Examining Fisheries Contributions to Community Food Security: Findings from a Household Seafood Consumption Survey on the West Coast of Newfoundland

An Interactive Governance and Fish Chain Approach to Fisheries Rebuilding: A Case Study of the Northern Gulf Cod in Eastern Canada

“…From the consumer end of the fish chain, the biggest challenge is institutional rigidity in responding to change, as evident by Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial marketing policies for non direct sales or allowing out of province buyers. One key example is policy measures that restrict direct wharf sales to local residents despite high local seafood demand and concerns about community health (Lowitt 2013). Moreover, the continuous levying of minimum processing requirements to local processors regardless of consumer demand provides lessons about missed opportunities for exploring niche markets and value-addition strategies.…”

A coastal foodscape: examining the relationship between changing fisheries and community food security on the west coast of Newfoundland

“…As described in Lowitt (2013), survey results show households eat local (from Newfoundland and Labrador) seafood more often than nonlocal seafood, and, unlike nonlocal seafood, which is eaten by the majority of household less than once a week throughout the year, the frequency of local seafood consumption changes with the seasons. Specifically, local seafood is eaten most frequently in the summer, the season for most commercial and recreational fisheries, and the least in the winter.…”

“…However, there are also indications that households face increasing difficulty in accessing local seafood and that fishing families are dealing with growing livelihood challenges. First, as detailed in Lowitt (2013), there is evidence from the survey that consumption of local seafood is declining. The survey asked households to indicate how frequently they ate 15 different types of local seafood over a five-year time period (2006 -2011).…”

“…Codfish has long been a staple in the diet, and was ranked by surveyed households as the most frequently eaten and favorite type of seafood today. Further, 70% of surveyed households salt codfish to preserve it for the winter (Lowitt 2013). Salting was a traditional practice to keep fish for the winter months before refrigeration was available.…”

“…Interest in community food security is part of a movement towards sustainable and local food systems in response to problems posed by the dominant industrial food system (Feagan 2007). Community food security literature emphasizes the interdependent social-ecological relationships that make up food systems and focuses on ways to build more local and resilient food systems for long-term food security (Hamm and Bellows 2003, Stroink and Nelson 2009, 2013, Levkoe and Wakefield 2011. Although the construct is most widely used in North American and European contexts, the aims of its proponents are similar to those of the food sovereignty movement in developing countries within which farmers and fishers are seeking to reclaim local control over food systems and livelihoods (Wittman et al 2010).…”