The seafood industry is big business. The GDP for US fisheries alone was over $31 billion annually in 2003, which only accounts for less than 4% of world fisheries. Worldwide, humans catch an average of 185,000 tons of seafood daily. One of the biggest issues with consuming fish is how they are caught. Many fisheries do not consider the future of our oceans and the many species that live in them.
The majority of the fishing methods used cannot differentiate the type of fish or animals caught, resulting in excessive by-catch. This by-catch includes mammals and birds in addition to the fish and other sea creatures caught that are not wanted and are discarded resulting in unnecessary and excessive loss of lives and ecosystem disruption. On average, 1000 marine mammals die each day caught in fishing nets.
By-catch is not the only problem. Some methods used for fishing, such as bottom trawling, completely destroy the habitat of the animals they are catching. When the habitat is destroyed, the animals that do survive no longer have a place to live.
Another major problem is over-fishing. Even with the most sustainable methods of fishing we still have to limit the amount of fish caught, otherwise they are not truly 'sustainable'. The majority of big game fish are highly exploited. In the last fifty years 90% of large predator fish have been caught. This means there is only 10% of the amount of large fish in the ocean as there was in the mid 1960’s. Fish cannot reproduce at the speed we are catching them.
Sustainable fishing practices can help stop this. Fisheries need to minimize the amount of fish caught and use more sustainable practices to lower the amount of by-catch. Consumers need to create more demand for these practices by only eating fish caught in sustainable ways. All the fish that have been printed for this series have been caught using the most sustainable fishing method, spearfishing. Spearfishing accounts for less than 0.1% of fish caught annually. I have personally caught, printed, and consumed all the fish you see in these works.
I print the fish in a contemporary style I have developed from the traditional Japanese art form of Gyotaku. When spearfishing, I free dive, and I only get one shot per breath. I am creating this work to bring awareness to the need of sustainable fishing and as a tribute to the fish and animals that are wasted from unsustainable fishing practices.
Bryan Lenorud is an artist and watermen based out of Orange County, California. His whole life revolves around the ocean, whether surfing above the water or diving under its surface. Inspiration comes from traveling the world and a constant connection with nature. Traveling helps gain a larger perspective on life, while a strong connection with nature reminds him what is most important. Bryan graduated from CSULB with an art degree in 2014. His goal as an artist is to bring focus a about important issues in the community, with the hope of creating change through education.
