I Don't Know How I Feel About This

But I'll talk about it anyway:  Partnership explores feasibility of community-supported fishery

A new partnership between Virginia Sea Grant and the College of William and Mary—including the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Mason School of Business, and Marshall-Wythe School of Law—is exploring whether a community-supported fishery is a feasible means to help reverse this trend by promoting greater consumption of locally harvested fish and shellfish.

Project leader Troy Hartley, Director of the Virginia Sea Grant program at VIMS, says “Community-supported fisheries—‘CSFs’—connect fishermen directly to local markets. Consumers pay for a share of the fishermen’s catch, and in return receive fresh seafood on a regular basis. CSFs are based on the model of community-supported agriculture, which provide subscribers with shares of produce and other products from local farms.”

Read the whole article and see what you think. Here are my initial thoughts:

OK, I get the idea of short cutting the middleman, and buying direct from the local fisherman, but if the details of how this is done is worked out, it's not in this puff piece.  There are reasons we go to the supermarket for food, including fish.  It's convenient,  what we want is likely there, with a good selection, and a reasonable chance it's at least moderately safe.  Do we get the same convenience and safety assurances when we buy directly from a waterman?  It's also relatively convenient to comparison shop with other stores.

How will this community supported fishery work?  Will I, as the target consumer, buy a fixed share of a waterman's catch for a year for a fixed price?  If so, can I trust the waterman to deal fairly with me, to work hard to catch his maximum possible catch after he's been paid?  Can I trust him not to sell fish onto the black market; fish that I've paid for?  Given the Maryland/Virginia watermen's propensity to poach fish and wholesale them illegally, I don't think so.  Fish are unlike crops in that they are not readily visible for inspection.

Will I buy shares in a coop arrangement, that buys goods from the watermen, and allows me to pick and choose from among the seafood that the coop purchases from local watermen?  Can I trust the co-op to deal fairly, handle the fish safely, and provide me variety and value for my money?

I'm still interested, but I need to know more details before I buy in.