You’re fishing a few miles off the Alaska coast with snow-covered mountains lit up in the afternoon sun as the backdrop. You pull another bright coho salmon aboard as you’ve been doing for the past several days, one fish at a time. You stun the fish before bleeding, gutting and rinsing it clean in the water sluice before carefully packing it on ice in the hold.
When the hold is full, you’ll motor back to port, cringing at the expected cost (often more than $1,000) to fill the fuel tank with diesel. Then you’ll worry about the prospect of having to charge your customers extra just to afford to go out again.
Staying afloat is often a struggle for independent fishermen.
Kat Murphy describes the joy of providing wild caught salmon and other wild, local seafood to her customers and her community.
This was part of the firsthand experience Kat Murphy shared with a captivated audience at the KNOW FISH Dinner® hosted at Cora Pizza & Plates in Seattle on Oct. 16. While Kat talked about the challenges that fishermen like her and her husband Luke constantly face, attendees feasted on the delicious grilled coho salmon that Kat harvested and that Chef John Sundstrom cooked perfectly and finished with artichoke hearts and a lemon caper sauce. She also talked about the courage, commitment and immense satisfaction of providing some of the best seafood in the world to her community via Katfish Salmon Co.
Perfectly grilled coho that Kat Murphy harvested complemented her story about life on the water. Photo: Jeremy Lau Photography.
A co-production of One Fish Foundation, Slow Fish North America, Cora, and Slow Food USA, the KNOW FISH Dinner engaged folks in Seattle about supporting local seafood producers and learning why they should care about where their seafood comes from.
Kat’s story followed a screening of “The Grace,” a brief documentary that movingly depicts Kat’s life on and off the water as she works hard to support a business and a way of life that is ingrained. She described the lingcod fishery as attendees savored the bacon-wrapped lingcod she and Luke caught.
Attendees also heard from Amy Grondin, who fishes with her husband Greg along the Washington and Alaska coasts. Both Amy and Kat are troll (not trawl) fishermen, meaning they catch each salmon on hook and line, landing them one at a time. This is one of the most sustainable fishing practices anywhere because it has minimal environmental impact. There is little or no bycatch (species caught accidentally.) Kat reminded folks that every time they buy seafood from someone like Amy and her, they are supporting a small business.
The cured chinook, provided by Tele Aadsen fishing aboard the F/V Nerka, was even more amazing than it looked. Photo: Jeremy Lau Photography.
Amy shared her story of fishing commercially for 15 years and previously working on a salmon tender transporting landed salmon from fishing boats to processor for another 15 years. She described becoming obsessive about product quality for her company, Duna Fisheries. Meanwhile, attendees enjoyed the delicate but immensely flavorful cured Chinook Amy sourced from one of her running partners, Tele Aadsen of Nerka Sea-Frozen Salmon. Think of the best Nova-style salmon you’ve had in your life, then ratchet up the wow factor by 10.
Attendees next heard from Elizabeth Dubovsky, longtime friend and collaborator, and strategy director with Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association. For nearly two decades, she’s advocated for wild salmon habitat protections and policies that support local fishermen like Kat and Amy. She has been out front in the long fight against the proposed Pebble Mine, which would threaten Bristol Bay, Alaska, home of the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon run. She encouraged attendees to learn more about the issues facing wild salmon and community-based fisherfolk so they know how to support both healthy oceans and local seafood communities.
Elizabeth Dubovsky explains how buying wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska from folks like Kat and Amy also supports a well-managed fishery and healthy wild salmon habitat. In essence, eat wild to save wild.
Chef John talked about the importance of sourcing local food and seafood to the overall ethos of both of his restaurants Cora and Lark and the communities they serve. Sourcing local means giving back to the community. This message reverberated throughout the stories of Amy and Kat, who described Katfish Salmon Co.’s Mutual Aid Fish Shares Program, which uses public donations to supply her products to area food banks.
Chef John Sundstom discusses menu creation featuring locally sourced seafood.
Farmer Andrew Stout also echoed the message. He and wife Wendy Munroe own Griffin Creek Farm in Carnation, WA. Their produce featured prominently in the delicious dishes Chef John prepared. Andrew talked about stewardship of the land and the surrounding rivers and streams and the inherent responsibility of organic farming practices that support, not harm, local ecosystems. As such, their farm has been certified by Salmon Safe, an organization that promotes healthy salmon habitat in partnership with farmers. He later proved the point by showing me a video of hundreds of pink “humpy” salmon swimming up a river to spawn right next to one of his fields the day before.
Hama Hama Oysters have widespread recognition in the Seattle region…for good reason. Photo: Jeremy Lau Photography.
The menu also featured beautiful oysters and mussels from Hama Hama Oyster Company. We discussed values-based aquaculture (like Hama Hama’s shellfish) as opposed to industrial finfish aquaculture.
Amy talked about the black cod or sablefish fishery, describing how they are caught in 3,000 feet of water in pots or traps with minimal bycatch. The black cod came from Seafood Producers Cooperative, the largest fishermen-owned cooperative in the country. It is comprised of small boat operators earning a decent living.
Black cod collars are such a treat, and exemplify the notion of nose to tail. Photo: Jeremy Lau Photography.
I shared the big picture view of why folks should own their relationship to seafood by learning the story of where their seafood comes from. That means asking questions, and building relationships either with local fishermen, fishmongers or chefs so they can get the story, much as they would buying eggs at a farmer’s market.
Attendees asked great questions, probing deeper into how Amy and Kat fish, and where they can find their products. They also committed to spreading the word, including the messaging contained in the 7 C’s of Sustainable Seafood, which provide information and context for how to frame future seafood purchasing decisions.
This was a successful, interactive engagement that will help us spread the message about supporting local seafood and local seafood providers, one conversation at a time.
Thanks to Kat, Amy and Elizabeth for sharing their powerful stories, and to our seafood and produce providers: Katfish Salmon Company, Nerka Sea-Frozen Salmon, Seafood Producers Cooperative, Hama Hama Oyster Co. and West Wind Organics. Big thanks to Chef John Sundstrom for preparing such a delicious meal to accompany the storytelling, and to the team at Cora for hosting and supporting the KNOW FISH Dinner.
We will be back in Seattle to produce other local seafood community engagements. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, be sure to get to know your local seafood producer, fishmonger or chef, and ask questions so you know the story of your seafood! And buy wild, Pacific Northwest salmon!
Top photo: Amy Grondin talking about seasonality, fishing off the coasts of Washington state and Alaska, and providing wild salmon to her restaurant clients.
