With champagne served in quahaug shells and smiles all around, the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust celebrated the grand opening of its new seafood wholesaler.
The Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust celebrated the grand opening of its new seafood wholesaler, the Martha’s Vineyard Seafood Collaborative, in Menemsha Tuesday.
Gathering at the Ducther Dock celebrated the occasion.
Gathering at the Ducther Dock celebrated the occasion.
The trust, which aims to protect the Island’s small-boat fishing industry, has been working to create a community-based wholesale fish buyer for the past year and a half, said trust president John Keene. The ambition became reality when the trust signed a lease with the town of Chilmark in January securing the location, the former site of the Menemsha Fish House.
Fitting the occasion, Mr. Keene sliced a red dock line with a filet knife late Tuesday afternoon on the Dutcher Dock, flanked by trust executive director Shelley Edmundson and director of operations Peter Lambos while a small gathering of Islanders looked on. Champagne and sparkling apple cider was served in quahaug and oyster shells. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests had the option to enter and look around the building.
The Fish House had been one of the largest wholesale fish distributors on the Island, before closing in November 2020.
Ms. Edmundson told the crowd how difficult the closure had been on local fishermen, and said it created “a risk and a threat to the commercial fishing community here” because it left fishermen with no place to offload their catch.
She also thanked the crowd for helping make the trust achieve its goal through their fundraising support. “Thanks to everyone here, we were able to successfully raise over $550,000 during the winter and during the pandemic,” she said.
Back in business with wholesale fish operation, this time as a nonprofit collaborative.
Back in business with wholesale fish operation, this time as a nonprofit collaborative.
Mr. Keene explained the preparations that went into getting the collaborative functioning. “We negotiated a deal with the previous owners to buy their leftover equipment, and then we raised money to purchase additional equipment,” he said. “We cleaned up the building and got new state and federal licenses to sell wholesale, which took a lot of time.”
Despite the labor intensive process, Mr. Keene underscored the key role a wholesale retailer will play in maintaining the vitality of Menemsha as a working waterfront.
“Without a place to sell your fish, the best day ever won’t mean a thing,” he said. “The industry will just go flat without places like this to distribute and sell your catch.”
He added that after the closure of the for-profit Fish House, the trust hopes to create “a different dynamic” by opening a nonprofit retailer in its place.
Mr. Keene said the Menemsha fishing community is excited about the collaborative. “The reaction has been very positive,” he said.
Comments
Thank you for keeping this
Suzanne Hall MV / BostonThank you for keeping this longstanding MV tradition alive. I buy local fish whenever I can when I'm on the Island.
This is great. In doing the
Peter Stam Vineyard HavenThis is great. In doing the Fisherman's Trust is helping fulfill its mission.
I applaud the foundation and
Philip C. Walsh Washington, D.C.I applaud the foundation and mission of the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust. The board and management of this organization are to be commended for taking on the task of preserving a way of life on this island that goes back to its original settlement. They've come to recognize that most effective manner to achieve this is by ensuring that island watermen (not a gender-specific term) get higher returns on their harvests. While island oysters have traditionally been shipped north and gotten the Boston price, lumping them together with other oysters from up and down the Atlantic seaboard does them a disservice. As a filter-feeder that’s sold in its entirety, an oyster’s taste answers directly to the purity of the water it’s grown in, and from Katama Bay to Menemsha Creek, our bays and estuaries all but define that word. The number of chefs across the country who know this is growing, partly because we now have seasonal chefs, but most recently due to the creative and aggressive marketing that management of the Fishermen’s Preservation Trust has undertaken. Recognizing that regional seafood that’s well cared for and delivered within days of harvest touches people’s hearts in a way that no other protein can, they’re making it easy for chefs anywhere in America to offer their dining public oysters and, yes, finfish, that’s “Fresh from Martha’s Vineyard.” Chefs buy them because of their freshness, briny taste and deep cups, but also because they understand that their every purchase helps to preserve a way of life. It matters.
Hats off to John Keene for
Julian Wise West TisburyHats off to John Keene for spearheading this effort to preserve the local fishing industry while running an excavation business during a building boom. Amazing.
WELL DONE !...another leg
B Langley EDGARTOWNWELL DONE !...another leg under this creaky stool and way-of-life.
As trite as it may sound....Sell T-Shirts to this "heart-warming" cause ( hold the ice cream ) and watch the wandering tourists gobble THAT-up. Put the $ back to the Co-Op and who knows, maybe the profit might pay the electric bill to run that cooler.
Add new comment