Can US seafood industry revive? Mayor and fishmonger Larry Toomer has a recipe.
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Patrik Jonsson Staff writer
| BLUFFTON, S.C.
Day after day, the piles of shucked shells slowly become tiny mountains behind Bluffton Oyster Co., a gray clapboard shack where a crew of fast hands pries away at oysters and crabs, a bounty bound for local markets and eateries.
In many ways, Bluffton鈥檚 May River waterfront here is a throwback to bygone days when local fishermen and fish houses provided most of America鈥檚 seafood. Now, like a pearl inside an oyster, the smooth, shiny prospect of renewal 鈥� of sustainability and food self-sufficiency 鈥� awaits discovery.
Helming the charge for renewal is Bluffton, South Carolina鈥檚 new Mayor Larry Toomer, the oyster shack鈥檚 owner, who sees as his mandate preserving and linking a working waterfront to the region鈥檚 growing suburbs. Why does this gambit matter beyond America鈥檚 Low Country? Because the seafood unloaded here plays a crucial role in the nation鈥檚 health and security, Mayor Toomer says.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onAmericans are eating more seafood. But higher consumption has boosted seafood imports as domestic fisheries struggle. Change may require reinvestment in waterfronts and new views of what is edible.
鈥淚 used to think nuclear war was our biggest threat,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ow I think it鈥檚 our ability to feed ourselves if something goes wrong.鈥澛�
Aside from coastal recreational opportunities, Americans have become largely disconnected from the ocean鈥檚 riches. In fact, the United States is the world鈥檚 second-biggest commercial fishery. But the White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health doesn鈥檛 even mention seafood as an asset.
Experts say that 鈥渂lue food鈥� isn鈥檛 a part of a broader conversation about America鈥檚 food security or food system transformation largely because of a common public perception that fish, oysters, and shrimp are a luxury, not a necessity. At the same time, the gap between fish catchers and fish eaters 鈥� no more 鈥渕y neighbor is a shrimper鈥� 鈥� has widened.
The challenge, says Mayor Toomer, is a sense among local fishers that 鈥渨e鈥檝e basically been left to die鈥� even as seafood consumption has risen from 12 pounds to 20 pounds per capita in the past 30 years.
Independence 鈥渘ot beyond reach鈥�
While the U.S. has traditionally been one of the world鈥檚 largest food producers 鈥� particularly of corn, soybeans, and wheat 鈥� it has become increasingly reliant on foreign countries for seafood, now considered a healthy diet staple. Despite its capacity to rely solely on the seafood it produces, the nation exports the majority of it and imports 80% to 90% of the seafood Americans consume.
The U.S. is still a global fishing superpower, but with more people eating fish as part of a regular diet, America鈥檚 fishers now produce an amount equal to聽only 76% of the nation鈥檚 seafood demand. In 1979, New England reached 179% self-sufficiency; as of 2021, the region is only 36% self-sufficient, according to a study published in Nature magazine this summer.
Still, researchers at the University of Maine in Orono recently found that U.S. seafood independence is 鈥渘ot beyond reach.鈥澛�
Change will require investment in domestic processing and working waterfronts, researchers say, as well as a more expansive view by Americans of what ocean fare is edible.
At the same time, there is growing awareness that U.S. seas can be sustainably harvested at higher levels than they currently are, says Ray Hilborn, a fisheries biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. Today, the U.S. fishing fleet captures only 70% of the sustainable catch. Norway and Iceland? Nearly 100%.
鈥淯.S. regulatory agencies have adopted very precautionary management,鈥� says Dr. Hilborn. 鈥淭he irony, then, is that we end up importing fish from countries that have few environmental protections.鈥�
Rough-looking characters 鈥� or caretakers?
Most important, 鈥渋f we want to achieve seafood security, there has to be a consumer reference shift,鈥� says Tolulope Oyikeke, a researcher at the University of Maine.
When one of Pete Halmay鈥檚 friends entered the words 鈥渃ommercial fisherman鈥� into an AI program, the computer spit out images that both amused and dismayed Mr. Halmay, who has been a sea urchin diver for 50 years.
The result was 鈥渟ome rough-looking characters,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd I thought, 鈥榃ow, here鈥檚 where we start from. This is what people think.鈥欌��
His home port of San Diego shares the same story. Once home to a massive tuna boat fleet, the fishery collapsed. Boats dispersed. Yet small-boat fishermen still work the waters for a variety of catch, from mackerel to yellowfin tuna.
Making a living had become difficult, given consolidation of processor power, vanishing dock space, and fishery policies that created private fishing rights for popular species 鈥� including wreckfish, quahogs, and tanner crabs 鈥� that are bought and traded in 鈥渃atch shares.鈥�
A decade ago, Mr. Halmay had an idea to fight back. He set up a dockside market where fishermen sold their catch right off their boats. The legislature had to rewrite law to allow fishers to display and cut fish on the dock.
A decade later, hundreds of people visit San Diego鈥檚 Tuna Harbor Dockside Market each Saturday, buying yellowfin tuna for as little as $5 a pound, a quarter of the price in grocery stores. In July, the dockside market introduced a new auction to move even larger amounts of fish.聽
The key has been giving consumers the chance to connect the catch to the fisher.聽
鈥淚f it鈥檚 thrown into a commodity, everything is the same, so why should I pay special attention to it?鈥� says Mr. Halmay. 鈥淏ut if you make fishermen responsible for it, they take better care of it.鈥�
Leadership on local waterfronts
Karen Bell is the scion of a Florida fishing family that spans three generations. Her hometown fishing village, Cortez, has seen ups and downs, but its survival against global and domestic forces, Ms. Bell says, is largely because of its resilient fishers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an environment where people seem to thrive and where your focus is more on just being happy, loving what you do, and doing it,鈥� says Ms. Bell, who owns A.P. Bell Fish Co.
As part of that spirit, she says, a local fishers鈥� consortium recently bought a piece of marshland at the edge of the village to protect it from development 鈥� and showcase its value to the fishery.聽
Still, she has to balance nostalgia with reality. A number of her boats are stuck at dock, thanks to tight snapper quotas. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to even think about getting rid of 鈥榯he girls,鈥欌�� as she calls the boats, all named after women in her family.
But when asked if the U.S. can supply all its own fish, she answers as a seafood self-reliance skeptic. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 feasible,鈥� says Ms. Bell. 鈥淭oday you would need a pile of money to get into this. But the tide turns.鈥�
In Alaska, regulators are fighting to reserve catch shares for younger fishers and community groups. In Point Judith, Rhode Island, the Town Dock is a major domestic supplier of calamari. In Tybee Island, Georgia, the Tybee Oyster Co. opened the state鈥檚 first floating oyster farm, the result of a legislative change. Briny 鈥渟alt bomb鈥� oysters are a hit with locals and visitors.
And here in Bluffton, Mayor Toomer and the city council are focused on waterfront improvements to not only preserve but also to showcase what he calls 鈥渢his incredible, sustainable treasure.鈥�
To move toward sustainability and food self-reliance, 鈥淥ne thing that鈥檚 absolutely important is leadership,鈥� says Mr. Halmay, the sea urchin diver. 鈥淚f your little area doesn鈥檛 have a leader willing to stick their neck out, it鈥檚 not going to work.鈥�
