Affirmation goes a long way when building community around shared values or a shared vision. When someone from the audience asks a thoughtful question or raises a provocative point, that type of affirmation sparks even more dialogue and general participation.
So when Chef Mike Nelson of G.W. Fins in New Orleans raised his hand during a session at the Local Seafood Summit last month to say he stopped serving farmed salmon after the Chefs Camp we co-hosted at Dillard University in 2023, I bowed to him and thanked him for sharing that. His statement validated the overall goal for the Chefs Camp: invite chefs into a broader awareness of the impact of their choices.
His statement also validated the overall mission of the Slow Fish Rising Tide Program: to bring more folks along the seafood supply chain into an honest discussion about seafood with values and what it means to support local seafood producers and local seafood.
Titled “Catch the Rising Tide: Community Engagement for Seafood with Values,” the Local Seafood Summit session was an interactive discussion about the community engagements Slow Fish, One Fish Foundation and other partners have produced across the country since 2022.
Panelists Lance Nacio (Anna Marie Seafood), Dana Honn (Nikkei Izakaya), Anna and Seth Stewart (Yakobi Fisheries) and Steve Kurian (Wild for Salmon) each talked about their engagement with different Rising Tide events like KNOW FISH Dinners®, Chefs Camps and Seafood Throwdowns.
Steve and Lance explained that they appreciated the opportunity to talk directly to local chefs about local sourcing, and what that means in terms of supporting a small business, supporting a well-managed fishery, and ensuring that their customers eat values-based seafood with a story.
Dana discussed the role chefs can play in educating staff and the public about why choosing local seafood matters. He described co-hosting the Chefs Camp at Dillard and a KNOW FISH Dinner at Porgy’s Seafood Market as opportunities to spread the word.
Seth and Anna shared the great energy from the interaction with the crowd at the KNOW FISH Dinner in Portland, OR last April. For them, sharing the story of Yakobi Fisheries and how it works directly with independent fisherfolk in Alaska was the chance to help dinner guests understand and taste the story of the seafood they were eating.
Since launching the Rising Tide program in 2022, we’ve produced 17 events in 12 communities, reaching more than 1500 people. And we’re already building a pipeline for 2026.
About 50 folks joined the session, and they asked great questions and provided thoughtful input. Several folks expressed interest in bringing Rising Tide programming to their communities.
How’s that for affirmation?
In a sense, we built community during the session at the summit so we can continue building communities about seafood with values around the country.
Check out a brief video from the session here.
