Local fish deliveries are hitting food banks across the county this month.

Katie Rodriguez here. I recently spoke with the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust to learn all about their Community Seafood Program. Simply put, it’s a program that plays a powerful role as the middle-man that both helps sustain fishermen and local fisheries, as well as get delicious seafood to lower income folks across Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

According to the 2022 Monterey County Community Health Needs Assessment, over 40% of people living in the county were determined to be food insecure.

Through grants, donations and offerings like home-cooked food experiences, the Fisheries Trust raises money to purchase all kinds of fresh fish like black cod and rockfish and halibut, to then package and distribute that seafood to local food banks.

Starting tomorrow, Oct. 11, they’ll be delivering their first of four shipments this month, starting with Al and Friends, then the Food Bank of Monterey County, Big Sur Big Share and Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes.

“This year to date, we've purchased almost 7,000 pounds,” says the Fisheries Trust Programs Manager Emily Hess. “Our running total from the beginning of this program to date is 22,731 pounds of seafood, which equivocates to 60,616 meals.”

That’s a pretty amazing feat, I thought, especially for a harvest that isn’t always consistent, fluctuating in the dark depths of ocean water columns and subject to various regulations depending on the species, time of year and fishing locales. 

But this is where I learned about the important educational role the Fisheries Trust plays—not only in expanding our knowledge of which fish exist and how to prepare them, but also in helping local fishers bring lesser-known species to consumers.

For certain underutilized fish like grenadier, which is often caught alongside other fish like black cod, it might not have as much of a market because people simply haven’t heard of it, don’t know how to cook it, or perhaps put off by its other name, the “rattail fish.” 

And so the Fisheries Trust will buy fish like grenadier—a nutritious, white flakey fish available all year round from a sustainable fishery—and deliver it fresh or flash frozen, depending on the food bank.

When the Fisheries Trust sends out their deliveries, Hess says they’ll often provide recipes for how to cook the fish, as well as more information about it in both English and Spanish. 

“You know…tuna, halibut, salmon—people are familiar with those and tend to stick to those,” she says. “Rockfish and petrale sole and grenadier—these other fish that we have all year round—we have a robust fishery for but people aren't as familiar with it, and so it becomes a bit of an obstacle for the fishermen to sell and move the fish.”

Sometimes, she adds, it’s hard for people to get a bit more adventurous as well.

The Community Seafood Program operates year-round purchasing and delivering seafood to the community. However, because their distribution is based on the needs of the food banks—what they have capacity for and how they plan to serve the fish—they don’t typically publicize when these deliveries are happening.

Communication is usually left up to the food banks to let people know when and where fish (and other food) will be provided.

Some food banks might get 1,000 pounds delivered frozen, with plans to distribute at various sites; others, like Meals on Wheels, need fresh fish delivered in smaller quantities, with plans to cook and serve the next day.

“We would love to try and expand this program and make it bigger, because the demand and the reception of it is just overwhelmingly positive,” Hess says.

You can find Community Seafood Program partners here, or learn more about local seafood here.

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