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A Leap of Faith: Community Supported Fisheries from Eric C Smith on Vimeo.

Hooked on CSFs!

In the aftermath of the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami, NAMA and Clean Catch launched a fundraising & relief effort to help Sri Lankan fishermen. This story tells of the fishing communities' struggle to rebuild their lives in the midst of their country's transitions.

No word that Bobby Flay will show up, but organizers have put together an Ultimate Seafood Throwdown between two local chefs.

Chris DeStefano of Christopher's Table and Ray Morley, selectman and proprietor of Ipswich Bed and Breakfast, will match culinary skills in a cook-off, sponsored by the Cape Ann Fresh Catch community-supported fishing and Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance.

Food makers across the country have taken the idea of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program and run with it.

There are thousands of traditional fruit and vegetable CSA programs in the United States (go to LocalHarvest to find one in your neighborhood). Generally, consumers sign-up in the winter months for a “share” of a local farmer’s harvest come spring and summer. This ensures that farmers get cash for repairs, seeds, supplies, and tools when they need it most: in the barren, vegetable-less winter months when they have no regular income. Doing sign-ups in the cold months also allows farmers to make a better guess of the demand for their product and how much they should plant.

Cape Ann Fresh Catch is a Community Supported Fishery — CSF for short — based in Gloucester that has eight drop-off points in the Boston area.

The drop at Harvard’s farmers market is the largest. For a fee, CSF members receive fresh fish every week for 12 weeks. The fish are caught that day, weather depending, and packaged by weight for each member.

A similar agriculture model has been around for decades; farmers sell portions of their harvest directly to people who take it home and prepare it for dinner. Now fishermen are getting in on the act, selling their fresh fish to people who pay in advance for a share of the catch.

The project is good for fishermen, consumers and the fish supply, said Niaz Dorry, who heads the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and helped spearhead the program. By selling a mix of fish at the same price every week, fishermen aren’t forced to chase fish that are fetching the highest price on the market that week. It also gives the fish more time to reproduce, she said.

"...Beyond fruits and vegetables, Cape Ann Fresh Catch, a community-supported fishery operating out of Gloucester, makes weekly Saturday morning stops at Appleton Farms to deliver shares of haddock, cod, flounder, sole, and sometimes clams and lobsters. By taking a mix of species at a set cost, the fishermen are able to work areas that are not stressed by the rest of the fleet, which often chases catches that are dictated by daily market prices. The program gives species and ecosystems time to recover and replenish..."

Commercial Fisherman of America hold annual meeting in Gloucester, MA to determine national agenda.

Go — now! — to sign up for Cape Ann Fresh Catch - a collaboration of shore-side residents and the local fishing community. Members give the fishing community financial support in advance of the season, and in turn the fishermen provide a weekly share of seafood during the harvesting season to shareholders — just like a regular ole CSA.

Community-supported fisheries deliver the freshest catch to consumers. They could also be a boon for a troubled industry.

Washington Post
1/14/09
Here's the Catch
The best idea to help small fisheries might come from your local vegetable farm.

Orion
Making Other Arrangements: Stories for a Sustainable Future
One of the stories features the Port Clyde Community Supported Fishery

Gloucester Times
Angela Sanfilippo headlining Seafood Throwdown

Gloucester Daily Times
09/03/08
The case for backing 'Community Supported Fisheries'

Gloucester Daily Times
08/19/08
Seafood Throwdown Community event focuses on importance of local seafood
The Cape Ann Farmers Market has teamed with the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance to stress the
importance of locally caught seafood to the community and people's stomachs.

National Fisherman
05/01/08
National Fisherman's Highliners
Craig Pendleton has shown that in the era
of growing public awareness of the ocean and its
ecosystems, partnerships with diverse interests are a
crucial component of survival.

Working Waterfront
3/30/09
Community Supported Fisheries
In Rockland, a church hooks up with Port Clyde Fishermen

Fishermen's Voice
April 2008
Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance Charts New Course
Dorry to Take the Helm as Coordinating Director

The Bar Harbor Times
10/18/07
Ground Fishermen Call for Ban on Midwater Trawl Fleet in Closed Areas

Portland Press Herald
10/12/07

Fishing Groups Want to Restrict Herring Trawlers

Working Waterfront
09/01/07
Panelists: Fishermen Need Greater Control

Gulf of Maine Times
8/28/07
Getting fishermen and scientists seated at the same table
A profile of Rollie Barnaby, University of New Hampshire

Working Waterfront
7/1/07
New England Cool to Area-based Fisheries Managemen-

Fishing News International
4/1/07
Industry combines ideas for new dawn

Island Ad-Vantages
3/29/07
Issues at Fishermen's Forum Touch Local Concerns

The Courier Gazette
3/13/07
The Bar Harbor Times
3/8/07
Bill Would Allow Herring Bycatch

Free Press
3/4/07
New Approaches to Management of Groundfishery Discussed at Maine
Fishermen’s Forum

Working Waterfront
Local Area Fisheries Management Advances