We hope you are enjoying the joys and challenges of insanely fresh, whole fish from the Bay of Fundy.  Please feel free to share your recipes and experiences at our facebook fan page or on your twitters and blogs!

While it may not be as sexy as that other Plenty of Fish matchmaking service, we did want to do our part to help folks who may be interested in "hooking up" to split our fish shares.

The way this matchmaker blog post works is pretty simple. There are no exhuastive forms to fill out about whether you enjoy long walks along the beach or prefer to hang out in leather bars. If you are looking to split a fish share with some other folks for this summer season, just leave a comment below with some contact information. It may be helpful to add which weeks you are availabe to do pickup, which neighbourhood you live in, and whether you are looking to split the share with one or more others. (To keep the spam-bots away, it is also advisable to replace the "@" in your email address with an "at".)

Up to five contacts may be added to any share during your sign up to Off the Hook CSF- or anytime, as the summer progresses. You'll have to decide amongst yourselves who wants to submit the payment before the season begins. The online paypal service that accepts credit cards will require one payment. If you plan to pay with more than one cheque, this is possible-  we would just ask that you add a note to your membership when signing up.

When you have found a share-mate, please send an email to [email protected] and we will erase your comment from the string, making it easier for others to get their "hook up" as well. And who knows, you already share a passion for fresh, sustainable, local fish with these folks- there's no telling what else you have in common!

Fishing for Change:

Atlantic Canada’s First Community Supported Fishery Is ‘Off the Hook’

For Immediate Release

June 24^th, 2010

(HALIFAX, NS)- Atlantic Canada’s first Community Supported Fishery (CSF) is launching with a community barbeque on Saturday, June 26th, 12-3pm at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic courtyard on the Halifax Waterfront.

Delivering a weekly catch of fresh whole haddock, pollock and hake, Off the Hook CSF will connect a co-operative of small-scale bottom hook and line fishermen from the Bay of Fundy to subscribing customers in and around Halifax. By securing payment at the start of the season, participating fishers are ensured a fair price for their catch and customers have a reliable source of local, sustainable fish. As fishing member Chris Hudson notes, “Aside from generating much needed income in our communities, there is also the pride-recognition factor that comes from being part of a co-op that delivers a superior quality product to discerning consumers.”

Originally developed in coastal Maine, CSFs are modeled on community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, which help increase access to fresh, healthy food. Off the Hook brings seafood for the first time into the existing local CSA mix, where more than a dozen farmers already deliver vegetables and meat to Halifax on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Off the Hook Co-operative developed their social and eco-minded business together with the Ecology Action Centre. “It is exciting to be collaborating with fishers and their families,” shares Shannon Arnold, Marine Coordinator at the Centre. “We need to re-imagine markets and demonstrate that businesses can work for our communities and the environment.”

CSF subscribers enjoy renewed connections with local fishing communities and our oceans, getting to know the fishermen who catch their supper each week and where in the Bay of Fundy it was caught. “There is a market for sustainably caught fish alongside and outside the large-scale industrial fishing system. I want to be a part of something smaller. I want to make a living doing what I truly love,” remarks Beau Gillis, who will provide fresh caught fish to Off the Hook customers over the summer months.

“By committing to using only low-impact bottom hook and line gear, the small scale fishermen who make up Off the Hook Co-op are also working to protect the health and resilience of our ocean resources into the future,” explains CSF Coordinator Sadie Beaton. “Besides all that, because our fish will be delivered to the city only hours after it is caught, we’re going to be introducing many consumers to the freshest fish they’ve ever tasted."

Off the Hook CSF’ is inviting local seafood lovers to meet the fishers and sample fresh, sustainable catch outside the Maritime Museum on the Halifax Waterfront between 12 and 3 pm.  A limited number of shares are available for the upcoming summer season, with the first delivery slated for July 22nd.