Carteret Catch Helps Launch New Community Supported Fisheries Effort
A new direct-marketing program involving Carteret County seafood launched in September on the campus of Duke University.
Walking Fish (http://www.walking-fish.org) is a Community Support Fisheries (CSF) initiative developed by Duke’s graduate student chapter of the American Fisheries Society in partnership with Carteret Catch. Bill Rice of Fishtowne Seafood Center in Beaufort – and a member of Carteret Catch – has been delivering seafood to the Duke campus weekly. The pilot project will last through November, but the results so far indicate demand is strong for seafood caught by Carteret County fishermen.
Community Supported Fisheries is modeled on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a form of direct marketing in which a community of individuals pledges to support a farm. At the beginning of the growing season, each member pays for a subscription to the CSA. Then, farmers provide the members with a weekly share of the harvest. Members receive a variety of fresh, local produce and have the satisfaction of knowing where their food comes from and how it is produced.
In return, farmers benefit by receiving funds upfront to buy seeds and fertilizer. Farmers are also unburdened by the promotional costs of selling products because they have a guaranteed market and price for what they will produce. A North Carolina State University website has more information on CSA marketing.
Pioneering work on the Community Supported Fisheries concept took place in Carteret County in 2006 and 2007 under Susan Andreatta of UNC-Greensboro. With funding from the North Carolina Fishery Resource Grant Program, Susan worked with Carteret Catch fishermen to create shares of fresh, wild-caught shrimp for sale to county residents and tourists.
For logistical reasons, this initial CSF was not sustainable, but Susan’s work was noticed by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, a nonprofit marine science center based in Portland. Susan was invited to give a presentation on her CSF, and a group of fishermen from Port Clyde who heard her talk decided to establish their own CSF in late 2007 to sell shrimp. They began with one drop-off location and 29 subscribers. The following summer, with seven drop-offs and 200 subscribers, Port Clyde Fresh Catch was born.
This year the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant and the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance began Cape Ann Fresh Catch, which is modeled on Port Clyde’s CSF. The program began delivering fresh seafood weekly this June to eight drop-off points in the Boston area. The pilot project has been so successful it will continue into 2010.
Carteret Catch is searching for more markets for North Carolina seafood. Currently the board is working with a business specialist at North Carolina State University’s College of Management, assessing the sales potential for local seafood in metropolitan regions within the state. The results of this consumer research study are expected in early 2010.
Walking Fish sold 400 subscriptions in this inaugural season. The CSF was profiled in an October article in the Raleigh News & Observer.
