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/.