February 5, 2015 — Environmental groups, as well as the U.S. government, say pirate fishing endangers fish stocks and undercuts U.S. fishing fleets that follow the rules.
But consumers care as well. And the people who supply them.
ProFish is a big seafood distributor in Washington, D.C. It's in a part of town tourists never see — in a compound of brick warehouses. Inside, in a maze of high-ceilinged rooms, workers in waterproof overalls filet fish on cutting tables and hose down cement floors. Giant refrigeration units keep the place numbingly cold.
John Rorapaugh is the sustainabity director at ProFish. Rorepaugh says sustainable seafood is caught or farmed in a "responsible" way that doesn't threaten fish populations or harm the environment. His fish lie in tubs of crushed ice: steel-colored tuna and glittering striped bass. There's a fish with a yellow stripe like a Nike swoosh.
"Mahi mahi," he says, in a tone you might use to describe show horses. "You should see it when it comes out of the water. It is just the most beautiful fish."
Rorapaugh says to assure its pedigree as sustainable, a fish needs a story: its genus and species, who caught it, when and where it was caught. Rorapaugh says fish caught in the U.S. come with that information, but imported seafood usually does not.
"God forbid you ask where it was caught, and most people, by the time it gets to us, they have no idea," he says. I ask if he would like to have that information from importers. "Of course. I would love to see more chain of custody," Rorapaugh says. "And I think that's what the consumer wants. We're seeing that people want to buy fish that have a story, that are sutainable and clearly are legal."
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