Saving Seafood

The Best Fish Is Also the Most Local. Why Is It So Hard to Find?

April 23, 2024 — On a cold, windy February morning on Shinnecock Bay, on the South Fork of Long Island, N.Y., Ricky Sea Smoke fished for clams from the back of his 24-foot boat. The fisherman, whose real name is Rick Stevens, expertly sorted through haul after haul as they were dumped onto the sorting rack.

Among the usual littlenecks and cherrystones were delicacies that would make chefs swoon: sweet, plump razor clams; vermilion-fleshed blood clams; and dainty limpets (also known as slipper snails) with their inimitable saline, buttery flavor. Depending on the season, fishers like Mr. Stevens can bring in even more treasures, like scallops, squid, blue crabs, striped bass, mackerel and skate.

But almost none of them are available locally.

But late last year, Mr. Stevens found a workaround by sending his clams to Dock to Dish, one of a growing number of small businesses across the country — including restaurant suppliers, shops, farmers’ markets and community-supported fisheries — that are dedicated to helping fishing communities sell their catch directly to local markets.

For chefs and home cooks, this means that finding truly fresh, local wild seafood is getting a little easier — at least for anyone willing to wade past the deluge of imported farmed salmon to find it.

Dock to Dish is committed to buying whatever seafood fishing boats bring in, limpets and all, then selling it directly to nearby customers, often within 24 to 48 hours. Chefs at New York City restaurants, including ILIS, M. Wells and Houseman, get to offer local specialties like exceptionally fresh royal red shrimp and blood clams.

Read the full article at the The New York Times

Growing in popularity, local seafood movement picks up US government support

December 22, 2021 — From Alaska to California to New York to Maine, hyper-local seafood purveyors throughout the United States have seen a boom in interest the COVID-19 pandemic – and federal, state, and local governments are taking notice.

As the result COVID’s drastic impact on seafood supply chains and the U.S. consumer market for seafood, the local seafood trend has thrived in the pandemic, from direct-to-consumer seafood subscription services, to community supported fisheries (CSFs), to fishermen banding together to form sales cooperatives such as Real Good Fish and Get Hooked Seafood in California, Local Catch Network in New England, and Louisiana Direct Seafood.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Local Catch Network to Host “Find Your Seafood Week” August 2-8

July 26, 2021 — The following was released by Local Catch Network: 

The Local Catch Network (LCN), based in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine, is launching a new and improved digital “Seafood Finder” designed to help connect community members directly with fishers and seafood harvesters. To kick off the launch, LCN is hosting #FindYourSeafoodWeek, a social media awareness campaign that celebrates small-scale fisheries and local seafood.

“Fresh, sustainable seafood harvested by the same people who live in your community is often closer than people think,” said Joshua Stoll, founder of the Local Catch Network and Assistant Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine. “We created the Seafood Finder to make it easy for everyone to discover local seafood wherever they are.”

The #FindYourSeafoodWeek campaign will run from Aug. 2 – Aug. 8 to help community members discover and engage with local fishermen. The pandemic has exposed the importance of community-based fisheries in building resilient local and regional seafood systems, as many global supply chains, including seafood, faltered at the onset of COVID-19 due to the elimination of traditional export markets. As a result, fishing businesses participating in direct-to-consumer sales saw an uptick in community support. Historically, shorter seafood supply chains have also been more adaptable and less prone to social, environmental and economic shocks to the food system. #FindYourSeafoodWeek is a new way that fishers, seafood organizations and advocates are collaborating to raise awareness about the role of community-based fisheries while strengthening relationships between fishermen and their communities.

#FindYourSeafoodWeek will also promote the launch of LCN’s revamped Seafood Finder tool, a searchable map and database that makes it easy for consumers across the United States and Canada to discover fishing businesses that sell seafood directly to consumers via community-supported fisheries (CSFs), farmers and fisherman’s markets and doorstep delivery. The Seafood Finder will allow consumers to learn more about individual fishing businesses, the locations they operate, the number of fishers they partner with, how long they have been in business, and the types of catch they offer. By making this information more easily available, the new Seafood Finder will increase the visibility and viability of small-scale fisheries and the communities that depend on them.

The Local Catch Network is inviting community members across North America to join the “boat-to-fork” movement by finding fishermen and local seafood near them during #FindYourSeafoodWeek and beyond. For information on how to participate, visit https://localcatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/HashtagFindYourSeafoodWeekCampaign.pdf.

The new Seafood Finder tool will be available on Aug. 2. To access it then, visit https://finder.localcatch.org/.

MAINE: With $500K award, Local Catch Network will grow ‘boat-to-fork’ market

January 5, 2021 — The Local Catch Network, based in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine, was founded in 2011 as a nonprofit network of seafood harvesters, researchers and community organizations across North America.

Today, the network has more than 200 members, including 12 in Maine. It promotes “boat-to-fork” systems of local and regional seafood distribution, such as community supported fisheries.

Last month, the Local Catch Network received a $499,463 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Market Promotion Program to accelerate the local distribution model and fund “Scale Your Local Catch,” the first nationwide training and technical assistance program to catalyze direct-to-consumer seafood operations.

In all, the organization has raised $624,331 for the program, including a 25% match from the University of Maine System. Expecting to recruit its first cohort this summer, the program will help fishing communities gain marketing, social media, pricing and permitting skills through workshops, networking, mentorships and digital tools to link consumers with producers in their local areas.

Read the full story at MaineBiz