"Market Your Catch" Website Connects Fishermen and Consumers

“Market Your Catch” Website Connects Fishermen and Consumers

May 11, 2015

New website helps fishermen explore alternative marketing

By Deborah Seiler, California Sea Grant and Robin Garcia, National Sea Grant Office

California Sea Grant researchers, in collaboration with researchers from UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz, have developed a website helping commercial fishermen connect more directly with consumers. Market Your Catch is the result of a three-year project funded by the National Sea Grant Social Science Research Initiative. Input from fishermen, buyers, harbor managers, and other experts was utilized in the creation of the website. The collaborative project also included help from staff at Oregon Sea Grant, Washington Sea Grant, North Carolina Sea Grant, New Hampshire Sea Grant, South Carolina Sea Grant, Alaska Sea Grant, and MIT Sea Grant.

The website provides information and guidance for fishermen looking to move towards alternative or direct marketing. In this type of marketing plan, fishermen sell directly to the consumer and to restaurants.

Carrie Culver, a California Sea Grant Extension Specialist and one of the lead investigators, explains that, “Our goal is to provide fishermen the resources to decide if alternative marketing is the right fit for their interests and business – it isn’t for everyone – and to succeed if they decide to take that step.”

“Thanks in part to the local food movement, there is a lot of interest in different marketing strategies and a lot of possibilities out there,” said Carrie Pomeroy, also a California Sea Grant Extension Specialist. “But they all require particular skills and considerations.”

Culver and Pomeroy worked with Sea Grant affiliates Ashley Stroud, Jamie Doyle and Amber Von Harten, as well as UC Santa Barbara researchers Barbara Walker and Kimberley Selkoe, to gather information from across the country and develop the website, featuring guidance on the marketing options that are available, business plans, and tips from successful sellers.

Since direct marketing is not for everyone, the website does not advocate for the process. “There are pros and cons to any approach for marketing seafood, with some approaches working better for certain types of fisheries, fishing businesses and individual fisherman,” said Culver. “Alternative marketing often is used in combination with traditional markets, all of which help to get seafood to consumers.”

To learn more, visit the Market Your Catch website: http://marketyourcatch.msi.ucsb.edu/

Group of people removing ghost nets from a beach.

Alabama

Biden-Harris administration invests $27 million to support community-driven marine debris solutions through Investing in America agenda

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $27 million in funding for projects to prevent and remove marine debris in coastal and Great Lakes communities as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This funding will support innovative research and foster local coalitions to address urgent marine debris issues by using NOAA Sea Grant’s partnered approach to bring science together with communities for solutions that work.

Shoring up the future, together: Collaborative efforts in coastal resilience across the Mid-Atlantic

Community members and city leaders gathered during a listening session to identify key climate readiness needs in Erie, Pennsylvania during June of 2023. (Photo by

Biden-Harris Administration invests $60 million to build a climate-ready workforce through Investing in America agenda

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $60 million in funding to help train and place people in jobs that advance a climate-ready workforce for coastal and Great Lakes states, Tribes and Territories as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda under the Inflation Reduction Act. To date, awards like these from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda have created more than 270,000 jobs across the country.

The funding will support nine projects around the nation, with $50 million going directly to the projects and $10 million for technical assistance to support the grantees.