Walking Fish is an award winning community supported fishery (CSF) that links fishermen on the coast of North Carolina to consumers in the Triangle.
A community supported fishery (CSF) is based on the community supported agriculture (CSA) model. A CSF involves pre-payment by consumers for a ‘share’ of fresh, locally harvested seafood (i.e., a set amount of seafood generally picked up by the consumer on a weekly or bi-weekly basis). Just as CSAs can encourage sustainable and profitable farming practices, CSFs have the potential to do the same for fishing.
This initiative takes root in the belief that people – whether they are coastal fishermen or local consumers – play an important role in creating solutions to the social, economic, and environmental challenges we face. The goals of this business are simple: to foster economic opportunities, to cultivate healthy communities, and to encourage environmental stewardship. We recognize that conservation is intimately linked to the well-being of people and communities, and we believe that in order to work towards ecological sustainability we must also work towards local economic stability and social equity.
Walking Fish was initiated by a group of graduate students at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment in 2009 in partnership with a number of North Carolina-based for-profit and non-profit organizations.
In 2011 the core fishermen involved in Walking FIsh formed a cooperative to assume leadership for Walking Fish. The new leadership is committed to upholding a triple bottom line.
Our Mission: To sustain the livelihood and heritage of the Carteret County, NC fishing industry through public marketing and education.
Our Logo: Look for our logo in member businesses. Displaying this logo assures consumers that this business has made a commitment to serve or offer at least one local seasonal seafood. Other businesses not in the seafood business may display this logo to show their support for Carteret Catch’s mission and philosophy. Please support these businesses as part of our community.
Remember! When it comes to seafood, always ask, “Is it local?”
Our History: Located on the central coast of North Carolina, fishing has been an integral part of Carteret County’s heritage and economy for nearly 400 years. Supplying a wide variety of fresh seafood to both local residents and major East Coast cities, county fishermen, restaurants.
Fishtowne, of Beaufort, North Carolina is a locally owned seafood business. Since it’s inception in 2004, Fishtowne has focused on buying local seafood harvested by local fishermen. The Carteret County fishing industry has a long history of producing quality seafood by hardworking, dedicated fishermen. The marine environment provides a variety of shellfish, finfish and crustaceans. The coastline is adjacent to the warm gulf stream waters of the Atlantic Ocean where yellow fin tuna, mahi mahi, grouper, and snapper are caught. Bill Rice, owner and operator, travels from one end of the county to the other, several times per week to stock our market with the highest quality, freshest products available.
Our mission is to sell the freshest possible seafood caught by North Carolina fishermen.
Three key factors distinguish us: traceability, turnaround time, and in-house operations. We value the people and places behind the items we sell. Our staff drives to the coast 2-3 times each week to hand select the best catch from fishermen and fish houses on the coast. From Denny Reynolds crab boat in Columbia to Dewey Hemilright’s tilefish boat in Wanchese, our personal relationships with our sources result in a better product for our customers. Our business model depends on a variety of sales outlets, both retail and wholesale. As a result, we are able to move our product from the coast to the customer quickly, typically within 2 days after the product is caught or harvested. We buy whole fish and have a full time cutting staff who process seafood in our 3000 sq ft HACCP processing facility in Raleigh.