An Alternative Bright Future: Chatham Harvesters’ community-supported fisheries as a model for a sustainable and equitable future.
Fisheries in the Mediterranean region form the direct basis for food security, economic prosperity, and cultural vitality for twenty-two countries. Since the 1990s, a steady decline in catches of wild stocks inspired the adoption of policy frameworks, like the Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries (2018–2028), and the MedFish4Ever Declaration, to support sustainable fisheries, especially small-scale fisheries (SSFs) (Hilmi et. al, 2021). While SSFs exist throughout the Mediterranean, the existing value systems and market chains driven by large-scale commercial fisheries render them economically and environmentally ineffective. Not only does this single-bottom-line venture encourage unsustainable fishing practices, it also exploits the labor of fishermen, depriving them of a fair livable wage. Fishermen endure all the risks of their labor with virtually no economic benefits. A commercial fishing model based on the triple bottom line of social, economic, and environmental viability forms the only way forward amidst debilitating food insecurity, poor economic conditions, and the environmental degradation of marine ecosystems. Despite the grand policies previously mentioned and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14b, SSFs in the region continue to face market exclusion. A bottom-up solution that empowers local fishermen by shortening the value chain, utilizing innovative methods of distribution, and creating transparent branding and labeling that educates and directly connects local communities to their seafood is needed. An interview with the manager and Co-founder of Chatham Harvesters, Brett Tolley, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States, exemplifies just such a business model.
Chatham Harvesters and the community-supported fisheries (CSF) model
“It really started with this fish we catch called dogfish,” Tolley, a fourth-generation fisherman from Cape Cod, told me as he explained the germination of the idea to start Chatham Harvesters, Massachusetts’ only community-supported fisheries (CSF) coop. Dogfish constitute one of the most abundant local fish on the entire East Coast of the US, making up the majority of the catch by Tolley and his fellow fishermen on the Cape. Before the founding of the coop, 99% of all dogfish went to two processors who monopolized the supply chain. Once processed, upward of 90% of the catch would get distributed to mostly European countries, like the UK and Germany, as well as China. Both the monopoly of the processing facilities and mass exportation of dogfish resulted in extremely low wages to fishermen, crippling both the economic viability of their businesses and access to fresh seafood among the local community.
Tolley further explained that the economic dominance of large-scale commercial fisheries created a negative feedback loop where mass fishing led to cheaper prices, which in turn incentivized over-fishing. Initially, the low pay drove Tolley and nine other fishermen to form a legal cooperative business in 2020: “the intention was to leverage our collective and catching power to get a fair price,” Tolley explained. They pooled their catch together and offered a contract to seafood buyers that guaranteed a higher price. The processors, however, could not guarantee fair wages to Tolley and his colleagues long-term. Tolley and his fellow fishermen concluded that “To secure a fair price, we needed to have more control over our own catch.” This meant getting a facility to process, pack, and store their own fish, which they successfully achieved by pooling their resources and fundraising in the community. In 2022, the Chatham Harvesters fishing cooperative sold fish directly to the community for the first time. Currently, five fishing family members form the ownership of the coop. In addition, twenty-five fishing family members contribute to the coop in the form of catch, with 20% higher wages and the promise of acquiring equity in the future.
The model is simple: community members pre-purchase a share of fish in advance of the season. In this way, consumers share in the risk of the fisheries’ enterprise, which previously fell squarely on the shoulders of the fishermen. Throughout the season, customers spend down their “fish dollars” or fish credit. They log onto the Chatham Harvesters website, order whatever is on offer, and then pick it up from one of 15 convenient locations. The customers make up over a thousand community members and a handful of restaurants and bulk seafood buyers.
Sustainable outcomes of shortening the value chain
While economic pressure inspired the formation of the cooperative, Tolley said that the sustainability outcomes fueled both their mission and customer interest. Keeping the fish local and accessible to the community reduced the carbon footprint involved in shipments significantly. The average fish caught in the United States travels over 5,000 miles before getting to a plate, according to Tolley: “It’s a very bizarre thing that in the food landscape, fish has the most perishability and yet one of the biggest carbon footprints of any food item.” The Chatham Harvesters fishery ensured that more than 100,000 pounds of dogfish stayed in Cape Cod in their first year as an official cooperative.
Not only does the CSF model drastically decrease carbon emissions, it also reduces overexploitation of high-value and other fish stocks, primarily through the mechanism of fair wages to fishermen. Tolley explained how low wages incentivized overfishing as fishermen compensated for it with even more catch; the coop’s 20% increase in wages correlated directly to a decrease in catch. Furthermore, while local customers are guaranteed a certain amount of fresh fish per season, their choice of fish is limited to what species are abundant rather than high-value. Tolley emphasized the coop’s dedication to fishing stable populations, rather than desirable, consequently overharvested, ones. Cod fish, for instance, face overfishing pressures in the Cape as a commercially valuable species, and are subsequently an off-limits fish for Chatham Harvesters.
Innovative methods of distribution in social hotspots
One of the most innovative aspects of Chatham Harvester’s CSF model is its distribution method, which utilizes existing businesses as delivery spots for their fish. The fifteen pick-up sites, strategically located at other like-minded businesses in Cape Cod, not only contribute to the widespread marketing of Chatham Harvesters, but also physically meet the community where they already frequent. These locations include gyms, grocery stores, breweries, and even a local art gallery focused on fish and ocean art, drawing in a customer base just as varied. This creates a strong sense of social connection among the public and local businesses around the shared values of sustainability and accessibility to high-quality protein.
For direct-to-consumer sales, Chatham Harvesters fishermen run stalls at five local farmers’ markets where they get to interact with their customers face-to-face. Tolley explained that these personal interactions serve to connect the fishermen and seafood eaters on a personal level. This encourages both community investment regarding the health of fisheries and the success of local businesses.
Pride and connection through transparent labeling
Beyond the financial betterment of local fisheries and community access to fresh food, Chatham Harvesters’ most striking impact stems from their highly personalized product labeling. Apart from basic information, all their fish pack labels include a picture of the fisherman who caught the fish and the name of their boat. This transparent and individualized labeling system reinforces the care and quality of the fish processing on the part of the fisherman, eager to represent their brand and craft in the best light. Accountability is the concrete outcome; pride and joy form the intangible, yet far more powerful response from the fishermen, whose faces and talent get lost along the typically convoluted supply chains. “There’s a spiritual and emotional impact,” Tolley reflected toward the end of our interview, “when fishermen who have been invisible for so long start to feel recognized, there is a dramatic shift that happens, filling them up with more joy and hope.” This feeling of optimism and pride manifests itself in care for their craft and the environment of their catch. It also engenders similar feelings of communal responsibility for the sustainable local economy amongst the community, creating a web of interdependence between the economy, environment, and society.
When asked what he thought about the future of small-scale fisheries and CSF models, Tolley expressed a sentiment in equal parts hopeful and exasperated: “We cannot continue to do high-volume, low-value fishing. We have to create this alternative bright future.” An alternative bright future captures the sense of urgency and optimism for similar endeavors in other fishing communities globally. Such ventures, as proven by Brett Tolley and the other fishermen at Chatham Harvesters, do not depend solely on grand resolutions and policies far away but rely mostly on collaboration, trust, and community connection.
Sources
Hilmi, N.; Farahmand, S.; Lam, V.W.Y.; Cinar, M.; Safa, A.; Gilloteaux, J.(2021) “The Impacts
of Environmental and Socio-Economic Risks on the Fisheries in the Mediterranean Region.” Sustainability 2021, 13, 10670. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su131910670
An Alternative Bright Future: Chatham Harvesters’ community-supported fisheries as a model for a sustainable and equitable future
