Market Transformation

Who Caught Your Fish?

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

We believe changing how and where the seafood that ends up on dinner tables comes from is key to fisheries conservation. Our goal is to recover marine ecosystems while strengthening fishing communities and their commercial fisheries.

NAMA believes by creating and expanding market appreciation for locally caught seafood, the fishermen can have a better return on smaller catch and offer higher quality seasonal seafood.

For some of us this represents a return to childhood memories, for others it is a totally new idea. For the oceans, it means 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.

Problem: Any Seafood, Any Time

The demand for “any seafood, any time,” built rapidly over the past century. Means of preserving and transporting fresh and processed fish to distant markets grew while the recipients went unaware of the ecological consequences. This gave rise to fleets of industrial scale fishing boats and gear that can roam the world’s oceans in search of new populations of fish. But all that has occurred at the expense of the web of sealife, and the quality of seafood on our plates.

Out-paced, out-spent and out-marketed, small community-based fishing operations suffered, and, as this growth took hold, fishery after fishery collapsed.

Solution: Eat Local Seafood

Why Local Matters

Aside from the essential quality to seafood that you only get when it’s harvested locally and delivered to you just hours out of the ocean, the long term long term health and abundance of the oceans depends on it. Small-scale, community-based owned boats enable fishermen to pay attention to the way fish is caught and focus on strengthening our local food community, economy and the sustainability of the marine ecosystem.

NAMA is working to build a market for the catch of ecologically responsible, local fisheries not only to bring seafood lovers fresh fish but to build a base of support for the long-term economic health of fishing communities and the marine ecosystem that sustains them.Without a strong base of public support, our community based fishermen will be out-marketed and out-spent by the aqua-business.

By creating new markets through Community Supported Fisheries (CSFs) and collaborating with the emerging local food movements, NAMA will work to strengthen local fishing communities so they can get a better return on less catch while providing superior quality seafood. As an added benefit, eating local seafood gives fishing communities more sovereignty in determining how they catch fish and where they market it.
Consumers are a vital base in ensuring community based management that enables long-term marine conservation, that’s rooted in community and precaution, is implemented throughout the region.