Profiles

Jim Chambers

Jim Chambers is the owner of Prime Seafood in Kensington, Maryland. A retired fisheries biologist, he worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service for 20 years and the Army Corps of Engineers for eight years. The company supplies seafood from sustainably managed wild populations wholesale to upscale D.C. area restaurants and retail to households.

What is your favorite seafood to eat?
Grilled Alaskan halibut.

What’s the most popular seafood item you offer?
Halibut.

How did you get interested in the issue of sustainable seafood?
I’m a retired marine biologist so I’ve been in the conservation game since I started working.

How would you describe your philosophy on ocean conservation?
With the succession of Republican administrations that we’ve had, we need to redouble our efforts through litigation to force the government to do their job and be proper stewards for the resource. I’d say that we have lost about 80 percent of the fishery biomass, or abundance, that once existed in this country, so we are down to 20 percent and it’s declining quite rapidly.

This administration and its predecessor have been woefully unconcerned about the continued slide and they are quite willing to just do nothing. The Clinton Administration had so much they were trying to fix that they didn’t get around to NOAA, which is a low priority on the federal totem pole. Everything needed fixing and they didn’t have enough time. They didn’t even have a house cleaning of the Republicans who were running the agency. So we’ve had 25 years of the wrong philosophy, which has been perpetuated down into the ranks. The leadership is not proper stewards, so that leaves the courts as the only alternative.

How has your philosophy changed what fish you sell?
From the get-go, I started to sell only those populations that were in good shape. I sell primarily Alaskan fish, not crustaceans: salmon of all varieties, halibut, sablefish, and lingcod. These are the best fish species you can get and they are all sustainably managed, so it’s a piece of cake for me philosophically.

Have your customers noticed?
My customers are not particularly interested in sustainable seafood, so this is a hard sell. They are in business to make money; they want to buy cheap products. They don’t mind selling Chilean sea bass and farm-raised salmon. So I have to convince them that for slightly more money you can have a much better tasting product, in the case of farm-raised versus wild salmon, for example. I don’t think they are getting the message from their customers because not many customers are sophisticated enough to know. They appreciate that my product tastes better but they’re worried about their bottom line, so they buy my product for special occasions.

Do you feel it limits what you can offer?
I don’t. I’m fairly narrow in what I’m trying to do. It’s a niche for me. I’m not trying to be a seafood purveyor that sells a list of items that is 12 pages, single-spaced. But I offer the best quality available. I’m also willing to sell one fish at a time if need be; other sellers have minimum orders.

How has the sustainable seafood movement affected your bottom line?
My company was formed in January 2004 to sell only sustainable seafood. Our bottom line has been climbing quite dramatically; I have over 60-70 of the best restaurants in the D.C. area after only one and a half years. I think that the fact that I’m able to do this is putting the well-managed seafood in the very best light it can be. And it’s putting it in front of policymakers and the public in the most important market in the U.S. It tastes better. You can eat in good conscience; you aren’t destroying the planet in the process. And it’s right here in the nation’s capital.

How have you worked with clients in providing sustainably caught seafood?
I search out the sources. I get most of my seafood from fishermen or fishermen’s cooperatives that I knew about from my previous career. I don’t go to processors looking for fish out of their warehouses. We get it without a middleman so we get it quicker and fresher.

Seafood Producers Cooperative of Alaska is the major source for my fish. It’s made up of small boat fishermen from Alaska to northern California. It’s been in business the longest in North America and it’s the industry leader in terms of setting industry standards, for product quality and safety.

What trends have you noticed in seafood in the past 10 years?
The demand for it has increased dramatically, as has the appreciation for quality seafood. I believe the price has also risen proportionally. People recognize the health benefits; Alaskan salmon is the healthiest food you can eat. The Marine Stewardship Council was also founded in 1997, as the leading organization to set standards and certification for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.

Why do you support Seafood Choices Alliance?
Because I support the concept and I think it’s a very good thing to be aware of. One of my first restaurants was the Reef Restaurant in Washington, D.C., which was featured in an article in Afishianado.

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