Skip to content Skip to navigation
UMass Collegiate M The University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Give
  • Search UMass.edu
Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment
UMass Extension Value-Added Food Program
  • Value-Added Food Home
  • About
  • Projects
  • Extension Resources
  • Research Publications
  • News
  • Events

Consumer and Fisherman Attitudes Towards Sustainable Local Seafood

Sponsoring Unit(s): UMass Extension
Department of Project: UMass Extension
Fall 2019 ADVANCE SeedGrant recipients (Left to right: Amanda Davis, Amanda Kinchla, Jill Fitzsimmons, Katie Kahl, Alissa Nolden).
Project Description

This project investigates new sustainable markets for New England seafood. Climate change challenges the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of New England's seafood industry. A warming Gulf of Maine compounds the complex puzzle of ecosystems, fish population dynamics, and catch limits for specific fisheries. Cascading effects on fishermen, seafood processors, markets, and restaurants provide a network of challenges that are difficult to disentangle. This multifaceted challenge highlights the need for collaborative, cross-disciplinary research to build sustainable new markets for seafood. This proposal brings together a team with diverse expertise in ecology, climate change adaptation, economics, stakeholder engagement and product development. We aim to support the fishing industry by investigating consumers’ seafood choices, sustainable fishing practices, and seafood products that contain lesser known yet abundant species.   

The work will obtain new data to support ongoing pilot-work and support future proposals. Pilot data include: 1) fisherman’s perspectives on local and underutilized fish species and preservation methods, and 2) consumer acceptability of new artisanal preserved fish products. Seed grant funds will be used to execute semi-structured interviews with New England fisherman, an online consumer survey, and a consumer sensory experiment. These funds will support the collaborative relationship between team members, building an interdisciplinary working group to pursue larger research funds.  

This is a multi-disciplinary project that encompasses economics, marine ecology, food science, and environmental science in research and extension. Dr. Alissa Nolden is the project PI, with co-PIs Dr. Katie Kahl, Dr. Michelle Staudinger and Dr. Ezra Markowitz.

Project Goals & Objectives:

In this project, the goal is to provide cross-disciplinary evidence to establish an understanding of fishermen’s and consumers’ perspectives on locally sourced value-added products. The two objectives include: 

1) Determine target fish species and preferred preservation methods among stakeholders in the New England fishing community.  

2) Estimate consumer preference for local seafood and valued-added seafood products.  

Relevance:

Recognizing that the New England fishery industry do not have the resources to determine potential profitability or consumer acceptability, this project aims to support the fishing industry by investigating consumers’ seafood choices, sustainable fishing practices, and seafood products that contain lesser-known yet abundant species. 

Outputs & Extension Materials: 

Currently we are engaging with stakeholders in the New England fishing community to identify which local, climate resilient and underutilized fish species would be best suited for an artisanal preserved product.  

Support:

This seed funding is supported by UMass through the National Science Foundation ADVANCE program.

Research

  • Mass Agricultural Experiment Station
  • Information About Accessing Research Funds
  • Research Projects
  • NIFA Integrated Research and Outreach Initiatives
  • Civil Rights Information & Resources
  • Summer Scholars Program
  • REEU Internship Program

Value-added Food

  • Value-Added Food Home
  • About
  • Projects
  • Extension Resources
  • Research Publications
  • News
  • Events

Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment

 

Stockbridge Hall,
80 Campus Center Way
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003-9246
Phone: (413) 545-4800
Fax: (413) 545-6555
ag [at] cns [dot] umass [dot] edu (ag[at]cns[dot]umass[dot]edu)

 

Civil Rights and Non-Discrimination Information

College of Natural Sciences

Login for faculty and staff

CAFE Units

Mass. Agricultural Experiment Station

UMass Extension

UMass Research and Education Center Farms

UMass Cranberry Station

Water Resources Research Center

Interest Areas

Agriculture

Commercial Horticulture

Energy

Environmental Conservation

Food Science

Nutrition

Water

Youth Development & 4-H

Services

Pesticide Education

Plant Diagnostics Laboratory

Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory

Hot Water Seed Treatment

Water Testing / Environmental Analysis Laboratory

Projects

Conservation Assessment Prioritization System (CAPS)

Extension Risk Management/Crop Insurance Education

Mass. Envirothon

Mass. Herp Atlas

Mass. Keystone

MassWoods

North American Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative

RiverSmart

UMass Design Center in Springfield

Resources

Extension Sales Portal

Agriculture & Commercial Horticulture Resources

Community & Economic Vitality

Disaster Preparedness

Food Safety

Home Lawn & Garden

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Land Conservation Tools

Pollinators

Tick testing

Resources for Faculty and Staff

Extension Programs

4-H Youth Development

Agriculture

Crops, Dairy, Livestock and Equine

Fruit

Greenhouse Crops and Floriculture

Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry

Pesticide Education

Turf

Vegetable

Clean Energy

Climate Change

Food Science

Nutrition Education

Value-Added Food

Seal of The University of Massachusetts Amherst - 1863
©2025 University of Massachusetts Amherst · Site Policies · Accessibility