New CEI web tools aim to integrate Maine seafood into local food movement
A new set of tools to be announced next week by CEI aims to integrate Maine’s seafood industry into food distribution systems in the Northeast and tap the trend of consumers wanting more locally sourced food.
“Many Maine companies are adding value to marine resources, and it isn’t widely known, especially outside Maine,” said Hugh Cowperthwaite, directory of the fisheries project for community development organization CEI’s office in Portland. Cowperthwaite discussed the two-year project Thursday at the Northeast Aquaculture Conference & Exposition at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland.
The tools, available on CEI’s website, include lists of seafood in season and at what time of the year, where seafood products can be bought in Maine, who processes and adds value to Maine seafood, who transports Maine seafood by truck, who in Maine uses cold storage or freezers for seafood, who sources Gulf of Maine seafood from the Portland Fish Exchange and who is farm-raising Maine seafood. All of the information came from public data sources.
“Most of the fish landed in Maine goes through the Portland Fish Exchange,” he said. “You can see who buys fish daily from the Portland Fish Exchange, and if you can’t get on the floor yourself, you can source seafood from one of those vendors.”
Added Cowperthwaite, “The whole purpose of this is to elevate the seafood industry in Maine and make it easier to source Maine seafood.”
Maine lands about $450 million in seafood each year, ranking it third in the United States, he said, quoting figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Nonetheless, more than 90% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported.
“Why can’t we source more Maine seafood?” he asked.
CEI’s Sustainable Fisheries & Aquaculture completed a statewide assessment looking at the who, what, when and where of Maine’s seafood and aquaculture systems. The organization then assembled the information into the website to provide one place to connect Maine seafood producers, processors, distributors, retailers and consumers. Another aim is to fill gaps in cold storage, processing and retail by letting users know where such facilities exist in Maine, he said.
“To facilitate integration of Maine seafood into ‘food hubs,’ we developed tools for action to better integrate seafood into these food systems.”
Part of the research for the project involved interviewing food hubs about whether they carry seafood and if not, why not. Those that didn’t cited a lack of assets to handle seafood, refrigeration and trucking.
He said the data will be updated and edited over time.
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