1% For The Fishery

"Who are businesses really responsible to? Their customers? Shareholders? Employees? We would argue that it's none of the above. Fundamentally, businesses are responsible to their resource base. Without a healthy environment there are no shareholders, no employees, no customers, and no business."

- Yvon Chouinard (2006). “Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman”, p.159, Penguin 

At Wayward Fishing, we know our business doesn’t exist without the ocean. If fish stocks decline, so does the future of fishing — and ours along with it. But it’s not enough to simply rely on the ocean; we believe that businesses like ours, that directly depend on a healthy fishery, have a responsibility to help protect it. We can’t wait for others to take the lead — we have to be part of the solution.

That’s why we’re committing 1% of all revenue — not profit, but revenue — to projects that support and protect Australian fisheries. And because we’re a small, independent business, we want our community to help guide where that support goes. Whether it’s for fish restocking efforts, a local research initiative, or a grassroots conservation effort, we’ll be involving our customers in choosing which causes to back each year.

We call it 1% For The Fishery — a pledge inspired by 1% For The Planet, created by Yvon Chouinard and Patagonia. This is our way of applying that same mindset to the ocean and fisheries we rely on here in Australia.

This isn’t about marketing. It’s about taking responsibility for the resource that keeps us — and thousands of fishers — connected to the water.