A gathering of fisherfolk, fishmongers, chefs, advocates and seafood lovers!

We had a number of objectives for this Slow Fish event, many of which were centered around how we can grow our community through broadening our reach to like-minded individuals, organizations, and the public so we can increase our impact. One objective in particular however, was focused on how we can empower our membership and thought leaders to uplift our shared values and create pathways for individual and collective action. With that in mind, we synthesized the conversations over the last two weeks, and highlighted those common themes/threads/values that rose to the surface.

These common threads weave together to form and reinforce the fabric of Slow Fish. They further illuminate our collectively held values; help define and elevate our collective voice; and shape our calls to action paving the way we move forward as individual activists, as allied organizations, and as a strong and powerful network. Here are some—by no means all—of these common threads:

Boat-to-customer. Boat-to-chef. Boat-to-market. Adapting to shifting markets, policies and climate often means seafood harvesters need to simplify their supply channels. Harvesters, chefs, distributors, and others will discuss successes and challenges of creating more direct supply chains, built on transparency, trust, and fair pricing. How can we replicate these models elsewhere and help harvesters maximize their customer potential? How can we engage more chefs as the customer-facing storytellers? Relationships are everything. 

In efforts to nurture partnerships and to preserve our ancestral food systems, the Slow Fish Deep Dive Indigenous Access Session will feature rich stories from coast to coast. These stories will take us on a journey to appreciate what has been, what has changed, and where we are heading. From the interconnectedness generated by the creation of the net that holds the fish, to the construction of the vessel for transport, to the development of commerce by trade routes that enriched the local economies, all of these activities inspired songs and stories. The recurring theme of the session will cover the lack of access to ancestral food sources in relation to culture and traditional ecological knowledge, as well as the synchronous bond between the health of the environment and our own physical and mental health. The community of fisher people will guide us, addressing concerns of protection and balanced stewardship, with the overarching issues of access and traditional teachings. We are honored to have an esteemed group of speakers and hope that you will find this to be an enriching Deep Dive.

How can we better see ourselves as connected to and part of the ocean commons? How do we see our coastal communities more holistically and think about all the people who benefit from them? Internationally and regionally, we are witnessing a global ocean grab that aims to transform the ocean commons into a tradeable, privatized commodity. How do the pressures of the Blue Economy, climate change, cheap imports, complex supply chains, consolidation and industrial scale aquaculture all impact the community-based fisheries Slow Fish supports? How can we uplift the values that promote those independent, small and medium-sized seafood businesses?

Join our panel of voices from the Danube, Mekong, Mississippi Rivers as well as Salmon Rivers of the Pacific Northwest and Ireland as they discuss strategies to protect biodiversity and culture in their home river basin. 

Small- and mid-scale fish harvesters around the world have little control over the health of the fisheries they depend on, which is made much worse by a coordinated global effort to commodify the ocean under the guise of the Blue Economy. A panel of experts will dive into examples of fishing communities that are treating their fisheries as a shared resource for the benefit of the community. We’ll learn how these examples of the Blue Commons could become blueprints for other communities.

There’s a lot to review after a Slow Fish event! We’ll revisit conclusions, strategies and action items from the entire 2021 Slow Fish Gathering. This is the time to take ownership and commit to the actions that will strengthen the future of the oceans and the communities that depend on them.