Kitchen Table Green Economics
Case study: Off the Hook Community Supported Fishery
Katherine Reed
Off the Hook is Atlantic Canada’s first community supported fishery, or CSF. A CSF is a system of
direct marketing, which links consumers to producers. Off the Hook offers consumers highquality, sustainably harvested seafood and a direct link to fishers who provide it. For the fishers
the benefit is a premium for local, sustainably caught fish and a direct relationship with
customers.
Off the Hook was initiated by the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax in 2010. It is now a thriving
network that involves Bay of Fundy fishers in Nova Scotia and subscribers in several Nova Scotia
communities and one locale in New Brunswick. Most of the seafood is delivered to subscriber
households, and a smaller number of subscribers are restaurants. More recently, Off the Hook
has begun to wholesale their seafood to retailers and restaurants in four provinces.
The benefits of this community supported fishery include reducing the environmental impact of
fishing, increasing economic efficiency, producing better quality food, and strengthening the
economies of coastal communities.
Environmental sustainability
The bottom hook-and-line fishing method used by Off the Hook fishers is a sustainable
alternative to dragging fishing gear over the seabed and scooping up catch in large nets. The
method virtually eliminates by-catch and does no harm to the seabed. A line of hooks are laid
out and the fish that are caught are gently brought aboard and later “dressed” (heads off and
cleaned but not filleted).
Economic efficiency
The cost of “middle men” that are a necessary part of our mainstream food distribution system
is eliminated. Better efficiency decisions can be made because control is in the hands of the
producers who understand their own operations best, and who directly experience the
outcomes of their decisions.
Food quality
Large mainstream food systems must produce very large quantities of food as cheaply as
possible. This usually compromises food quality. In the case of fish, several days can elapse
between the harvesting of seafood and its arrival in the customer’s hands. Off the Hook
guarantees that their product is no more than 36 hours old when it arrives in the consumer’s
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Kitchen Table Green Economics Case Study: Off the Hook CSF
hands. A higher quality product results from much gentler fishing and handling than is possible
when large amounts of fish are scooped up, hundreds of pounds at a time, and transferred in
heavy masses into and out of the boat.
Stronger local economies
Off the Hook garners fair prices for fishers, who must find the most advantageous and
economically sustainable methods of fishing and marketing their catches. This is increasingly
difficult in the large food system, where decisions are mostly made by people who are far
removed from actual fishing. The decline of coastal communities everywhere is the result.
Although prices paid to CSFs are usually slightly higher than those in the food retailers,
subscribers are willing to pay a premium for a high quality product and the knowledge that they
are contributing to stabilizing of our local fishing communities. The CSF creates an element of
shared financial risk. Consumers share the uncertainty inherent in any fishing enterprise,
usually relating to weather conditions that compromise the safety of fishers and their
equipment. The shared risk takes some of the pressure off of fishers to leave the wharf in bad
weather and has the potential to increase their incomes and secure their livelihoods.
Achievements
Off the Hook was one of the top three sustainable innovations selected from among 103 entries
from over 40 countries in the competition “Turning the Tide for Coastal Fisheries Solutions”
hosted by Rare Planet and National Geographic.
There has been a steady increase in demand for this CSF, both from restaurants and individual
customers. There are plans to expand the varieties of seafood offered and continue to grow the
subscriber base.
For more information:
http://www.offthehookcsf.ca
Nikoloyuk, J. & Adler, D. (2013). Valuing Our Fisheries: Breaking Nova Scotia’s Commodity
Curse. Halifax: Ecology Action Centre
Ecology Action Centre, Marine Team Projects: https://www.ecologyaction.ca/issuearea/marine-team-projects
Rare Planet, Turning the Tide for Coastal Fisheries: http://www.rareplanet.org/challenge
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Kitchen Table Green Economics Case Study: Off the Hook CSF