Seacoast Fisherman Begin to Advertise Locally Caught Fish

Fade in, Customer: A little bit over? Cashier: 100 dollars, thank you, would you like a lemon have a good day, Fade out

The Seaport Fish Market in Rye is a retail and wholesale outlet that sells to many restaurants around Portsmouth.
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General Manager Zach Piper opens the walk-in cooler.

This is where everything is stored and iced. Sheryl: So how many pounds of fish do you buy every week? Zach: As April progresses, we’ll buy between five and eight thousand pounds of haddock per week, and ten to twelve thousand pounds of total fish in a week.

Of those, only 10 to 25 percent comes in from locally-owned boats.

That’s despite the fact that the market is only minutes away from the Portsmouth fishing piers.

Boyd: I can get fish from China easier than I can get fish 100 yards from my restaurant.

That’s Duncan Boyd, a chef and member of Portsmouth’s fisheries committee.

Boyd says there are a lot of reasons, including federal regulations, that make it hard for restaurants to buy from smaller fish markets.

But he adds, the market is changing….mostly because consumers are changing.

There’s a huge interest in the last five years of people trying to get closer to the source on what they’re eating, and what they’re feeding their families. And they’ve proved they’re willing to pay for it. If you’ve seen what a farmer’s market is like around here, it’s crazy. Our farmer’s market starts at 8:30, and everything good is gone by 8:35.

And using the farmers market as a model, the New Hampshire Commercial Fishermen’s Association has started its own buy local campaign.

The group is even developing a logo to advertise fish caught in local waters.

Erik Anderson chairs the Association.

Anderson: The logo is associated with an identity. It’s no different than a checkmark on a Nike Shoe. We’re developing it currently under a seacoast local type program, but we understand it has the possibility of expanding.

New Hampshire Fresh and Local Seafood logo advertises seafood caught in local waters.

Ferguson: Several studies have found that every 100 dollars spent at local businesses keeps about 68 dollars in the community, compared to only 43 when it’s spent elsewhere.

That’s Laurie Ferguson, the director of New Hampshire Made.

The statewide marketing organization promotes everything from Yankee-crafted wooden bowls to locally-made wines.

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It’s lunchtime at the Portsmouth Brewery and Restaurant.

Dining room manager Ben Bilodeau is confident that an advertising logo will encourage customers to pick the locally-caught items.

I bet it would probably boost fish sales, honestly. In general, it would help promote that concept we have already of buying locally and eating locally. I mean, we’re sitting at a brewery right now, and we obviously make the beer right here on the spot, so I’d say a good percentage of the customers are thinking that way to begin with.
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Over the last ten years, the federal limit on catches, the high cost of fuel, and the downward economy, have hit fishermen hard.

They’ve lost 40 to 50 percent of their fleet.

The industry’s not likely to return to its former glory.

But increasing consumers’ awareness that the fish they buy comes from local fishermen may help what’s left of the industry navigate out of the red.

For NHPR News, I’m Sheryl Rich-Kern