The Bettencourt family has been fishing out of Half Moon Bay, about 90 miles south of San Francisco, for more than a century.  In recent years, Geoff Bettencourt has watched as the local fleet has shrunk, due in large part to a new array of restrictions sharply limiting commercial fishing off California. Many of these restrictions were a direct result of lobbying by various environmental organizations.

This, of course, is not unique to the waters off California and is a familiar lament of fishermen around much of the U.S. The typical response of fishermen is to get mad and espouse a theory that the real goal of the environmentalists is to end commercial fishing.  Geoff Bettencourt, though, decided that if you can't beat them, join them.

A 4th generation fisherman, Geoff, 40, decided to team up with environmentalists and change the way he fishes in an effort to become more sustainable. So, out with the trawl and in with the pots. Geoff stopped trawling and instead acquired sablefish quota (the  West Coast bottomfish fishery went to individual quotas this year), which can be fished using pots, a more environmentally benign way to fish, since it eliminates damage to the bottom and minimizes by catch.   

He also lured his sister, Lisa, into Bettencourt Fisheries, the family business, to work with Geoff and his father, David, 68, who still helps after decades on the water. A professional photographer, Lisa Bettencourt- Damrosch is tasked with the job of finding niche markets that want to buy sustainable fish direct from the fishermen.

"We are looking to connect with high end supermarkets, distributors and restaurants that are committed to buying high-quality seafood that is produced sustainably," Lisa says. For now, she says, they are focusing on customers that can buy 300 to 500 pounds at a time, since Geoff's trips will typically bring in 5,000 to 10,000 pounds a trip.   

 

In addition to sablefish, which they fish from July to October, Geoff fishes for Dungeness crab from mid November to April on his boat, the Moriah Lee. "Geoff is still only 40 and he's got a lot of years fishing ahead of him," Lisa says. "The only way we can secure the future of our family's business is to protect the resource and combine that old school honor and wisdom with a progressive and modern approach to the future of fishing."   

 

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