Fishing is one of my favorite photographic subjects and the fisheries issue has become a primary focus in my conservation photography work. And there are few fisheries more iconic than those operating out of San Francisco. The fishing was slow the days I spent with the San Francisco Community Fishing Association. Some boats unloaded fewer than a half dozen king salmon and the most had only 16 fish to sell. Hard to make a living with that, even with the $6.25/lb premium SFCFA was paying. But that’s the nature of fishing, as Larry Collins, the president of the Association, often reminded me. It’s a hard and uncertain life — but one they love. My task on this assignment was to help document some of the infrastructure SFCFA has put in place to help alleviate some of this uncertainty. Simple things like a dedicated lift for unloading and ice machine that the association members can count on, or profit sharing in the distribution of their fish so they benefit from additional ownership of the fish just a little further up the supply chain. And it all supports the sustainability that’s built into the small, independent fisherman’s approach. One morning I arrived a little before 6am to meet the unloading of a catch of halibut. These fish were earmarked for an upstart Community Supported Fisheries program, Local Catch Monterey Bay, which partners with folks like Larry at the San Francisco Community Fisheries Association to help better connect people living in the region to the fisherman who supply their seafood. I was able to follow these halibut from the boat, through processing to one of Local Catch’s members dinner plates over the course of just 36 hours. These collective efforts — the associations, cooperatives, and likeminded partnerships — give me hope for a new, more sustainable way of managing this last great wild food resource.
Unloading king salmon using SFCFA’s lift
Unloading halibut destine for local distribution through Local Catch Monterey Bay
Larry Collins
Halibut dinner with the Kittinger family
Jason Houston, Photographer
Photographs courtesy Jason Houston & Ecotrust