Support crabbers in their climate suit
Two weeks ago my organization, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, became the first industry trade group of any kind to legally challenge Big Oil for its role in causing global climate change.
Our case, PCFFA vs. Chevron (and ExxonMobil, BP, and 27 other fossil fuel companies) was filed in state court under a simple legal theory that entities found to harm others should be held liable. We filed our case the day before the Dungeness crab season opened in the Bay Area to highlight how the gross misuse of the public trust by these mega corporations has resulted in warming oceans, harmful algal blooms, and dangerous conditions for the West Coast fishing industry.
The harm to our members and our industry has been significant, and as the specter of ocean warming looms, we know it will continue. We know that we will have to take additional steps to be able to survive and adapt. And, we should note, for all the dire news, Dungeness crab fisheries are quite well managed.
When ocean conditions are too warm, harmful algal blooms can occur, potentially compromising public health, and precautionary measures kick in to temporarily close fisheries. Sometimes these closures last for months, as they did in 2016. In the future, they might even shut us out for an entire season.
Coincidentally, not long after we filed our suit, the Trump administration’s Fourth National Climate Assessment was released, forecasting hundreds of billions of dollars in economic damage, political and social destabilization, and staggering loss of life in the coming decades.
The certainty of our collective climate-impacted future is undeniable today, but it was explicitly known decades ago to the defendants in our case. Armed with the knowledge of their destruction, they continued to ramp up production and bury the opposition. Their shameful legacy has arguably caused one of the two most severe existential crises humans have ever faced, on par with the threat of nuclear war.
Actions have consequences. When fossil fuel companies decided to bury the truth about the climate-altering nature of their products, under our nation’s laws they became liable for the results of their deception.
This season, areas of the Dungeness crab fishery south of Bodega Bay tested clean of domoic acid and were able to open on time. Other areas await the go-ahead from state agencies. Right now, Bay Area crabbers are working hard to bring you the crabs to which you, the citizen, are entitled. But crabbers on California’s North Coast and in Oregon will remain at the docks for at least two weeks past the scheduled Saturday opening.
It is right to delay our fishery in order to ensure that the seafood we catch is worthy of your confidence.
It is wrong for the fossil fuel industry to offset the economic harm they cause by placing it on the backs of hardworking small-scale commercial fishermen and their families.
Please support your local Dungeness crabbers by purchasing and enjoying this seasonal delicacy.
The smallest decisions each of us makes as a consumer can alter the face of society as we know it. Living in harmony, achieving balance in the face of climate challenges, offering respect for the creatures of the sea, and fighting the Goliaths of the fossil fuel industry for what’s right — that’s what we’ve decided to do. Won’t you support us?
Noah Oppenheim is executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, the largest commercial fishermen’s organization on the West Coast, representing 17 local and regional associations from Santa Barbara to Southeast Alaska.