Who Fishes Matters Tour

The first ever Who Fishes Matters Tour took place from February 28 - March 6, 2013 in five different fishing communities throughout New England. The Tour sponsored by the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) emerged as part of a Who Fishes Matters campaign aimed to empower fishing and seafood-dependant communities and educate the public on the issue of broken seafood policies that are undermining coastal communities, local economies, the marine environment, and our food system.

Fishing families, food justice advocates, youth organizers, marine and social scientists, local business leaders, general public, as well as policy decision makers were invited to participate in the workshops.

Participants were asked to share their vision for the future of the New England Groundfish fishery and reflect on the challenges at hand. The Tour created, what was for many communities, the first opportunity to publicly express the daunting problems and challenges faced by those working to improve the seafood system, especially for those with boots-on-deck.

Over 100 people attended, coming from communities throughout Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. In addition, we had two international fishing community organizers to share perspective and support; Michéle Mesmain from Italy and Dan Edwards from Vancouver, Canada.