Keys Commercial Fishermen to Celebrate Opening of Florida's First Community Seafood Market (CSM) on February 14 in Key West

Dock to Dish Key West®, Florida’s first Community Supported Fishery (CSF), today announced that it will open Florida’s first Community Seafood Market (CSM) on Saturday, February 14, 2015 —Valentine’s Day— in Key West.

“Get to know your fishermen. They are America’s most endangered species,” said Dock to Dish Key West co-founder Chris Holland, who hailed the upcoming Seafood Market opening as the start of the next chapter in the sustainable seafood revolution.  “By combining mobile app convenience with traditional CSF quality standards, we are taking the next logical step in the evolution of the CSF model with the opening of the first CSM (Community Seafood Market). The new mobile technology behind this market, which will be available in June, is a powerful weapon in the fight to reclaim America’s oceans for the community. Our new mobile market app will put our fishermen and our community in direct contact with each other. This market will help reinstate the Florida Keys as the country’s highest quality seafood provider and rebuild the livelihoods of local-area commercial fishermen.”

According to co-founder and commercial fisherman Tony Osborn, the difficult mission was to adhere to the strict CSF guidelines established by Dock to Dish Montauk while finding new ways to make the healthiest, freshest seafood available to more community members in record time. The new fishermen-owned Dock to Dish Seafood Market is the first brick and mortar CSM market to offer nothing but local fish and seafood harvested by local area commercial fishermen. The market will also serve as the pick up point for the Dock to Dish Community Supported Fishery, scheduled to begin in June.

“This first-of-its-kind CSM Seafood Market will benefit both commercial fishermen and the community by reconnecting them directly with one another,” Osborn emphasized."In our CSM business model, there's just the Dock to Dish fishermen who caught the fish, the fishermen-owned market where the fish is cleaned and fileted, and the members who enjoy the fish. Fishermen can now meet their customers and customers can get to know their fishermen. Locally caught, sustainable American seafood is the safest and healthiest catch in the world. Making this direct connection will permanently raise the quality of seafood sold in Florida, improve the health of our community and improve the livelihoods of our local fishermen, who are vital to our economy.”

Holland added, “Dock to Dish is the antidote to the anonymous, and often unregulated seafood that is flooding our restaurant menus, warehouse clubs, and supermarkets from Asia and South America. 86% of the seafood America currently eats is imported*. Knowing your fishermen is the secret to better quality, better health and a better local economy.”

According to commercial fisherman and market manager Jason Wells, “Individual members and local area restaurant members will be able to see our boats come to the dock, watch our cutters prepare the fish through large windows, and make their purchase right on the spot. You can’t get fresher or more transparent than that! Many tourists come to watch it too.”

Co-founder and chef Paul Menta added, “Time is the enemy of all fresh produce, especially just-caught seafood. What makes this Seafood Market such a game changer is that we will be using mobile app technology, available in June, to communicate with our CSM and CSF members. Every Dock to Dish membership will include a mobile app that will inform members what each boat’s catch of the day is. With very few keystrokes, they can then tell us what seafood they want and how much they want. No phone calls, no emails. All they have to do is come in to our waterfront market and pick up the freshest fish they have ever had. The whole “conversation” is completed within the app. It’s very fast and that means very fresh.” 

Commenting on the impact the new Seafood Market will have on local commercial fishermen, Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association (FKCFA) Executive Director Bill Kelly noted, “The ancient art of commercial fishing is now being updated for the 21st Century and we couldn’t be more thrilled.  Chris and his team of commercial fishermen are using all of their resources plus the latest technology to reinvent the way fishermen connect with the community.”  All fishermen who supply to the Dock to Dish Community Supported Fishery and the Dock to dish Community Seafood Market must adhere to Dock to Dish’s fish-on-board policies.

Located at 3101 North Roosevelt Boulevard (on the dock adjacent to the Stoned Crab restaurant), the new Dock to Dish Seafood Market will be open seven days a week from 11:00AM until 9:00PM.  For up to date information, supporters and members can visit www.docktodish.com, call (305) 296-0274or email to fresh@docktodish.com.

Consumers must become market members. The one time membership fee is $35.  Members will receive a Dock to Dish Members Kit. The kit includes items they will need to keep their fish fresh on the way home: an insulated, reusable carry bag; one LCD thermometer; one reusable ice pack; insulated zippered pouches; the Dock to Dish Mobile App (with alerts) (in June) plus their membership card; a Dock to Dish Key West T-Shirt and a copy of Dock to Dish Chef Paul Menta’s book “Native Fuel” full of insights, recipes and local Keys food history. Paul Menta calls it, "not just a cookbook, but a food adventure.”

About Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association:

Founded in 1992, the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association (FKCFA) is a professional organization representing stakeholders engaged in the commercial harvest of spiny lobster, stone crab and finfish in Monroe County, Florida.  Monroe County, including all of the Florida Keys and a small portion of southwestern Florida’s mainland, comprises the largest commercial seaport in the state and the second largest in the southeastern United States.  The industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the nation, governed by both state and federal agencies and a multitude of rules and regulations.  Thus, the primary work of the association is addressing fisheries management issues on state and federal levels.

FKCFA is widely known for their environmental work through cooperative research programs including gear modifications and testing, development of coral protection zones, internships for undergraduate and post-graduate students and their own scholarship program for Monroe County students.  The association prides itself on education and awareness of the socio-economic side of the industry and importance to the Florida Keys as the second largest economic engine in the islands, next to tourism, and the second largest employer.  Commercial fishing in the Florida Keys is generational in nature and dates back almost 200 years in the annals of Keys’ history.