EDF Launches Nation's First Sustainable Fishing Loan Program

California Fisheries Fund Grants First Loans for Eco-friendly Fishing
Businesses in California

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At 5:30 p.m. PDT
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) will hold a special event at Google's
Mountain View headquarters to announce the launch of the California Fisheries
Fund (CFF), a $5 million, first-of-its-kind revolving loan program to rebuild
California's fishing communities and to develop eco-friendly fishing. CFF also
will announce its first three loans, which collectively support a vertically
integrated fish-to-consumer supply chain that extends from fishermen to
dockside unloader and buyer to seafood distributor. It is an unprecedented
public-private investment in sustainable seafood distribution. Google
purchases eco-friendly seafood, including from one of the first CFF borrowers,
Central Coast Seafood.

"Without the California Fisheries Fund, these fishing businesses probably
wouldn't get loans, and without loans, the entire seafood supply chain,
starting with the fishermen, can't make the necessary investments to make
fishing more sustainable," said Michael DeLapa, manager of the CFF. "We
expect these loans to be paid back because we're confident about the growing
market for environmentally-friendly fish and the new value created by
management innovations."

Demand for seafood is growing as consumers respond to evidence of its health
benefits and concern grows for ocean life and habitat and for the people whose
livelihoods depend upon the sea. Large retail chains and food service
providers are providing sustainable seafood when possible including: Bon
Appetit Management Company, Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Darden Restaurants, the
parent of Red Lobster, and the Compass Group.

Since much of California's fishing industry has, for decades, been
unprofitable or marginally profitable, banks have been mostly unwilling to
extend loans to fishermen. The CFF provides needed capital to fishermen and
businesses that face additional barriers because the experimental methods
they use to catch fish and protect the environment are considered risky by
lenders.

"We really appreciate the loan from the California Fisheries Fund, especially
in the middle of the current economic realities and credit crunch," said Brett
Cunningham, owner of Morro Bay Fish Company, a dockside fish buyer located in
Morro Bay, CA.

The CFF will grant Morro Bay Fish Company a $25,000 working capital line of
credit, as well as a 5-year, $100,000 loan to remodel its freezer, purchase a
delivery truck and build a hoist on the dock. As the primary fish buyer on
the dock in Morro Bay, Morro Bay Fish Company will help to deliver and market
sustainable fish from local fishermen.

"Our business model depends on maintaining a reliable supply of fresh fish
caught in ways that maintain healthy fish populations," said Giovanni Comin,
owner of Central Coast Seafood. "Our California Fisheries Fund loan will make
it a lot easier to deliver sustainable seafood to markets worldwide."

Central Coast Seafood, a leading sustainable fish buyer from Atascadero in
San Luis Obispo County, California, will use a $150,000 line of credit from
the CFF to invest in black cod inventory, as well as marketing to keep up
with the increased supply from local fishing. The fishing quotas for black
cod are nearly quadrupling in 2009 -- rising to 3 million pounds in the
fishing regions surrounding Morro Bay -- due to the abundance and health of
the stock.

CFF's first loans are in Morro Bay because fisheries managers and fishermen
made significant improvements in management and commitments to
environmentally friendly business and fishing. In 2005, EDF worked with The
Nature Conservancy on a fishing vessel and permit buyout that protected over
three million acres of valuable ocean habitat, and a group of Morro Bay
fisherman switched from trawling to using more selective and
environmentally-friendly gear types, including traps and hook-and-line. Last
year, these vessels fully complied with, and even exceeded, stringent catch
limits.

"With a rising demand for safe, healthy and environmentally-friendly seafood
from around the world, it is vital that we support our local fishermen and
businesses that have the ability to bring these fish to market," said
California Natural Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman. "By providing
fishermen, ports, fishing businesses, and fishing organizations with an
infusion of capital, the California Fisheries Fund helps coastal communities
profit from sustainable fishing, including marketing their product and
implementing important management innovations such as 'catch shares.'"
Chrisman was part of a prestigious working group of scientists, academics and
elected officials that recommends catch share programs to President Obama in
the Oceans of Abundance report.

Catch share programs provide fishermen with a guaranteed percentage of the
catch based on boat size and fishing history. Recent studies have shown that
catch shares and other reforms restore fisheries and spur new economic
growth. One study, published in the journal Nature, conservatively estimated
that catch shares could double the net economic value of U.S. commercial
fisheries. The Pacific Fisheries Management Council adopted a catch share
program, also called an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) system, for the
trawling sector of west coast groundfish in late 2008. CFF was created in
part to support fisheries that transition to catch shares. CFF also invests
in other coastal California businesses that are adapting "green" business and
management practices as a cornerstone to how they harvest, process and market
fish.

"We all have a role to play in protecting our ocean resources and building up
economically-viable coastal communities," said David H. Festa, vice
president of west coast operations for Environmental Defense Fund and the
former director of Policy and Strategic Planning at the Department of
Commerce.

"The California Fisheries Fund is a great model for how public and private
interests can work together with fishermen and the seafood industry to
achieve common objectives of economic and environmental prosperity."

CFF is funded in part by the California Ocean Protection Council, which
coordinates the protection and management of California's ocean and coastal
resources, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which supports
communities that are working to improve the sustainability of their
fisheries. The state of California has invested two million dollars into the
CFF and the Moore Foundation and other private foundations have invested
another three million dollars.

About California Fisheries Fund

The California Fisheries Fund (CFF) is a $5 million revolving loan fund that
supports fishing communities working to improve the sustainability of their
fisheries. CFF invests in innovative projects that will lead to more stable
and profitable fisheries, including management changes such as catch shares
and more localized management. California-based fishermen and fishery
related businesses that share in the fund's goals to promote conservation and
community benefits may apply for a loan at
http://www.californiafisheriesfund.org

About Environmental Defense Fund

A leading national nonprofit organization, Environmental Defense Fund
represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund
has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships
to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.
For more information, visit www.edf.org. To download a Seafood Selector card
please go to www.edf.org/seafood. And to view a short video about how catch
shares have improved fishing in Alaska please go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1qpzw-IcE.

About Central Coast Seafood and Morro Bay Fish Company

Central Coast Seafood is a fast growing and progressive seafood distributor
in California with an efficient network that services retailers and
restaurants from Ventura County in the south, to the greater San Francisco
Bay area in the north (www.ccseafood.com). Founded in 2006, Morro Bay Fish
Company is run by local fishermen who take the greatest pride and care in the
quality of their product. (www.morrobayfish.com)

CONTACT:
Jennifer Witherspoon, EDF California Communications Director
415-378-1985

SOURCE Environmental Defense Fund

Jennifer Witherspoon, EDF California Communications Director, +1-415-378-1985