Our goal is to more fully understand how the best producers are harvesting or farming seafood, and to spark a new level of innovation in producing seafood responsibly. It’s important to note that the CleanFish Ecological Advisory is not a non-profit, nor are we a separate company. We are also not engaged in certifying our producers. We are a group within CleanFish focused on creating better practices, better producers and better seafood.
