Fisheries Sustainability

It is well known that the benefits of eating seafood outweigh the potential risks. These benefits include high levels omega-3 fatty acids and low levels of cholesterol and saturated fat found in many fish species. Many community members still don’t know where to buy fresh local seafood or the types of local seafood that are available to them. They are also not knowledgeable about the fisheries themselves and the level of sustainability in fisheries overall. The goal of this program is to increase participants’ knowledge of local seafood products and the benefits of buying and consuming local seafood. Participants’ will increase their knowledge of fisheries and sustainability within fisheries. Two 2-hour classes were held on August 14^th, December 8^th and May 24th and included content on sustainability of fisheries, what seafood is found locally and the benefits of buying local seafood, health benefits of eating seafood, recipes, cooking demonstrations, and tasting of local seafood. A partnership was created with Wild Ocean Seafood Market, a local market that has provided local, wild-caught seafood on the Florida coast for over four generations, in order to provide information on seafood found locally and tasting of local seafood. As a result of this class, participants feel more confident about purchasing and cooking seafood and they increased their consumption of seafood per week. Participants also increased their knowledge after the class by 56% (pre/post test, Turningpoint Technology). The long-range impact of this program is to increase knowledge of local seafood products and the benefits of buying local, which will support the local economy and increase local revenue. Another impact is to increase knowledge of benefits of eating seafood, which will result in increased health overall.

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Fisheries Sustainability

Presentation created for Local Seafood Class to educate participants about fisheries and sustainability.