Apps, online markets, and in-person markets are connecting fishermen and customers.

The Covid pandemic boosted direct marketing of seafood, with some fishermen tripling their sales and others getting into direct sales for the first time. In the wake of the pandemic, many fishermen want to continue to capitalize on consumers' desire to access high-quality seafood, and a number of app developers, online markets, and live markets are providing them with ways to continue making direct sales.

Landon Hill, of Wilmington, N.C., got the idea for a marketing app for fish—a sort of Tinder App for connecting fishermen with fish buyers—while finishing business school at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. “After I graduated, I kept playing with the idea. I don’t have a lot of background in fisheries, but I could see that the lack of communication was a real pain point in fishing communities. I mean the idea that Tidewater restaurants were getting supplied by 18-wheelers just didn’t make sense to me, and it didn’t make sense to the chefs in those restaurants.”

Hill wants his app, Local Catch, to facilitate communication in the seafood market. To do that, he breaks the players down into four categories: fishermen, dealers, restaurants, and consumers. “You can register on the app and put in your zip code to see what’s available, or as a dealer or fisherman what you have available. As a consumer you can also make a cast, as we call it, and ask for what you are looking for.”

Hill reiterates that the project is about facilitating communication in the seafood industry. “We’re want people to know what seafood is for sale in their areas, and we’re exploring ways to do that better,” he says. “We’ve updated the app about 70 times since we released it to the public in 2022, and we’ll probably update it 70 more times in the next two years. Right now, we have 1,300 users in the app, and we’re on all coasts of the continental U.S.”

Hill adds that Local Catch is currently adding capacity for customers to pay vendors in the app using PayPal. “The other thing we’re looking at is distribution. That’s been on our white board since we started.” Right now, Local Catch connects buyers and sellers and leaves them to iron out the details of whether the vendor will deliver, or the buyer will pick up.

Whether the app can generate revenue is an open question. “Last year we received a NCIDEA grant, but before that I was bootstrapping everything with other work,” says Hill. “We’ll collect a small service fee when buyers use PayPal in the app and we’re exploring other revenue streams. Right now we just want to make it work, and we’re keeping it free.”

Hill notes that there is a high degree of traceability in the Local Catch system, but with the seafood traceability requirements that come into effect in 2027, he might want to work with other traceability providers. “I spoke with a traceability technology developer at the Boston Seafood Expo about how we could work together to help people find out what seafood is available in their regions.”

On the West Coast, a California-based software developer, Joe Falcone, launched FishLine as an online market in 2012 and a mobile app in 2013. “We've been available worldwide for over a decade,” says Falcone, whose team developed FishLine with assistance from the Morro Bay Cable Fund.

“FishLine doesn't require either the fisherman or the consumer to register with their personal information.  So, anyone can just download FishLine and find seafood without submitting their email or phone number.  The fisherman can just specify their sales location (which is done automatically via GPS).  Some list their phone number, text number or email for people to check on inventory.  And some don't.  Generally it is first come first serve at the docks.”

Falcone notes that FishLine offers the same content on the app and on the web at FishLineApp.com. “And we have a large number of people who just use the website instead of the mobile app,” he says.

While the two apps have a number of similarities, the companies take different approaches to the markets. “We're a full-service mobile application, website, and social media company,” says Falcone. “We've developed many mobile apps in different fields, and we subsidize the operation of FishLine from our other activities with support from some members of the fishing community.”

Unlike Local Catch, Fishline does not have a wholesale function. “We tried that some years ago with a feature called FSX - FishLine Seafood Exchange,” says Falcone. “But because of the perishability of most seafood, wholesaling requires human interaction to manage efficient deal flow.”

FishLine has also partnered with fisherman's organizations in Rhode Island and Hawaii and provided regional versions for those areas.  “The way that works is that if your phone detects that you're around Rhode Island, then Rhode Island seafood specific content, such as species, recipes markets, and restaurants, gets loaded,” says Falcone.

Pete Halmay, an organizer of San Diego’s Tuna Dock Fish Market, where direct marketing is just that—Fishermen standing behind their products and selling them to the public—believes apps can sometimes benefit individuals and leave fishing communities underserved.

"In a big city like San Diego, we need to promote the fishing community,” says Halmay. “We need to show people the need for local fish and the infrastructure needed to support local fisheries.”

Halmay’s focus in on the need for improved shoreside infrastructure owned and operated by fishermen, or under co-management agreement with the port of San Diego. “We need orderly marketing of all fish landed in San Diego,” he says. “And that requires the development of social capital to not only market but to manage and maintain shoreside infrastructure.”

Halmay is also advocating for increased access to local renewable fishery resources.

While apps may feel simple and user-friendly, and in-person markets give consumers a chance to know the fishermen, many sellers buy from local fishermen and run their consumer and wholesale sales through their websites.

Ryan Speckman, co-founder of Locals Seafood in Durham, N.C., operated primarily as a wholesaler before the Covid pandemic. “I was selling about 80 percent to markets and restaurants, and 20 percent retail,” says Speckman. “Once the pandemic hit that flipped to 80 percent retail and 20 percent wholesale.”

Since the end of the pandemic Speckman has seen Locals Seafood’s retail sales increase slightly, and the expansion of his wholesale market into the western part of the state has brought the ratio of wholesale and retail to about 50-50. “So, the people who started buying direct during the pandemic have continued to do so, and their numbers are increasing,” he says.

"We’ve thought about developing an app,” Speckman says. “But our supply is so variable, we haven’t seen how it can work. We prefer to sell through our website and our customers are familiar with it.”

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) launched an online market in April of 2022, but it is much more oriented to facilitating connections than actively engaging in sales. “The Marketplace platform allows businesses to showcase their products to seafood purchasers of all types. At the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute,” says Tanna Peters, Digital Marketing Manager at ASMI. “The Marketplace is set up so that anyone looking to purchase Alaska seafood, from consumers to international buyers, can search for a supplier, view their profile, and contact them directly through the site. The Marketplace allows both buyer and suppliers to be listed and reach out to each other to build dynamic sales relationships.”

According to Peters, user experience research led ASMI to add a more consumer-friendly interface of the marketplace directly on its main Alaska Seafood website  in June of 2023. “We call this the Buy Alaska Seafood page,” she says. “It’s tailored for a better consumer experience; only featuring suppliers that sell directly to consumers, and profiles link directly to supplier sites for easier shopping.”

Although Peters can’t track actual conversations within the marketplace, in a year-over-year comparison the marketplace saw about 15,000 on-page events in 2024, up 65% from the previous year. “That’s things like link clicks and form submissions,” says Peters. “Which means we are both engaging new users and increasing active engagement while they are on the marketplace.”

Peters notes that the Buy Alaska Seafood page is more consumer-focused and it is growing fast.  “With over 12,220 page views in the first six months of 2024 vs. 4,900+ from the previous year during the same period, we are glad to see over 145% improvement and look forward to continuing to engage consumers with further research and campaigns focused here,” she says.

While these are just a few of the growing direct sales options for fishermen, they represent a growing sector of the seafood market that gives consumers access to high-quality seafood while paying fishermen higher prices. As Landon Hill, developer of LocalCatch, notes, it’s all about communication, and technology is making that easier.