Saving Seafood

New Jersey Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative still strong, 70 years and counting

February 15, 2023 — Established on July 1, 1953, the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative, Inc. of Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., has been the home port of generations of New Jersey commercial fishermen.  The cooperative dock and packing house – or “the Co-op” as it is customarily referred to, is located near the entrance to the Manasquan Inlet.

The Manasquan Inlet sits between the Jersey Shore towns of Manasquan and Point Pleasant Beach.  The inlet is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and a major thoroughfare of maritime transportation.  Point Pleasant Beach together with the nearby town of Brielle, are home to a fleet of commercial and recreational fishing vessels.

Retired commercial fisherman and author Jim Lovgren explained that the Co-op was originally established by twelve members, all of whom were commercial fishermen.  The goal in forming the Co-op was to provide members with dock space, easy access to fuel and the packing out of fish for sale to various markets.

When the Co-op started, “the main species that the Co-op dealt with, was whiting for thirty years,” said Lovgren, a 2006 National Fisherman Highliner. Since whiting have all but vanished over the last 25 years, black sea bass, summer flounder, scallops and porgies are some of the most targeted species by Co-op vessels. All of the current Co-op members now are involved with operating draggers.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

One month into coronavirus shutdowns, New Jersey fishermen search for new customers

April 9, 2020 — Weeks after the New York region’s fresh seafood market suddenly froze with government-mandated restaurant closings to control coronavirus, fishermen, docks and dealers are slowly finding new ways to get fresh fish to consumers.

“It’s a sustainable, natural, healthy resource,” said Richard Brecka, who owns the Shore Fresh Seafood Market at the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. “We’ve got 13,000 pounds for tomorrow.”

Brecka’s crew was busily cutting black sea bass Wednesday afternoon, preparing for another open-air seafood sale near the dock, which was hit hard by the late March collapse of New York market prices. The first event April 4 attracted enough of a crowd – maintaining the required 6-foot social distancing among customers – to sell out 300 pounds of scallops in an hour.

“It’s coming back up” as retail customers seek out sources for local seafood, said Brecka. But the retail shop can handle only a portion of what the Point Pleasant fishermen can land during good weather, he added.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NEW JERSEY: Pop-up seafood market at Jersey Shore helps fishermen hurt by COVID-19 restaurant closures

April 7, 2020 — A pop-up wholesale seafood market is helping to keep the fishing industry afloat in an Ocean County municipality.

Point Pleasant Beach’s Shore Fresh Seafood Market is collaborating with the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative to sell the catch — brought ashore on the docks directly behind the business — on its outdoor patio on Channel Drive.

According to a posting on Shore Fresh Seafood Market’s Facebook page, the new offering is out of necessity.

Read the full story at WHYY

East Coast fishing crippled by coronavirus crisis, restaurant shutdowns

March 25, 2020 — Escalating coronavirus closures in Northeast cities have left seafood unsold and boats tied up, threatening to inflict lasting damage on the U.S. fishing fleet.

State governments ordering restaurants to close and people to stay in their homes brought business to a screeching halt at major seafood hubs like Boston and the New Fulton Fish Market in New York City’s sprawling Hunts Point food terminal.

“It’s really serious here. Some buyers have not given us a price, and in some cases, they still have the fish,” said Jim Lovgren, a longtime trawler captain with the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.

“The issue here is the restaurants. The average American doesn’t cook fish at home,” said Lovgren. Restaurant and food service buyers account for the vast majority of demand in the fresh fish market, but state orders limiting restaurants to offering take-out service only immediately evaporated those sales, he said.

The crisis hit amid a growing economy and a relatively mild winter with good fishing in the New York Bight. Jumbo fluke that had been bringing $4 a pound at the dock plummeted to 75 cents, meaning “50 cents to the boat,” said Lovgren.

“So, the market is upside down,” he added. Co-op members have even discussed whether they may need to close the dock if those conditions persist.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

From the sea to the food insecure: Seafood ‘gleaning’ program begins in N.J.

September 27, 2019 — Several pantries, soup kitchens, and a women’s shelter in New Jersey are the beneficiaries of fresh seafood thanks to a pilot program that began in August.

At a press conference in Point Pleasant Beach last week, Fulfill (formerly The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties), America’s Gleaned Seafood of Lavallette, and Trinity Seafood of Lakewood announced the New Jersey Seafood Gleaning Pilot Program.

The growing movement seeks to increase food security and reduce food waste by utilizing the approximately 20 percent of seafood that is discarded by United States fisheries annually for consumption.

“Gleaning is an important tool in the fight against hunger. Perfectly good fish are routinely getting thrown overboard or worse — thrown in a dumpster. What a waste, especially considering one in ten people don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” said Fulfill CEO and President Kim Guadagno, New Jersey’s former Lieutenant Governor, at the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach.

Read the full story at WHYY