April 5, 2013 — The first trial of a Community Supported Fishery (CSF) in the United Kingdom is expected to get underway on 10 April. Called “Catchbox,” the initiative is using a 12-week pilot in the south coast city of Brighton, utilizing the local under-10 meter fleet’s catch to ascertain whether nationwide roll-out is feasible.
The not-for-profit cooperative has been set up by U.S.-based marine NGO SeaWeb with U.K. government funding, and there are high hopes that this variation on the CSF initiative that has boosted the fortunes of several struggling small boat fisheries in the U.S. could do a similar job for beleaguered U.K. inshore fishermen.
The service has a flat rate of GBP 6 (EUR 7.11/USD 9.12) per kg of round fish (filleting is extra) and there is a GBP 10 (EUR 11.85/USD 15.19) membership fee. As in the U.S., fees are paid upfront and the members have no say in what fish they receive each week — it will depend on what the fishermen have been catching, so some weeks the catch will be worth more than GBP 6, some weeks less.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com