Community-supported fisheries: an innovative model (Spring, 2012)
May 17, 2012
Between 1999 and 2006, more than half of commercial fishers in eastern North Carolina stopped working, as they could no longer support themselves and their families. Why? Cheap seafood. About 90 percent of shrimp available in the U.S. was caught elsewhere, causing prices to plunge 40 percent.
Anna Child, master’s student in health behavior and health education, has found a way to help these fishers while providing fresh, local seafood to North Carolina communities. In March 2010, she established Core Sound Seafood, an environmentally responsible community-supported fishery (CSF) that works much like a community-supported agriculture program. Shareholders make an investment at the start of the season, allowing fishers a premium price for their product, and are rewarded with several deliveries of a variety of fresh fish. “Shares,” which translate into 2- to 4-pound deliveries weekly or biweekly, range from $112 to $450 for the season. Details are available at www.coresoundseafood.org.
Child sees potential for similar CSFs across the U.S. and in developing countries. Read her article in the January 2012 issue of Infofish International (www.sph.unc.edu/cph/infofish).
– Linda Kastleman
Carolina Public Health is a publication of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. To view previous issues, please visit https://sph.unc.edu/cphm/cph/.
Last updated August 31, 2012