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endeavor that has grown our processing capabilities while also opening more opportunity to work directly with fishermen in the Pacific Northwest, many of whom are tribal fishermen.
“ These days we’ re also doing more valueadded items. For example, we have our own in-house chef who helps with different recipes, as well as a prepared foods team. Together we produce our own in-house ceviche: one with octopus, one with shrimp, and one with surimi( imitation crab). We also have items like marinated salmon, salmon burgers, kebabs, and stuffed salmon.”
Conservation success story
Sustainability is an especially salient topic for businesses involved in seafood. Peter explains how the company’ s focus on local fish is only possible thanks to earlier conservation efforts and regulations to protect current healthy populations:“ By the late 1990s, stocks on the West Coast had been so overfished that intervention was necessary. The government initiated a buyback program to reduce the number of vessels. No-fish zones were put in place, and gear modifications were mandated to ensure only larger fish were caught. They also implemented 100 percent observer coverage, which entails placing an observer on each vessel to monitor catch data, as well as fishing quotas.
“ Initially, scientists thought it would take 60 years for some of the local fish stocks to recover, but instead, they were rebounding in just 14 years. It’ s a brilliant demonstration of effective conservation efforts that showcase how seafood is sustainable when managed responsibly. In the US, between 80 and 90 percent of the fish we consume is imported, so having healthy stocks that are fished in a sustainable manner back along our home coastline will be key to getting back to our local roots, shortening supply chains, and cutting carbon emissions. There are some fish whose habitat is not local, so they must
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