Celebrating a family tradition of seafood by protecting it for future generations

National Seafood Month highlights that any day is the perfect time to head out to your favorite restaurant and order up a sizable helping of fish and chips, pasta with clam sauce, or — of course — copious amounts of sushi. For me, personally, it was also an opportunity to celebrate my family’s long history of serving delicious seafood to residents of and visitors to New Haven alike.

In 1982, my mother started what would become New Haven County’s first sushi bar in a tiny apartment kitchen on Prospect Street. Thus, Miya’s Sushi, named for her baby daughter, was born. After more than 30 years in the business, Mama is still as passionate about Miya’s as she was the day she first opened its doors.

She also has a passion for nature, a trait she passed on to me. When I was very young, she taught me to forage for food and be accountable for my impact on the planet. Using different plants and all parts of the fish — even the bones — my mother was a pioneer in sustainable cooking before there was a term for it.

Fortunately, policymakers caught up to her ways. One of the main reasons we are able to serve the variety of delicious, innovative sushi dishes we offer today is because the United States has some of the best-managed fisheries in the world.

Not so long ago, our fisheries, like those throughout much of the rest of the world, were in terrible shape. Fortunately, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which governs fishing in U.S. waters, helped turn that around by requiring us to manage our fisheries in a responsible way. The results are clear. Since 2000, the Magnuson-Stevens Act has helped rebuild more than 40 species and brought overfishing to near historic lows.

This success has enabled restaurants across the country — including Miya’s — to offer a wider variety of domestic sustainable seafood. This includes the giant sea scallops.

Now Congress is considering legislation to “modernize” the Magnuson Stevens Act. These short-sighted proposals — including H.R. 200 and S. 1520 — threaten the conservation and economic gains we’ve made by weakening federal laws holding all fishermen accountable for what they catch. This would create the potential for more overfishing and reverse the progress we’ve made in recent decades toward fully sustainable U.S. fisheries. And that’s a problem for anyone who likes to catch fish or eat fresh seafood as well as chefs who strive to feature domestic sustainable seafood in our signature dishes.

Besides weakening science-based standards, the bills would limit how regional leaders manage fisheries, mandate burdensome bureaucracy, and exacerbate tensions between fishermen without allowing the flexibility to increase fishing opportunities. This could cause a variety of popular seafood items to disappear from menus and markets throughout the country. Fortunately, leaders like our own U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal are helping us protect this important law.

It is a great time to hit reset and reject current attempts to weaken U.S. fisheries laws. In the meantime, I’ll be working with my family to pass Mama’s passion for combining good food and sustainability down to future generations.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Five chefs participating in 2009 New Haven Restaurant Week showed second-graders from Conte/West Hills Magnet School how to make a healthy snack — granola — at the TD Bank on Chapel Street. Bun Lai of Miya’s Sushi center tastes their work with students.