Capt. Ford owns and operates a trawler that can no longer sell to Whole Foods Market. He wrote this letter to Whole Foods last November upon learning that they decided to implement their new purchasing policy this year instead of in 2013. Captain Ford views the ratings of Monterey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute as inconsistent, noting that gill nets, which are considered acceptable in the ratings, have issues with marine mammal captures.
November 27, 2011
Dear Whole Foods,
I am the owner and operator of the F/V Lisa Ann II out of Newburyport, MA. Before your company bought out Bread and Circus, I had been a supplier of fish to them for a number of years. After Pigeon Cove took over Bread and Circus I continued to be a supplier and I am currently the largest supplier of cod in the northeast for your company.
Whole Foods was founded on building a lasting relationship with local farmers, local producers, and local vendors. I am a local family owned and operated business that has always strived to provide fresh quality fish. More importantly, I have always thought of myself as part of the team at Whole Foods because of the relationship between our two businesses. Because I felt our business relationship was strong and because I believed in the vision of Whole Foods I have been basing my business decisions knowing that I was working with Whole Foods for the long haul. I have always been treated fairly by Whole Foods and have always worked with them in a positive way so that all parties involved would be successful not just in the moment but for future growth too. I have believed so much in Whole Foods, that every month I put money back into the company by buying stock in the company.
I understand the reasoning behind Whole Foods following the guidelines Blue Ocean Institute has set down, because I do firmly believe that it is important to protect our environment so that our industry is sustainable. I feel like, however, that Whole Foods is basing decisions on what Blue Ocean Institute is telling them to follow, not what they see is happening locally. Blue Ocean Institute bases their decisions on outdated science and lumps ALL trawl boats into one category. It is not taking the time to make exceptions for those fishing boats trying to change and make a difference and nor does it seem to be taking into consideration the recent local and regional changes in the Northeast.
Trawl caught fish has historically been seen as not being environmentally friendly because the fishing gear used drags along and tears up the bottom of the ocean. To address this issue, I chose to switch over to new environmentally friendly trawl doors from Denmark. These doors do not drag along the ocean floor tearing it up, instead they remain off the floor of the ocean. In fact, 2 out of the 5 boats in the fleet that supplies Whole Foods have these doors. I feel that it would be easy to persuade the 3 remaining boats to also switch over to this new technology that Blue Ocean Institute has not yet taken into consideration.
In addition to switching over my fishing gear, I have also made other modifications to my boat that reduces my reliance on fossil fuels. I am currently running a hydrogen fuel cell on my main engine of my boat to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. Wind generators on the boat also help to reduce fuel costs because it reduces power consumption on my generator. Lastly, I have added trawl sensors to my nets that let me know when my nets are full of fish. This technology has reduced the amount of time that I need to fish because I no longer need to guess when my net is full. In the past I might drag my nets for 4 hours before checking them, and now there are days where my new technology lets me know only after 15 minutes that my net is full.
Blue Ocean Institute’s decision does not seem to be taking into consideration that the entire fishing management system in the Northeast changed drastically a year ago. I may be wrong, but I do not think that Blue Ocean Institute has based their current Red List for Gulf of Maine fish on any NEW data collected after a year of this new management system.
All fisheries have a good and bad side to them, but yet I am working hard to minimize the negative impact that my fishing has on the environment. I am trying to become a more environmentally friendly business so that I could continue to have a partnership with Whole Foods and provide fish to the public that I can stand behind. Unfortunately, I feel like Whole Foods is no longer trying to stand behind my environmentally friendly and local business.
I can only wonder what the lasting impact will be on the local fishing economy and that of the entire Northeast if Whole Foods does continue to follow the guidelines set down by Blue Ocean Institute. If Whole Foods does choose to blindly follow the guidelines rather than make decisions based on what is happening locally, I cringe to think of the domino effect that will occur. Other businesses look to Whole Foods to see what they do and if they too choose to turn their back on the local fisherman, who will buy the cod? If there are no local buyers for cod, fisherman will do the only thing they can and target a new species. If all fishermen target a new species, it too would soon become Red Listed.
It seems that if Whole Food truly wants to support the local fishermen that they would work with them and not just drop them. Whole Foods could continue to be at the forefront of positive change simply by supporting and encouraging the local fishermen to change to fishing systems that are more environmentally friendly. I am sure that the press associated with supporting the local fishermen would be more welcome than the press associated with Whole Foods choosing to no longer work with the local businessman.
I truly hope that I can continue to work with and for Whole Foods because I do believe in the direction that the company is going. I feel, however, that the only way that it will happen is if Whole Foods makes decisions based on what is happening locally rather than what an outsider is telling them is happening in general.
Sincerely,
Jim Ford
Captain & Owner F/V Lisa Ann II