Nic Mink is a professor of environmental science and the co-founder and CEO of Sitka Salmon Shares, a direct to consumer, sea-to-table company. Join us as we chat about fish and fisheries, what a community supported fishery is, and why small, generational fisheries can be a good thing, and what you can do to help the fish that swim in the sea.
Connect with Nic: website
Quick Links
Knox College
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Stone crabs
Sitka spruce
Aquaculture
Capture fisheries/Wild fisheries
Trawling
Bycatch/bonus fish
Biomass
Total Allowable Catch (TAC)
Alaska Trollers Association
Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association
Alaska Marine Conservation Council
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Community Supported Fishery (CSF)
Charlie Berens, Manitowoc Minute
Gray whale
Show Notes
2:13 Nic’s interest in how people’s food choices affect ecologies and landscapes prompted his career shift into a more environmental science direction.
5:03 – A seminar paper inspired in part by memories he had of his parents eating stone crab in Miami on special occasions encouraged Nic to delve more into researching the South Florida landscape, marine ecology, and people’s seafood choices. This eventually led him to the salmon business.
9:06 – Nic had the opportunity to go to Alaska and work with salmon fishermen there. Getting to work with small-scale food producers there had a profound effect on him. This experience led to the beginning of Sitka Salmon Shares.
11:12 – Sitka Salmon Shares now has tens of thousands of members and several dozen fishermen who own parts of the company. Nic explains how this situation is beneficial for all involved: the fishermen, consumers, and the environment.
17:04 Nic outlines some major differences between small-scale fishing operations that Sitka uses and larger scale industrial fishing. For one, the majority of the Sitka fishermen use hook-and-line fishing methods. For another, the Sitka fishermen live in the communities where they fish.
22:32 Nic discusses the importance of transparency in the food industry, and how it benefits the consumer and the fishermen.
27:44 Sometimes people seem to think that there’s an adversarial relationship between fishermen and scientists, but that’s not the case. “Nobody wants to catch the last fish.”
30:31 Community supported fisheries like Sitka Salmon Shares operate a lot like community supported agriculture (CSA). Nic provides insight into what this looks like.
36:26 One of Nic’s favorite field stories is from a few weeks ago! It involves Charlie Berens, a 16-foot skiff, and a gray whale looking for a scratching post.
40:56 Nic’s ask for the audience: “Know who catches your fish.”