Photo: Six Crew on the beach in Washington

Hello Niaz,

In mid-July, Don’t Cage Our Oceans, a NAMA campaign, collaborated with the State Innovation Exchange on a Coastal Convening gathering that brought 22 state legislators from 13 different states together to think about how progressive state policy makers can fight industrial seafood systems and uplift the values we cherish to strengthen local seafood communities and economies. 

It was an extraordinary gathering that was only made possible by the people on the ground who welcomed us, fed us, spoke with us, and showed us what can be created if we work together. The weekend kicked off with an amazing meal at the Duwamish Longhouse with salmon provided by Native Candies. Many welcomes and words of appreciation were exchanged as we broke bread over the cuisine shared by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. The following day, the Suquamish Nation hosted our crew and demonstrated what community-based aquaculture looks and tastes like. The state legislators were introduced to Geoduck clams - a regional specialty. Then, our last day ended on the docks of Seattle’s Fishermen's Terminal with what I called a speed dating adventure with 4 different people versed in the past, present, and future of the fishing communities in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. It was a jam-packed weekend with so much information and relationships to absorb.

So, now what are the next steps? We are working to take the energy that was cultivated in Seattle to the next level and continue to make change town by town, district by district. One legislator was so inspired, she wants to have another gathering in her home state with policy makers from the region - to figure out how to uplift values based seafood systems outside the confines of legislation. How can we impact budgets, shoreside infrastructure, regional fishery management councils? How can we expand our web to make industrial finfish farming a thing of the past and vibrant local seafood communities a consistent reality?

I appreciate the state legislators taking time out of their busy schedules to join us at the Coastal Conevening. Much gratitude to our hosts at the Duwamish Longhouse and the Suquamish Seafood Facility. Big shout out to our international speakers, Catalina Cendoya (GSFR) and Gideon Mordecai (University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries), as well as to Carl Wassilie for our beautiful closing. Also, a thank you to our dockside chats with Katie Harris, Per Odegaard, Chad See, and Ephraim Froelich. Lastly, this would have never happened without the incredible collaborators with SiX and the DCO2/NAMA crew, including James Mitchell and Meg Stratton, who worked hard to make the weekend a success! 

With gratitude,

Andrianna

In This Issue

Seafood Throwdown at Boston Jerkfest

Block Corporate Salmon at the Indian Fishers Expo

Coming Clean

World Forum of Fisher Peoples Update

NAMA News Roundup

Shop Our Swag!

From left: NAMA Campaign Director, Brett Tolley; NAMA Coordinating Director, Niaz Dorry; One Fish Foundation Founder, Colles Stowell

The eleventh Boston JerkFest just passed and, as we have done each year since its start, we worked with the organizers to host a Seafood Throwdown cooking competition. Since 2008, these engaging, interactive, and very aromatic events have helped us connect fishing people and eating people to each other and to the one thing they are both looking for: food from the seas. We have held hundreds of Seafood Throwdowns over these years and each was unique and rewarding. The ones that left the deepest memories, though, have been the ones that wake up a deep connection some people have with food from the ocean. We’ve learned that many immigrant and multicultural neighborhoods especially are full of stories of eating from the seas. It’s in these neighborhoods that many watching and learning from the Seafood Throwdown have a story about the secret seafood of the day. In the greater Boston area, scup was the one that seemed to conjure the most memories, especially with the Caribbean community. That’s why it’s particularly special to host a Seafood Throwdown at the Caribbean-focused JerkFest every year. Being there adds another dimension to these events. The ocean and all its foods play a critical role in the culture, traditions, and history of the Caribbean. 

Huge thanks to our friend (and board treasurer!) Nicola Williams of The Williams Agency that puts on the JerkFest (and a few other fests around the Boston area) and our friend Karen Spiller for once again helping us put on a great Seafood Throwdown, featuring dabs, and along with it another memorable and engaging culture exchange centered around sea food.

Our deep gratitude to the Chefs Dre Warren-Gunn and Manny Hutcherson for putting their cooking chops and amazing palates to the tent. 

The jerk food and music weren’t so bad, either! Till next year, Boston JerkFest!

Photo Above: The BCS crew with Brigitte from Salmon King Fisheries

Photo Below: BCS Organize, Sai, holding a Steelhead Trout

Photo Credit: feini yin

Thanks to Buck Jones for inviting us to CRITFC’s Columbia River Indian Fishers Expo again this year! The Block Corporate Salmon crew is spending time along the Columbia River this week. Grateful for the opportunity to connect with friends new and old, not to mention the River and the Salmon. Some highlights included visiting with Brigette at Salmon King Fisheries (IG: @salmon_queen) in Warm Springs, OR and Christina with Native Candies (IG: @nativecandies) in Bingen, WA, as well as cooking up Steelhead gifted to us by Skip, a Yakama Tribal fisher. You can buy Columbia River fish from Brigette online. She ships! (We’re shipping 27 cans and a bunch of frozen fillets back East for friends.) For folks in the Pacific Northwest, Native Candy does farmers markets in Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland!

NAMA and BCS Media Coordinator, feini, conducting an interview with Cristina from Native Candies

Photo Credit: Estefanía Narváez

Photo of WFFP members courtesy of Maíra Franco

The World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) is a global movement of small-scale fisher peoples founded in 1997 in New Delhi - India. WFFP was created in response to the growing threats faced by small-scale fisheries, including habitat destruction, pollution, encroachment by large-scale fishing operations, illegal fishing, and overfishing. The movement encompasses representatives from all five continents through 75 member grassroots organizations, representing more than 10 million fisher people worldwide. WFFP's primary mission is to uplift the living conditions and well-being of small-scale fisher peoples while ensuring their human and environmental rights. This mission aims to achieve social recognition, dignified lives, and sustainable livelihoods for fisher communities. One of the key activities of WFFP is organizing General Assemblies, which serve as crucial spaces for the global fishing community to develop strategies, exchange experiences, and foster youth leadership. The upcoming 8th General Assembly in Brasilia, Brazil, set for November 2024, is being organized in parallel with World Fisheries Day on November 21. This event is expected to bring together over 800 fisher folks from across Brazil, who will participate in a march to advocate for fisher peoples' rights.

Intrafish recently published a piece on how “private equity’s track record in seafood is bad and getting worse.” The article gives a good rundown of private equity 101 and names some of the most cringe-worthy private equity deals in seafood over the last couple decades, including the downfalls of Red Lobster, Peter Pan Seafood, and Bregal Partners over the last year. 

If you connected with us at the Boston Seafood Expo in recent years, you’ll know we’ve supported migrant fishers who are speaking out against the harrowing conditions aboard Taiwan’s distant-water fishing boats. They’ve been continuing to bring their Wi-Fi- NOW campaign to gatherings around the world, demanding that Wi-Fi be made mandatory aboard these vessels to protect workers and the ocean. 

In the fall, our friends at the Transnational Institute published an important piece on conservation finance schemes known as “blue bonds” or “debt for ocean swaps,” and their implications for coastal fishing communities in South Africa. You can read their report here and check out this related article from 2021 on blue neocolonialism, by Kendall Dix.

Valerie Segrest, a Muckleshoot leader and expert in nutrition and traditional foods, recently published “Sacred Sustenance” in YES! Magazine, a poignant piece on the importance of Indigenous food sovereignty in the context of colonial legacies. In it, she shares a recipe for cooking Chinook Salmon, quoting her mother-in-law Georgianna “Peachie” Ungaro, who fought for Indigenous fishing rights during the Fish Wars: “Their beautiful meat is dripping with good fat, and that is their medicine.

Have you always wanted a NAMA hoodie? Now’s your chance! We’ve got hoodies, aprons, and onesies for the littlest fishes among our movement! Our merch is made in the US by Worx Printing Co-op, a worker-owned union coop and printed with water-based, organic, toxin-free, vegan ink. They’re PVC free, contain no phthalates and are safe for babies!