MADISON, Wis. — July 17, 2014 — Sustainable fish, shipped fast directly from docks around the country, could soon raise the quality of Madison's catch of the day.
A new partnership between a group of chefs and a sustainable seafood operation hopes to bring better, fresher fish to restaurants like Sardine, The Coopers Tavern, Grampa's Pizzeria, The Great Dane and many more.
"This is a game changer for not only quality, but for sustainability," said Tory Miller, chef/owner at L'Etoile, Graze and the upcoming Sujeo. "Madison, as a rule, is good at promoting local, sustainable, organic, farm to table food."
With the new collaboration, Miller said, "we can connect with the fisheries, the fishermen (and) the ports by name, the same way we connect with our farmers."
The challenge with serving quality fish in the upper Midwest stems from a cumbersome supply chain and unreliable sources. A recent story on National Public Radio noted that "91 percent of the seafood Americans eat comes from abroad, but one-third of the seafood Americans catch gets sold to other countries."
And fish caught relatively nearby may not come directly to Madison. When fish come off boats in Lake Superior or Lake Michigan, it often travels to the east coast. There it is grouped with other fishermens' catch, sold at market, shipped to Chicago and then trucked north.
"The chain is ridiculous," Miller said.
Miller, the de facto leader of the Madison Area Chefs Network formed less than a year ago, began to wonder if the group's collective buying power could make fresh, sustainable fish more attainable for local restaurateurs, especially smaller ones.
"What holds people back from working with a company like Sea to Table is the cost and the volume," said Miller. "What if we could get a point-to-point distribution system? Why can't we pull together one giant order?"
Last week, Miller and more than a dozen chefs met with Sea to Table co-founder Sean Dimin and Lindsay Haas, a 2006 University of Wisconsin-Madison alumna who is now a sales rep for the Brooklyn-based company.
As the name implies, Sea to Table takes the fair trade, "farm to table" model and applies it to seafood. The company partners with fishermen at docks across the country, sourcing monkfish from Rhode Island, grouper from Florida and amberjack, tuna and snapper from North Carolina, among others.
Read the full story at The Capital Times