On Friday, March 4th, Jonathan Labaree, class of ’85, returned Williams to speak at Log Lunch. Jonathan works for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and presented on integrating seafood into the local food movement. The local food movement is a well-known topic among Log Lunch goers and the CES community, however, understanding how seafood fits into this framework is a little less clear. Local food advocates stress the benefits of having fresher and healthier foods that are grown using practices that reduce its carbon impact and support local farmers. Local seafood markets aim at achieving these same standards, but are constrained by significantly different harvesting techniques, regulations, and supply chains that determine how people define local seafood.
To help consumers navigate this complicated supply chain Jonathan shared a checklist of questions to consider when buying “local” seafood:
1) Who harvested
2) Where was it harvested?
3) Size of the fishing operation?
4) Where was it landed?
a) Where was it caught and sent to auction?
b) How long did it take to get to market?
5) Is it sustainable?
a) Was it caught within quotas or federal regulations of catch size and number, etc.?
6) Where is it processed and how?
7) How do you know?
Some of these questions are harder to answer than others, but nonprofits, such as the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and fishing companies are working together to create more transparent markets. Government regulations, industry accountability and traceability, and market transparency are the key mechanisms for achieving sustainable fishing and integrating seafood into the local food movement.
