By Rodney Smith
Politics have played a major role in our nation’s fishery management for an awfully long time; in fact, since before we became a great nation of politicos accessibility to fish has been used as a pawn in negotiations. For example, our first treaty with Great Britain, the Peace Treaty of 1783, secured certain fishing rights and established clear bounties in its Article Three.
Since being involved in fisheries management issues, I’ve watched the intense friction between commercial and recreational interests shift toward being more between federal and state governments. It isn’t always clear to me who has whose best interest in mind when I see one state or the other rally against the tyranny of Federal bullies, ‘who are trying to take away our state’s fish!’. I’m quite often afraid this position is more about power and greed than what is best for the sustainability of our Federal fisheries.
I also believe commercial and recreational interests are starting to see more eye-to-eye today, understanding the importance of working together to secure fish for everyone.
Dave Snyder’s biggest passion is sustainable fishing. Dave is the owner and chef of two restaurants on Georgia’s St. Simons Island; Halyard’s and Tramici. Dave is active in his community, volunteering his time by sitting on the boards of organizations as varied as Hospice of the Golden Isles, the Coastal Symphony of Georgia and The Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Georgia. He also serves on the Culinary Board for College of Coastal Georgia and is a new member to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel.
“I want to make sure that future generations and my kids have that same hobby and same joy that I do. And there’s only one way to do that, and that’s to make sure these fish are around,” he says. “From a business standpoint, if I don’t have fish to sell, I probably won’t be in business very long.”
It seems like we are hearing these concerns more and more often from every direction. Dave has seen the results of overfishing; it has led to a number of species becoming threatened or extinct, and the price per pound of many fish that were once considered standard fare in restaurants has gone up substantially.
“The price of fish is going to continue to skyrocket. Fish has doubled in price from what it was only five years ago,” Snyder says. “It’s going to continue to skyrocket, so we just need to make sure we’re careful about how we maintain it.”
There has never been a more critical time in the history of our fisheries. The importance of level-headed management based on real science and data is clear. It is time to place infighting and finger pointing to the side; a time when we all should be on the side of the fish and on the importance of restoring healthy fisheries. It isn’t going to be easy, but when we restore the sustainability of red snapper and other over-harvested species we all will benefit.
A portion of this article was first published at http://www.restaurantinformer.com/2014/06/giving-back-support-causes-community/