What is a Community Supported Fishery (CSF)?
Cape Ann Fresh Catch is the largest Community Supported Fishery in America.
A Community Supported Fishery (CSF) program is a model for selling seafood that emphasizes sustainability, traceability and shortening the supply chain. Members of CSF’s subscribe and pay for an allotment of fish every week and pick it up at a site in their community or have it delivered to their home. By removing the middlemen, fishermen receive a better price when they sell to a CSF and members receive a seafood product of higher quality than any grocery store can provide.
The CSF movement has been inspired by the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model.
Joining our csf means:
Freshness and Quality
Enjoy the unparalleled taste of seafood that’s been in the water just hours before it reaches you. Each share is a promise of the freshest catch, delivered to over 30 convenient locations in the Greater Boston area or directly to your doorstep.
Supporting local fishermen
By choosing Cape Ann Fresh Catch, you’re ensuring that Gloucester’s fishermen receive a fair price for their catch, securing a reliable market that appreciates their hard work and dedication to sustainable practices.
Boosting the local economy
Your membership keeps the economic benefits within the community, supporting the local businesses that are the backbone of Gloucester.
Traceability, Transparency & Connection
Discover the journey of your seafood – where, when, and by whom it was caught. We believe in fostering a relationship between our members and the fishing community, enhancing your connection to the food on your table.
Environmental Stewardship
Join us in our commitment to a healthy marine ecosystem. Our commitment to reducing carbon footprints, enjoying higher quality seafood, and promoting sustainable fishing practices is unwavering. Together, we can ensure the longevity and vitality of the ocean’s bounty for generations to come.
How IT WORKS
Break up with your grocery store and make a new commitment.
Sign up for fresh fish in six easy steps.
1. Sign Up
Click here or select Sign Up on our menu.
2. Select Pickup Site or Home Delivery
We deliver 5 days a week from 10am to 6pm, depending on traffic. Choose to pick up your fish at a convenient site from our list or map, or select home delivery and provide instructions for where to leave your fish.
3. Subscribe
To join the CSF, select a subscription for a 1lb, 2lb or whole fish share, or a subscription for salmon or haddock. If you choose, you may also subscribe to one or more of our standard seafood options using the same schedule or a different one.
4. Create an Account and Select a Recurring Payment Plan
When the payment period ends, you will automatically be renewed for the same number of weeks. You may put your subscription on hold or cancel it at any time.
4. Make a Payment
Read our Terms and Conditions and enter your credit card information. Your credit card information will remain securely on file with our payment processor for recurring payments.
2. Visit our Seafood Marketplace
Once you have a subscription you can add any of our standard seafood items, weekly specials and promotions to your next delivery from our Seafood Marketplace. To visit the Marketplace, simply go into your account once you have completed paying for your subscription.
Providing fresh seafood is an operationally tricky business. View our Member Agreement to learn more about our processes and the invaluable role you play in our operations as a member of our CSF.
Pick up or Delivery
Receiving your fresh, locally-caught seafood is straightforward and convenient, with two easy options.
Pickup:
Cape Ann Fresh Catch partners with over 30 community organizations, farmers markets or specialty food stores in the Greater Boston area to provide convenient sites for our members to pick up their fish. Each week, on your designated day, head to your pickup site where your order will be waiting in a bag, clearly labeled with your name, ready for you to collect. Specific instructions for each site will be provided when you join the CSF and select your site.
Home Delivery:
Alternatively, opting for home delivery allows you to simply place a cooler with ice on your front porch and await the arrival of your seafood. When you join and select Home Delivery, all you have to do is indicate where to leave your fish and put a cooler with ice outside on the day of delivery. We deliver to the Greater Boston Area for a fee of $5 per delivery. Senior Citizens and Gloucester/Rockport residents are free.
Our Pickup Site Partnerships
Cape Ann Fresh Catch partners with over 30 organizations to provide convenient sites for our members to pick up their fish.
We’re truly grateful for the partnerships we have developed growing our reach to improve your experience. It’s a privilege to collaborate with partners who share our dedication to community, local sourcing, sustainability, and an unwavering love for quality food and beverages.
We partner with CSAs, farm stores, specialty grocery stores, microbrewers, community centers, nonprofits and churches. Like a community supported fishery, CSAs support the local food movement by connecting consumers directly with a community based, direct source of fresh, seasonal produce. Farm stores and small neighborhood businesses carry a wide variety of sustainable products from fresh produce to locally brewed beer and our local nonprofits partners provide services to our community beyond supporting the local food movement. Supporting these organizations strengthens the fabric of our local community. Check out what they have to offer when you pick up your fish.
Become a Pick up Site
Here are some key geographic regions where we seek like minded businesses, houses of worship, community centers, and apartment buildings who want to provide a site for our members to pick up fresh fish.
Andover – Billerica – Braintree – Brockton – Brookline – Burlington – Georgetown – Hudson – Lawrence – Leominster – Marlborough – Needham – Northborough – Quincy – Reading – Revere – Shrewsbury – Waltham – Wellesley – Westborough – Worcester
- You get guaranteed weekly foot traffic in your store
- You will receive a free 1 lbs fish share as a “thank you” from us for supporting our operations.
Note: We prefer NOT to use private homes as pickup sites and yet, we make occasional exceptions.
To make an inquiry, please send us an email.
Getting Your Fish at Farmers’ Markets
via Advance Purchase
Forecasting farmer’s market sales is tricky. We hate selling out, and let’s be honest, we hate telling customers at the end of a market that they have to get something else for dinner. Let’s fix that.
You can purchase fresh fish from us and pick it up at a local farmers’ market during the market season. Once you join the CSF, scan the list of farmers’ markets we go to and select, or switch your current pickup site to the one from which you wish to pick up your fish. Once you purchase your fish, you will receive a confirmation email from us. Find us at your local market and your fish will be waiting for you, bagged, labeled and on ice when you arrive.
Our Fish
CSF Species
On a daily basis we deliver the fresh catch sourced from local boats in Gloucester and on occasion, larger trip boats that can reach deeper waters in a day. The variety is diverse and sustainable including species such as Acadian redfish, grey sole, haddock, hake, king whiting, monkfish, pollock, yellowtail flounder and more. Each week will be a surprise.
Standard Seafood Options
Every week, we have haddock, salmon, scallops, swordfish, baked stuffed clams and our full Twin Light Smokehouse selection available. You may purchase a subscription for any of these items when you sign up, or add them to your subscription as a one-time purchase from our Seafood Marketplace after you create your account.
Weekly Specials
Weekly specials are an opportunity to try a new local species or enjoy seafood responsibly sourced from a different part of the country. Recent specials have included Louisiana shrimp, bluefish, striped bass, tuna and lobster.
Our Fishermen
Each morning, we send out a “Catch of the Day” email which includes the species of the daily catch, a recipe for that species and the name of the boat from which the boat was caught. We are pleased to collaborate with these incredible individuals and share their contributions to our mission of providing sustainable, locally sourced seafood.
Join Our Community
By becoming a member of Cape Ann Fresh Catch, you’re not just buying seafood; you’re making a statement. You’re choosing freshness, quality, sustainability, and supporting a model that values people, community, and the environment.
Ready to taste the difference? Join us today and be part of a movement that’s redefining seafood consumption for the better.