A rare environmental success story is unfolding in waters off the West Coast. “It’s really a conservation home run,” said Shems Jud, regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund’s ocean program. Groundfish is a catch-all term that refers to dozens of species that live or on, or near, the bottom of the Pacific off the West Coast. Starting in 1976, the federal government subsidized the construction of domestic fishing vessels to lock down U.S. interests in West Coast waters, and by the 1980s, that investment paid off. The Marine Stewardship Council certified 13 species in the fishery as sustainable in 2014, and five more followed last year.

Source: Los Angeles Times December 26, 2019 18:11 UTC