California Coast & Ocean

Yes, we can move in that direction. But it requires continued pushing, getting people to think in that direction, with anchovies, squid, and herring certainly. The herring fishery in the Bay has been hurt by decline in the price for roe [kozonoko]. We should be looking at better utilizing the male herring, maybe looking at old recipes, finding new ways to prepare them. It’s transitioning so these fish are not just ground up for other fish to eat, but instead go directly to market [for human consumption].

It also means we don’t have to harvest so much. Remember, these fish are not just eaten by people, they’re food for marine mammals, seabirds, and other fish. . . .

Isn’t this a good time for these changes, with global warming, and . . . ?

It is, we just have to be cautious of some of the glib solutions--like putting all of our fisheries under IFQs or, with the ocean, protecting only certain areas. To conserve our oceans you’ve got to protect it all, not just portions of it. A good part of this will depend on people getting more educated.

We’re saying: rather than doing aquaculture in the ocean, let’s look at places where we can do this ashore. The argument in the past was where do you find the land for that? Well, in the western San Joaquin Valley there are places we know where if we put water on the land, we get a toxic mess. So why not put containerized aquaculture for tilapia or barramundi or some similar fish there? The water [in the fish ponds] recirculates. You have to add some water but not that much. Also [in the San Joaquin Valley] you’re midway between two large fish-consuming markets--the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles Basin--so transportation is not an issue.

Why aren’t people doing that now?

That’s like saying why are people not doing solar. You need leadership, you need to offer up some carrots as incentives to get people to think that way and do it.

We’re also thinking about the Klamath Basin, looking at some fish production there on retired irrigated lands.

Right now there’s a big push by the federal government for open ocean aquaculture. We think it’s partly driven by the fact that there are so many offshore oil rigs whose useful life is nearing an end, and the oil industry is either going to have to remove them or do something with them. Of course if you can convert them to something like offshore platforms for aquaculture, it allows the existing operators to get out from under removal and cleanup costs.