Local group sparks the idea of a fish hub

Imagine a farmers market but instead of local produce, it’s fish caught by local fishermen right from the Monterey Bay . Ultimately, the idea of a fish hub will create a direct connection between fishermen and the consumer.

Long time fisherman Kevin Butler explained that as a consumer, finding local fish from the Monterey Bay is pretty difficult to do.

“I’ll have people ask, they come into town and they ask me, where can I get some good local fish, and I always tell them the easiest place is just buying a boat and going fishing,” said Butler.

So most of the fish at the markets or restaurants in town is not actually from the Monterey Bay . That’s because there is a break in the chain between local fishermen and the end consumer.

“It’ll usually go into a slush bin with similar fish and then sold into a larger lot and then frozen and then sold off again,” said Butler .

But the group Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust is looking to fix that broken chain by creating a fish hub . Essentially a marketplace for fishermen to sell their fish directly to the people who want to eat it, so all the fish stays local.

“We’ll do a thorough feasibility study and then if a fish hub could be a solution to part of the supply chain problem here then we could proceed with that,” said Galligan with the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust.

The feasibility study is funded by a National Fish and Wildlife grant and will look at several factors. Such as the amount of fish to catch, the amount of fishermen, the flow of supply and demand and infrastructure. A lot to consider but it’s an idea many believe would be good for the community.

“So the older fishing families will tell you there used to be loads of fishing boats here and now there’s very few and they miss the old ways,” said Galligan. “But just about anybody over 12 in America seems to be missing the old ways.”