Eat Local Fish

Well... we don't expect 95% of the population to be able to answer that question. But many of us are working to change that.

Changing how and where the seafood that ends up on dinner tables comes from is key to fisheries conservation and recovery of the marine ecosystem. We need to recover marine ecosystems while strengthening fishing communities and their commercial fisheries.

Creating and expanding market appreciation for locally caught seafood is one way to get us there. Doing so allows fishermen to have a better return on smaller catches and offer higher quality seasonal seafood.

To that end, the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) is setting out to create Community Supported Fisheries (CSF). Tailored after the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, CSFs reconnect people to the ocean and build a rewarding relationship between fishermen and their community. A CSF brings freshly caught local seafood directly from the boats to our kitchens and gives fishermen a better price so they can catch fewer fish. CSF shareholders pay in advance, and in turn the fishermen provide a weekly distribution of local seafood that couldn’t be fresher.

Keep visiting this Dancing Spoon community for information on supporting local fishermen, eating local seafood and joining a CSF.

For some of us this approach represents a return to childhood memories, for others it is a totally new idea. For the oceans, such actions mean a better chance of being able to feed us for the long haul.

Either way, eating local seafood promises the delight of truly fresh and delicious seafood.