"Do you really know where that “ fresh fish ” dish you are enjoying is coming from?"  asks Key West restaurateur Chris Holland, who owns popular seafood restaurant, The Stoned Crab at The Ibis Bay Resort.

“About ninety percent of the seafood consumed by Americans comes from overseas and more than half of it is farmed and processed in facilities that are not inspected by any United States government agency on any kind of consistent or reliable basis.”  As part of the fight to make fresh, traceable, locally harvested wild seafood accessible to American consumers, Dock to Dish® is expanding from one strategic U.S. commercial fishing center to another.

Dock to Dish® , with headquarters in the port of Montauk, at the tip of Long Island, New York announced detailed plans today for the launch of Florida’s first Community Supported Fishery (CSF) program in 2015. The pioneering initiative is part of a larger national food moment and has been designed after the increasingly popular land-based Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) concept. The launch is being made possible through a collaboration between the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association  and native Commercial Fisherman Tony Osborn, Chris Holland and chef Paul Menta, a leading local spearfisherman specialized in targeting invasive Lionfish.

Among the goals of the new program, outlined by Dock to Dish® co-founder Sean Barrett, are to introduce a cooperative membership model into the Key West marketplace and bring the health benefits of locally harvested seafood back to consumers, while concurrently strengthening the commercial fishing industry of Florida. “It is the first step in what we intend to develop into a state-wide enterprise involving commercial fisherman, consumers, and restaurateurs all rallying behind a cause that is focused on increased access to locally harvested sustainable seafood and the promotion of good health.”
“Americans need to take a stand now against the large Asian and South American fish farms that are negatively impacting our commercial fishing industry and poisoning unsuspecting consumers who think that the fish they are buying here is safe, inspected, and healthy when it is actually none of these things” reiterated, Chris Holland.

The Key West Community Supported Fishery Program will be supplied exclusively by an alliance of federally and state licensed members of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, under the leadership of executive director Bill Kelly, who today noted, “We are proud to be a part of this historic initiative to bring fresh, local seafood back to the residents of Key West; and to strengthening the livelihoods of both our commercial fishermen and our island economy.”

A special evening, Champagne and Cocktails On The Beach is planned for Saturday February 14th from 6- 8 pm celebrating same day sourced Florida Keys fresh seafood, and the launch of Dock to Dish® .

For more information and how to join this cooperative as a member or a restaurateur visit http://docktodish.com/

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