Traditional Fisheries

In the early 1990′s David Johnson escaped Minnesota’s cold winters by going to the Caribbean. He had gone to a remote Caribbean fishing village to fish for giant Tarpon and ended up catching the prettiest girl in town. Dave spent the next several years there guiding fishing and having 2 children. Eventually they moved back to Minnesota to educate the children. During those years on the coast he developed close relationships with many fisherman. Always looking for a opportunity, he realized that the fisherman were looking for an outlet for their products and began to pursue the idea of marketing Caribbean seafood in the US. Then along came the Lionfish.
Since the only way to harvest this invasive predator is by spearing he realized that the coastal cooperatives that specialize in speared fish and lobster could provide this unique product. He has since become the first to import Lionfish on a commercial basis and in turn have been written up in the Washington Post, The DC Examiner, and included in a story released by Associated Press about Lionfish. Dave also supplied a recent Sustainable Seafood event at the Smithsonian Institute where he shared a table with Barton Seaver a top DC chef and National Geographic Fellow. By harvesting the tasty Lionfish for human consumption we can help to control the population of this uninvited, destructive reef fish in the only manner currently known, by eating it.
Traditional Fisheries will continue to provide fresh Caribbean fish individually speared by independent fisherman in a sustainable manner under the watchful eye of their local and national governments. Their stated goals are: “The preservation of the Caribbean reef system, while helping to improve the lives of the local fisherman and their communities”
Dave, and Traditional Fisheries share common goals and vision with our project.  That makes him a logical choice to support and take part in lionfish harvesting project.   Dave will assist our project by facilitating the distribution of the filets of meat, as well as assisting in fundraising objectives to fund reef conservation activities.

Research

Traditional Fisheries plays a vital role in the research goals of our project.  Creating a direct line between consumers and conservation is one of the most important roles in our partners, and Traditional Fisheries is up to the task.  Revenue generated by the commercialization of lionfish will fund our activities monitoring the current populations, and search for the edge of the invasion (ie Panama Canal).

Outreach

Outreach will be accomplished with the help of Traditional Fisheries through an ecotourism option like no other.  Spend the week with one of our participating scuba shops throughout the Caribbean eliminating lionfish and gathering notes on the species.  The meat harvested will be sold through Dave and Traditional Fisheries.

Extension

Our goals and activities are extended through our educational programs and our online video series. Professionally produced videos on our activities will be made available to schools and online, worldwide.  These videos will feature dynamic learning opportunities for participants, utilizing smartboards, and live video chats.

Why we like Traditional Fisheries:

It is imperative our partners have the like minded visions and views on what it is to be a responsible business owner, and Dave has it nailed down.  Goals of reef conservation, and sustainable income are common goals which will ensure the success of this project.

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