Connecting Fishermen to Markets

Core Sound Seafood was started as a way to connect the fishermen of Down East Carteret County, North Carolina to a viable, local market.  Most of the fishermen that make up this coastal community have been fishing all their lives – often they can trace their fishing heritage back four or five generations. Sadly, these fishermen are increasingly leaving their life on the water as global markets, community economic loss, rising fuel prices and decreasing buying prices threaten their livelihood.  Our goal is to provide a market to these fishermen and their families by offering locally caught, fresh seafood to the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Raleigh community through weekly CSF (community supported fishery) shares. We also utilize locally owned, Down East businesses to help provide items like hand-picked, fresh crab meat to shares.

Whenever possible, we buy fish caught in North Carolina waters from Down East Carteret County fishermen. However, working within local food systems can have its challenges and we occasionally purchase from regional, small-scale fishermen in Georgia, South Carolina or Virginia to provide species that may not be available in North Carolina state waters due to weather and environmental conditions as well as availability. When this happens, first priority is given to Down East fishers who have traveled to fish in these waters. We strive to be as transparent as possible and will always note in our weekly e-newsletter when items are coming from out of state waters.

The bottom line is that small-scale fishermen are a tremendous resource in our state’s diverse agricultural offerings, and including them as producers in our regional food shed is vital.  We emphasize small-scale as we believe that small-scale fisheries protect and support marine eco-systems, livelihoods and the larger health of communities.

A Dollar for Every Share

As part of our business, we pledge to set aside one dollar for every share of seafood we sell to Core Sound Seafood’s Assistance Fund for the Down East community. The Assistance Fund will allow us to provide financial help on an as needed basis to the commercial fishing community. The more shares we sell, the more money we hope to reinvest back into the Down East community. Since June of 2011, we have raised over $4700 or the fund.

This July, we have used $1243 of our Assistance Fund to purchase supplies in order to build a haul rig for Aaron Styron, Vince Emory and Buddy Goodwin, three fishermen we have consistently bought seafood from for over three seasons. We purchased bunty (netting), rope, corks and twine with the money we have raised. These supplies compose the part of the net that funnels the fish into a circle so the fishermen can harvest the marketable fish species. A haul rig is pulled a short distance by one or two boats, creating a circle to coral fish into a small area. It is more modernized and efficient version of what they were previously using.

We thank all our shareholders for helping us to raise this money by taking part in our CSF.

Fresh, Locally Caught Seafood on Your Table

Fresh and local translates into delicious.  Imagine including crispy fried flounder, clams cooked in a white wine butter sauce and grilled triggerfish drenched with lemon to your weekly menu repertoire. Interested? Click here to sign up! Or contact us for more information.