In the rear parking lot of the First Universalist Church in Rockland, parishioners and neighbors stop to talk as usual after the Sunday service. It’s a familiar scene to anyone driving by, but a closer look reveals a surprising new twist: several of the people talking or heading to their cars carry plastic bags with huge fish tails sticking out the top.
Rockland residents have become accustomed to the summer scene in the parking lot in front of the church, where brightly colored tubs filled with produce from Hatchet Cove Farm of Friendship supply members of the church CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
Each Sunday, about 40 church members and 40 other community residents pick up the share of vegetables they paid for in the spring to help Hatchet Cove Farm owners Bill Booker and Riba Richardson pay for starting up their summer operation and to guarantee a certain amount of business for them throughout the season.
But now, many CSA members head for the back parking lot, where members of the Port Clyde Midcoast Fishermen’s Cooperative (formerly Port Clyde Draggermen’s Association) have delivered whole fish to supply Maine’s first ever CSF (Community Supported Fisheries project). This innovative venture began as a natural outgrowth of the CSA, which was established in 2006 as part of the church’s mission to live in an environmentally sensitive and friendly manner. Supporting local family-owned farms and fisheries is an important facet of this mission, the church believes, because it provides a reliable direct market for these businesses, making it possible for them to obtain more money for their products.
The church CSA began with 15 members; now there are almost 80 and about the same number for the CSF. (Members of a second CSF pick up their fish at the Good Tern Natural Food Co-op in Rockland on Wednesdays.) Bill Pearce, a member of the Rockland church’s Green Sanctuary Committee, says the congregation is especially gratified that the CSA’s growth has made it possible for Booker and Richardson of Hatchet Cove Farm to purchase the farm they had been renting and begin to expand their operation. Members hope the CSF will eventually provide similar benefits for fishermen.
Members of the Rockland church have for some time been concerned about the city’s historic working waterfront and family-owned fishing enterprises. With help from Ann D. (“Andy”) Burt, head of the Maine Council of Churches’ environmental justice committee, they organized a program with representatives from the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA), Oceans Conservatory, and others concerned about the health of the ocean and Maine’s fishing industry to discuss challenges facing the industry.
The possibility for local action emerged when church members heard directly from local fishing families, represented by Gary and Kim Libby of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Cooperative, who spoke to the congregation last year along with Jennifer Plummer of NAMA.
“We talked about challenges like regulations based on poor science, regulations that are historically behind current data, and rising prices for gear and fuel,” says Kim Libby. She adds that she and her husband explained that draggers in the Port Clyde group, which with 10 vessels is the second largest groundfishing fleet in Maine, should not be confused with or lumped together with larger draggers. “Our biggest is a 60-foot vessel,” she said. “The others go from 85 feet to 150 feet, and they have the fuel capability to go out to the Grand Banks. The maximum we can go out is about 60 miles.”
Libby explained that Port Clyde fishermen are committed to sustainable fishing practices such as gear modifications that extend beyond those required by the National Marine Service and not using gear that makes it possible for draggers to enter rocky bottom areas where juvenile fish reside.
She says that these difficult times for the industry have also made fishermen aware that their survival hinges in large part on innovative marketing – finding as many ways as possible to sell their product directly to the consumer.
The idea for the church CSF emerged when Port Clyde fishermen were trying to figure out what to do about the upcoming shrimp season. “We were all sitting around with Jen Plummer of NAMA, talking about how can we survive because last season’s shrimp prices had been in the gutter,” Kim Libby says, “and how could we get more money for our product as long as we guaranteed it was as fresh as it can be. Jen told us, ‘Well you have a connection back to the Universalist Church. You already talked with these people once. It might be a good place to start with the idea of a CSF.'” (Kim Libby had learned about the nation’s first CSF, located on the coast of North Carolina, while at a meeting at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland.)
The Libbys and Plummer visited the church again, and the project simmered until close to the beginning of shrimp season, when both the church and fishermen decided to use shrimp for a test run. Kim Libby told church members the co-op would need to deliver a minimum of 100 pounds of shrimp a week. Shares were set at 10 pounds with the option of a half share. Members agreed on a price of $1.39 a pound, (far better for the fishermen, who had seen payment from processors fall below 50 cents a pound the previous season). The co-op promised to deliver the freshest shrimp they could, caught on Saturday unless a storm forced them to deliver shrimp from Friday’s catch.
To help people manage the whole shrimp, the Libbys gave a demonstration on beheading and shelling. Pat Pearson says she and her husband, Bill, simply allotted an hour after the weekly pickup to sit and deal with their five pounds (half a share). “It was tedious,” she says, but they look forward to having the frozen supply during the summer.
In June, the Port Clyde fishermen began to supply whole fish to the CSF. They plan to feature a different species each week, including cod, haddock, pollock, monkfish and flounder.
The fishermen’s co-op is doing all it can to make the experience positive for CSF members. The fish is super-fresh, stored immediately after catch in a salt water ice slurry. Each delivery includes a newsletter featuring recipes and information about the species, and because regulations restrict the fishermen from delivering filleted fish, Gary Libby has given filleting demonstrations. Lucie Bauer commented after using her limited filleting experience from years past that she wished she could have stayed for the cod demo. “Well,” she mused, “I hope I improve.”
Kim Libby admits this is a small beginning, around 200 pounds each delivery, which is about one percent of the fleet’s total catch. But selling directly allows fishermen to receive more money for this portion of their catch. Shareholders pay about $3 a pound. A 12-week full share provides 8-to-12 pounds of fish per week for $380; one-half share, 4-to-6 pounds for $180 (a price that would have been higher if it had been set after fuel prices escalated in June). Each week, Libby says she gives the assignment to deliver the CSF fish to a different boat in the Port Clyde fleet. “At least the local sales will make their fuel bill,” she says. The rest of the catch still goes to the middleman.
The Island Institute supports the co-op’s marketing by providing funds to hire Laura Kramar to act as marketing cooperative coordinator. Kramar has extensive sales and marketing experience in addition to being trained in sustainable agriculture. She says she intends to explore all options.
The co-op has connected with several restaurants in Rockland and Camden, which are listed at their website, www.midcoastfishermen.org. Kramar hopes to expand this market as well as approach both large and small supermarkets to buy seafood directly from the co-op. “One thing we do ask of restaurants and the CSF [and other buyers],” she says, “is that they put the Port Clyde Fresh Catch logo and information on their menu or newsletter. We’ve found it’s very rewarding and increases customer support.”
Andy Burt says the Maine Council of Churches is poised to help any initiative to establish further CSFs in Maine. She thinks they could be particularly valuable in communities that don’t have retail fish markets, and she wants to work with retailers who buy directly from fishermen if a CSF is proposed for their community. She envisions all types of seafood being sold through CSFs.
Lucie Bauer believes communities of faith provide the ideal venue for both CSAs and CSFs. “They are predisposed to want to cherish the earth and sea” she says, “and are community minded. They tend to draw people from large geographical areas and have a centrally located place with good parking and easy access. I truly think churches are a wonderful place to start people thinking about building a CSA or CSF – the best place for fishermen to approach.”