"There's a connection between sustainability and quality. I didn't realize it, but I was going toward sustainability," Johnson says about the days when he first started to look for good seafood.

Read more of the San Francisco Chronicle profile of Paul Johnson and his new book, Fish Forever.

Profiles

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is the owner of Monterey Fish Market in San Francisco, California, which he founded in 1979. Johnson believes that maintaining our oceans as a sustainable resource for future generations is vitally important, yet he also understands the very real economic problems that fishermen and their communities face today. He has just written the seafood cookbook, Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthly, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood.

What is your favorite seafood to eat?
I don’t really have a favorite seafood; I prefer instead to “eat with the season.” For example, during salmon season, I eat [wild] salmon, while in the winter I eat shellfish. To me, seafood not only tends to taste better at the height of its season, but this is also a basic precept of sustainability. I don’t think that we should try to alter nature’s rhythms to fit man’s desires.

How did you get interested in the issue of sustainable seafood?
I grew up on the East Coast just as factory trawlers were devastating the fish stocks there. Though not personally involved in fishing, many of my friends and family members were involved in the swordfish industry. I saw how the introduction of a simple fishing technique – the longline – totally destroyed the swordfish industry there in only a few short years.

I moved to the West Coast and started Monterey Fish at a time when local seafood appeared to be unbelievably abundant in the marketplace. But it was only in retrospect that I realized I had been witnessing overfishing in action. About five years ago, as I began to see longtime rockfish fishermen being forced off the water because they were unable to make a living, I realized we had come to a watershed. It was either time to take an active part in promoting sustainable fisheries or see our wild fisheries disappear.

How would you describe your philosophy on ocean conservation?
I admit that my philosophy may be a little different than the leading mainstream environmental point of view. For instance, I am totally against broad-based consumer boycotts of an entire species that fail to differentiate fishing methods or area of capture. I think that these type of boycotts only harm subsistence fishermen, who are the greatest proponents of conservation. Fishermen who use sustainable methods of capturing fish, such as hook-and-line or traps and seine, have no impact on essential fisheries habitat, are responsible for very little bycatch, and are able to avoid juvenile fish through gear regulation.

I believe that consumer boycotts help put the small fisherman out of business, while having no impact on industrialized fishing vessels, which are able to move on to other species or areas. It is unfair to destroy the community, culture, and livelihood of the family hook-and-line fishermen who for generations have fished sustainably just because industrialized fishing practices were allowed to devastate stocks.

How has your philosophy changed what fish you distribute?
My philosophy hasn’t changed, since I’ve always been a proponent of wild fisheries, with an emphasis on seasonal eating and conservation. What has changed is my customers’ philosophy, which dictates what I sell. As my customers become more aware of sustainable issues, I am able to offer my opinions and help direct my customers to wiser choices.

Have your customers noticed?
Absolutely. Here in the Bay area, our level of awareness of conservation issues is quite high. Purveyors and restaurateurs generally have a very close relationship and work together toward the same goals.

Have your customers worked with you on selling sustainably caught seafood?
Yes. One example was a very successful fundraiser we helped organize that celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary. Five local restaurants, Monterey Fish and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations donated all labor and ingredients to the benefit. Chez Panisse served hook-and-line caught California white sea bass, the Hayes Street Grill served seine-caught squid, Jardiniere served Monterey Bay seine-caught sardines, Oliveto served our local troll-caught king salmon, and Zuni served local Tomales Bay rack- and bag-grown oysters.

Do you feel it limits you on what you can offer them?
Generally, sustainability and quality go hand in hand. Not only do sustainable methods of fishing have less impact on the environment but they also produce a higher quality product as well, and this is what our customers have always been interested in: quality first and foremost.

Why do you support Seafood Choices Alliance?
The Seafood Choices Alliance is about choice – they provide the information and still allow the consumer to form their own opinions. My philosophy can be a little different than the mainstream environmental stand, yet I will still be heard.

First posted November 15, 2002. Updated July 5, 2007.

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