What’s a Community Supported Fishery (CSF)?

a Community Supported Fishery (CSF) is based on the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. just like a CSA, a CSF involves pre-payment by consumers for a shares of fresh, locally harvested seafood to be received at regular intervals during a season. just as CSAs can encourage sustainable and profitable farming practices, CSFs have the potential to do the same for fishing by connecting people like you and me directly to local fishermen.

the current social, economic, and environmental challenges being faced in the fishing industry have an impact on everyone.  Community Supported Fisheries allow people to be a part of the solution to these challenges by:

1. reconnecting coastal communities to their local food system.
2. promoting sustainable fishing practices.
3. strengthening relationships between fishermen and the people they feed.

What Is The Advantage?

by committing to our Community Supported Fishery (CSF), you are guaranteed a regular supply of fresh, local, sustainable seafood at a reasonable price. all of our seafood is traceable back to:

1. the boat it was caught on.
2. the fisherman who caught it.
3. the catch method that was used.

the Village Fishmonger CSF offers higher quality, value and more transparency than traditional retail models. your participation ensures the fair compensation of the fishermen we work with.

Does Village Fishmonger Use Guidelines From Any of the “Official” Sustainability Lists?

seafood guides are important resources for taking the first step towards consuming seafood in a responsible and sustainable way. but their standards are designed to be consumed broadly -– they rarely incorporate regional geography and community -– so for those of us that are choosing to go deeper and to take the time to learn more about what we’re consuming, the guides become much less useful.

by working directly with our local fishermen, we can determine many of the specific criteria that should be used to determine sustainability –- the health of its population, where it was caught, when it was caught, and if low-impact fishing methods are used to catch it -– and continue to encourage those fishermen that are already sustainably-focused.

Further Reading

for more info on CSFs, check out these links: