September 3, 2024 — The following was released by the The Local Catch Network:
The Local Catch Network (LCN), based in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine, is facilitating the fourth annual #FindYourSeafoodWeek (#FYSW) to connect community members directly with fishing families and seafood harvesters and to raise awareness of community-based fisheries across the United States and Canada.
Find Your Seafood Week is a social media campaign that runs from September 8-14 and increases the visibility of domestic seafood harvesters and businesses that participate in direct marketing — in other words, selling their catch directly to consumers, rather than relying on complex and often murky supply chains.
The initiative is focused on highlighting the importance of community-based fisheries in building resilient local and regional seafood systems. Through extensive data analysis and calculations, University of Maine researchers found the U.S. could achieve seafood independence (Oyikeke, 2024). “There is a tendency to forget that seafood is an integral part of the nation’s food system, but achieving greater seafood independence can improve equity, health and buffers from climate change,” said Joshua Stoll, UMaine associate professor of marine policy. For home cooks, and restaurants wanting to be part of the solution, knowing how to find and support community-based fisheries that provide high quality, sustainably-harvested seafood is critical to the behavior change necessary to move towards domestic seafood self-reliance.
“If we want to see our oceans thrive for generations to come, it is critical that we vote with our dollars when we access the seafood system,” says Laughton Elliott-DeAngelis, Local Catch Network Coordinator, “Using the LCN Seafood Finder allows families to bypass the mega-conglomerate grocery stores whose global supply chains are often environmentally unsustainable, fraught with human exploitation and harmful to ecosystems throughout the world. Seafood harvesters within the Local Catch Network align with a set of core values and practices which ensure a triple bottom line. Profits shouldn’t be made at the grave expense of people and the planet”
The Local Catch Network invites community members to join the “boat-to-fork” movement by using the Seafood Finder to learn more about community-based fishing businesses, the locations they operate, the number of fishermen they partner with, and the types of catch they offer during #FindYourSeafoodWeek and beyond.
For information on how to participate in #FindYourSeafoodWeek, check out our campaign toolkit and follow LCN on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
To access the Seafood Finder tool, visit https://finder.localcatch.org/
About Local Catch Network
The Local Catch Network, based at the University of Maine, is an inclusive, values-based network of 500+ seafood harvesters, researchers, and community organizations from across North America. LCN members support and promote safe, direct, transparent and profitable “boat-to-fork” systems of local and regional seafood distribution, such as Community Supported Fisheries (CSFs) and similar models. Members of the Local Catch Network align with a set of core values that aim to create a higher level of accountability and trust, both internally within the network and externally to the public. LCN is governed by a volunteer Executive Committee responsible for supporting the growth and development of the network, with backbone support from the North American Marine Alliance. FMI: https://localcatch.org/.
The Local Catch Network, based at the University of Maine, is an inclusive, values-based network of 500+ seafood harvesters, researchers, and community organizations from across North America. LCN members support and promote safe, direct, transparent and profitable “boat-to-fork” systems of local and regional seafood distribution, such as Community Supported Fisheries (CSFs) and similar models. Members of the Local Catch Network align with a set of core values that aim to create a higher level of accountability and trust, both internally within the network and externally to the public. LCN is governed by a volunteer Executive Committee responsible for supporting the growth and development of the network, with backbone support from the North American Marine Alliance. FMI: https://localcatch.org/.
For media inquires, contact Laughton Elliott-DeAngelis at info@localcatch.org