October 8, 2019 โ The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
With help from rebounding West Coast rockfish, Giuseppe โJoeโ Pennisi has put the fisherman back in San Franciscoโs famed Fishermanโs Wharf.
Pennisi is the first fisherman to sell freshly caught fish off his boat at Fishermanโs Wharf in many years. He has reintroduced locals to the flaky white fish that was once a mainstay of West Coast seafood. Most weekends when the fishing is good, crowds form early at the dock next to his boat, the Pioneer, and continue all day. Some wait for hours to buy chilipepper rockfish, rose fish, boccacio and other deep-water species Pennisi brings up in his nets.
โYou canโt help but be excited when you get to the dock and all these people are waiting for their fish,โ he said.
The reemerging demand for rockfish reflects what may be the West Coast fisheries comeback of the century. Rapidly rebuilding stocks are reviving opportunities for determined fishermen such as Pennisi and customers of his Pioneer Seafoods. From Washington to California, a fishing fleet that sacrificed heavily while groundfish stocks rebuilt are now beginning to harvest the results.
โIt really does seem like weโre turning an important corner,โ said Shems Jud, who has long tracked the groundfish fishery for the Environmental Defense Fund. The rebuilding of groundfish represents a rarity among environmental issues. Fishermen, environmental groups, fisheries managers, and others replaced contention and controversy with lasting collaboration.