Seafood Eaters
Seafood eaters play one of the most important roles in balancing our seafood demand with our marine ecosystems and supporting actions that improve seafood habitat. Whether through participating in one of our citizen science research projects, attending one of our events, or asking for diverse local species at the markets you visit, you can make a difference.
If you are a seafood eater interested in collaborating with Eating with the Ecosystem, here are a few ways you can get involved:
Volunteer. As a small non-profit, we love volunteers. You can make a big difference! We have opportunities for volunteers of all skill sets to get involved. Learn more at https://www.eatingwiththeecosystem.org/volunteer
Attend an event. We host a variety of events around the region. Check out our events page to learn more.
Participate in a research project with us. Become a citizen scientist!
Suggest a research or project idea. We want to hear from you, what would you like us to do.
If you are interested in getting involved in any of these ways, contact kate@eatingwiththeecosystem.org
Examples of our work
EAT LIKE A FISH CITIZEN SCIENCE RESEARCH PROJECT
This one-of-a-kind research project included weekly shopping expeditions, home cooking experiments, and adventurous dinner table taste tests. Eighty six citizen scientists journeyed to seafood markets, supermarkets, farmers’ markets, and seaside fishing piers, hunting for 52 New England seafood species for 26 weeks (at a rate of four randomly assigned species per person per week), making note of where they found them and where they didn’t. When they found them, they took them home for dinner.
The Eat Like a Fish citizen science project produced first-of-its-kind data to help seafood eaters, sellers, and promoters plot a course for achieving greater symmetry between the wild creatures in New England’s ocean ecosystem and those found in its markets. Diversifying seafood supply chains and balancing harvests with ecological rhythms are necessary steps to reduce disruption of marine food webs and adapt to climate change.
Scales & Tales Food Boat Events
Through the Scales & Tales Food Boat program, Eating with the Ecosystem offers free, fun, educational events to teach consumers about our local seafood, fisheries, and ecosystems. These events raise awareness for and promote local lesser known seafood species and include seafood cooking demonstrations, free samples of local seafood, and storytelling by fishermen and scientists. We are always looking for volunteers to help at these events!
Annual Seafood market Blitz
Using the concept of a Bio Blitz, (an intense period of biological surveying conducted by groups of scientists, naturalists, and volunteers in an attempt to record all living species within a given area over a continuous period of time), we set out to apply this concept to the seafood marketplace to help us gain a greater understanding of the composition of seafood in our New England retail markets. The Seafood Market Blitz utilizes a group of citizen science volunteers to collect data about New England retail seafood markets such as species availability, product form, price, origin, and sustainability labels present. Our goal is to have volunteers visit as many New England retail markets that sell seafood as possible. The data collected through the Seafood Market Blitz will go into a database that can be used to help understand the composition of the New England seafood marketplace and track changes over time.