Archive of Spotlight Feature Articles

Carteret Catch: New Marketing Project Promotes Local Seafood

By Ann Green,
North Carolina Sea Grant

When customers see the "Carteret Catch" logo at Carteret County restaurants in eastern North Carolina, they know that they are eating local delicacies.

The new logo and theme — "Select NC Seafood from the Fishermen of Carteret County" — is part of a campaign developed by volunteers to promote local seafood through community and business partnerships.

"We hope this program will be a model for other coastal communities striving to compete in the global marketplace," says Barry Nash, North Carolina Sea Grant seafood technology and marketing specialist and leader in the marketing effort.

The project is part of a Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI), a grant program sponsored by the Ford Foundation. For three years, volunteers, including commercial fishers, seafood distributors, restaurant owners, scientists, tourism specialists and educators have met at Carteret Community College.

North Carolina Sea Grant also supports the effort, as well as the National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration, Carteret Community College, N.C. Cooperative Extension, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University. The group's mission is to "sustain the livelihood and the heritage of our Carteret County fishing communities through (public) promotion and education."

A survey conducted at the 2005 North Carolina Seafood Festival in Morehead City found that the public prefers local seafood over foreign imports, when given a choice. Of the 175 respondents:

• 84 percent expected seafood purchased at the coastal to be locally caught;
• 94 percent expected seafood in local restaurants to be locally caught; and
• 92 percent said they were more likely to purchase seafood that is certified as locally caught.

At left, Claudia Goodwin and Sandra Gaskill helped showcase Carteret County seafood at the North Carolina Seafood Festival in Morehead City. On the right, Barry Nash watches Baptiste Knaven of Cafe Zito conduct a cooking demonstration at the festival. Photos by Mitch Mangum.

"Consumers want to purchase local seafood commodities at coastal restaurants from fishermen who employ sustainable practices," says Nash of the North Carolina State University Seafood Lab in Morehead City.

Strong Fishing Heritage

For generations, many families in Carteret County have made a living from working the waters — from clamming, shrimping and fishing in Core and Pamlico Sounds to beach seining off Bogue Banks.

The fishing communities, including Harkers Island , Atlantic, Davis and Cedar Island, are so tiny that most natives know each other on a first-name basis.

In recent years, Carteret County commercial fishers have struggled to remain viable in a fiercely competitive world seafood market.

"We have been shrimping and clamming for 35 years, and it has changed drastically in recent years," says commercial fisherman Leroy Goodwin of Cedar Island. "There is not as much to catch, and prices are not as good as they used to be."

Goodwin and others hope the new branding program will increase the visibility of the area's high quality seafood.

"We are excited about the project because it will do something positive for the fishing community," says Pam Morris, wife of a commercial fisherman. Morris was among a group that toured northeast seafood markets and facilities and fishing cooperatives last winter.

As part of the initiative, RCCI volunteers met with county restaurant owners to discuss quality standards for seafood.

"My customers see boats outside the restaurant and want local catch," says Dan Hatch, chef of Key West Seafood Co. restaurant in Morehead City. " There is so much local seafood — from tuna and sea bass to red snapper and mahi mahi."

In addition to promoting local seafood, the group is trying to educate consumers about environmental rules and food safety regulations affecting the seafood industry.

In developing niche markets for Carteret County seafood, RCCI team coach John O'Sullivan says that seafood processors might have to adopt new small-scale technology and develop sound business plans.

"Our long-term goal is for the fishing communities to develop a plan that is market-driven and focuses on high quality, local-branded seafood," says O'Sullivan, a NC A&T farm management and marketing specialist. "We want to deliver products that emphasize the region's core values to customers in the county and in commercial outlets in the state's metropolitan areas."

Details about the Carteret Catch project also are available in the Holiday 2005 issue of Coastwatch magazine at www.ncseagrant.org.

11/15/05

CLIMATE · OCEANS, GREAT LAKES, and COASTS · WEATHER and AIR QUALITY
ABOUT US · RESEARCH PROGRAMS · EDUCATION · HOME

Contact Us
Privacy Policy