To commemorate One Fish Foundation’s 10-year anniversary, we planned a late-fall KNOW FISH Dinner® in Seacoast N.H., where the idea for this storytelling sustainable seafood dinner series began in 2015.
The first KNOW FISH Dinner went down on Oct. 13, 2016 at When Pigs Fly in Kittery, Maine. That followed nearly a year of planning featuring a host of chefs, fishmongers, and advocates in and around the N.H. and Maine Seacoast area.
Our mission was to provide a rich, message-based experience for folks in the community as they heard the story of the seafood they were eating directly from the fishermen. We discussed how best to choreograph the event so the messaging was clear and resonant, and effectively paired with great local seafood.
In the ensuing nine years, we’ve brought KNOW FISH Dinners outside of the Seacoast, partnering with Slow Fish North America to bring these dinners to communities ranging from the University of Massachusetts Amherst down to New Orleans, into Texas, California, Oregon and Washington state.
Pre-dinner coordination with local seafood producers and local chefs collaborating on community engagement around local seafood with values.
The Nov. 3 dinner at Throwback Brewery was a full-circle moment, reengaging the community in the discussion and spotlighting some local fishermen, oyster growers and fishmongers, as well as several of the founding chefs.
How do we know the timing was right after an 9-year hiatus in the Seacoast? The event sold out in two days and we had a waiting list of 20 people.
It was time.
Rock star chef line up: Left to right: David Vargas, Vida Cantina; Carrie Dahlgren, Throwback Brewery; Amanda Parks, Hopestill Restaurant & Winery; Mark Segal, Fold’d; Evan Mallett, Black Trumpet. Photo: Nicole Carrier
Five chefs collaborated on a fabulous menu featuring five delicious courses comprised of amazing local seafood and local ingredients. Each chef introduced their dish and discussed their connection to local seafood. Four of them described their involvement with KNOW FISH Dinners from long ago.
Then we heard from the fishermen, oyster growers and fishmongers about how they fish, what they fish for, how they grow their oysters, how they distribute local seafood and where their product goes, each telling their story as folks were enjoying their seafood.
Denise Hunt of Coastline Seafood talks about how the lack of local processing and infrastructure affects both fisherfolk and local distributors. Photo: Jen Halstead.
We heard about the challenges fishermen and fishmongers face because of a lack of local processing. Denise Hunt of Coastline Seafood talked about having to drive up to Portland frequently just to get ice to ensure their fishermen’s catch stays super fresh. Keper Connell of Gulf of Maine Conservas talked about his decision to can his rod-and-reel caught bluefin tuna as a value-added product to increase revenues as dock prices fell. The challenge for him is that he ships his tuna to Oregon to get canned then shipped back to N.H. because there is no East Coast cannery that meets his standards.
We heard from fisherman Lucas Raymond about the graying of the fleet and the need to get more young fishermen trained and licensed and financed so they can continue the tradition of local New England seafood harvesters.
Laura Brown of Fox Point Oysters explained why she intentionally keeps her operation small so she can ensure quality and customer loyalty without burnout. Russ Hilliard of Swell Oyster Co. talked about how he and partner Conor Walsh went to school specifically to learn how to grow oysters and build a business. They earned hands-own experience on the water and working for seafood restaurants in the Seacoast.
Throughout the evening, the audience asked great questions, showing particular interest in issues involving local processing, where to find local seafood with values, and what else they can do to support local seafood systems.
We discussed our collective role in getting to know the story of the seafood we eat, largely by meeting fishermen and fishmongers much as we meet farmers at farmers’ markets. We talked about awareness of the industrialization of the seafood supply chain, epitomized by the global farmed salmon machine. We talked about opting for the 7 Cs of Sustainable Seafood as a good frame of reference for seafood buying decisions rather than scorecards that tell folks what seafood to buy.
We also talked about growing the community of folks willing to support seafood with values.
How do we know the event was a success? After the event, several folks said they not only learned much about local seafood with values, but they also committed to changing their buying habits to practice what they learned.
The best quote from the evening: “I’m a plant guy. I think about plant ecology. I don’t think about seafood. I just buy it at Market Basket. I won’t do that anymore.”
We want to hear more of that!
Big thanks to Denise, Lucas, Laura, Russ and Keper for providing seafood and sharing their stories. Huge thanks to chefs Amanda Parks of Hopestill Restaurant & Winery; Carrie Dahlgren of Throwback Brewery; David Vargas of Vida Cantina; Evan Mallett of Black Trumpet; and Mark Segal of Fold’d Community Diner.
Also, sincere thanks to Annette Lee and Nicole Carrier of Throwback for their incredible energy and thoughtfulness in hosting the event.
Stay tuned for news about upcoming KNOW FISH Dinner events!
