Template for Providing Access to Local North Carolina Seafood in Low-Income Communities

This Master’s project provides NC Catch with a template and recommendations for implementing a supply chain that brings locally sourced seafood to low-income communities in North Carolina. The model determines processing, distribution and retail costs that generate revenue while encouraging equitable seafood consumption and identifies strategic partners for the implementation of this project. While the local food movement has introduced ecologically responsible and local fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat products into rural and low-income communities, sustainable seafood is less frequently included in promotion, distribution and education. This project aims to determine if underutilized fish species, which tend to be lower-value, caught off of North Carolina can become seafood products for lower income communities. These products can enter supply chains and markets and be sold at lower prices than current locally harvested seafood products are. A variety of methods were utilized in this process, including a literature review, interviews, focus groups, and GIS and cost analyses for distribution. Results demonstrate that there is an interest in expanding seafood access in North Carolina and that people have diverse preferences for taste, texture, flavor, and processed forms of the seafood they choose to purchase. The results of this work are a cohesive framework for effectively building a supply chain of locally caught, affordable seafood.