Industrial Extension Service
www.ies.ncsu.edu
Centennial Campus
Campus Box 7902
Raleigh, NC 27695-7902
P: 919.515.2358
Catching Business for Coastal North Carolina
Reviving a historic industry with local catch programs, seafood chefs, community awareness,
consumer marketing and frozen Carolina crab cakes
It is an understatement to say that commercial
fishing is integral to North Carolina’s coastal
economy and heritage. Historically, the state’s
fishermen satisfied a strong demand along the
East Coast for fresh, seasonal seafood. In
recent years, less expensive imports have
taken significant market shares. Many N.C.
businesses are struggling to remain profitable.
At the same time product safety, healthy eating
and local food movements are compelling
people to buy more local seafood.
For nearly a decade, North Carolina Sea Grant
has worked with coastal North Carolina
communities to develop “local catch” programs
focusing on business development and
education to connect consumers to fishermen and local seafood. Today, Brunswick Cath, Cateret
Catch, Ocracoke Fresh and Outer Banks Catch are thriving with members that include fishing
families, processors, wholesale and retail sales managers; restaurant owners, chefs and staff; and a
range of community partners. A statewide program called ‘North Carolina Catch’ helps the local
groups collaborate and also serves other coastal counties.
The varied partners use market research tools to help breathe new life into a struggling industry and
the projects stresses innovative techniques, use of interdisciplinary research and resources, risk
taking, teamwork, inclusive thinking and sensitivity and attention to diverse audiences.
Sea Grant is also involved in many other aspects of local seafood, including the promotion of seafood
safety; development of new value added products; working with shellfish and finfish aquaculture
industries to meet consumer demands and various regulations; working with commercial fisheries to
reduce bycatch and ensure sustainable wild fisheries and developing educational materials for
consumers and the industry.
NC State is the home for many partners in these efforts, including
Cooperative Extension, Seafood Laboratory, Center for Marine
Sciences and Technology, Center for Environmental Farming
Systems, Department of Food Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences,
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Department
of Horticultural Science. The project also involves several other
university partners - University of North Carolina Wilmington, East
Carolina University, Coastal Studies Institute, UNC-TV and Duke University - from across the state.
But the list of partners does not stop there. North Carolina Cath also works with the U.S Department
of Agriculture, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the North
Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Division of Marine Fisheries. Additional
state and local partners include the NC Fisheries Association, the Outer Banks Seafood Festival, the
North Carolina Seafood Festival, Saltwater Connections and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and
Heritage Center.
What does all this collaboration mean for the NC fishing industry?
One of North Carolina Catch’s success stories is found in a crab processor that sought Sea Grant
expertise to develop a retail line of crab cakes. The value-added product has sold well for many years
and the processor reports that it has become key to 60 seasonable jobs. Each year, the total
economic value of the product for the processor and retailers is approximately $225,000.
Even businesses as far from the coast as Raleigh, are vocal about
the influence of the NC Catch initiative. Local Seafood, for instance,
is a dock-to-shop delivery system that brings fresh seafood from
North Carolina fisherman directly to the Triangle area. Founders
and NC State alums, Ryan Speckman and Lin Peterson, are
adamant that “local catch partners raise awareness of the
importance of eating local seafood, which is the foundation of our
business. Without organizations like these and Sea Grant, as a
valuable source for information, we would not have been able to
grow our business over the last four years and continue to offer
customers in the Triangle the freshest catch from NC Waters.”
Of course, the effects of awareness raising are probably felt most strongly by the coastal communities
that depend on fishing and processing for economic survival. As Karen Amspacher, Director of the
Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center says, “The local catch groups are making a
positive difference at the dock, in the fish house, at the market and at the restaurant table as more
and more people as for local seafood. Each time a customer asks for local seafood, it supports the
fishing industry and all the men, women and families who depend on it for their livelihood.”
In addition, the Sea Grant’s partnership with the NC State Center for Environmental Farming Systems
on a USDA-funded local foods project will allow fishing families, processors and communities to learn
new marketing and value-added techniques. Many of these have been developed for North Carolina
crops and livestock and now may be adapted to seafood marketing and supply operations.
But North Carolina Sea Grant’s reach extends far beyond our state’s borders. The organization has
also been recognized for national leadership in research and outreach focusing on consumer
preferences for local seafood. Those efforts included developing a model for what they first termed,
Community Supported Fisheries (CSF), which has now become popular across the United States,
Canada and even Australia.
Still, the work is not finished, not by a long shot.
To continue to grow, community
and statewide seafood
marketing programs need to
measure success of education
efforts thus far and identify new
needs. Local catch organizations
- stretching from Currituck
County to Brunswick County and the overarching North
Carolina Catch will continue taking this effort to the next level through an annual summit and other
programming.
North Carolina Sea Grant’s local catch programs along with their many other community efforts
strongly align with the missions of NC State and the University of North Carolina system more
generally. Namely, they all share a commitment to sustain local livelihoods and heritage through
public marketing and education.
To continue to share the work, community organizations promote a powerful UNC-TV documentary
that highlights many aspects and activities of the local, fresh catch marketing.