Grant Funds Marketing Push for Local Fishermen

The San Diego Fishermen’s Marketing Association (SDFMA) is breathing new life after reeling in a $320,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural  Marketing  Service as part of its Local Food Promotion Program.

The effort to revive the decade old SDFMA is being driven by the San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center (PIC) and the San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group – a nonprofit organization comprised of fishermen from the ports of San Diego representing eight major fishing gear types – including trap, dive, net, experimental, albacore bait, longline, deep-set buoy gear, and hook and line – that harvest approximately 65 different species of fish and crustaceans.

“With this funding we’re able to begin the work we set out to do 10 years ago,” said Pete Halmay, president of the San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group and director and founder of Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.

Halmay said that offering a steady supply of product has been a challenge for local fishermen to competing with large corporate suppliers. “By harnessing as many of these fishermen as we can into one group, I think we can accomplish that.”

In addition to benefitting his own Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, Halmay said the new marketing structure will immediately benefit other local markets and seafood restaurants, such as Tunaville Market & Grocery, Callie Restaurant, OpenGym hospitality group, Dockside Fish & Chips and Adobo House. The ultimate plan once more infrastructure is in place like a SDFMA delivery truck of their own, is to bring in more fishermen, restaurants and markets throughout the county.

Other future efforts of the SDFMA include launching a Seafood Festival and developing a first-ever fish auction on the West Coast.

The PIC will help the SDFMA in managing the grant funds.

“This grant is a win for many in San Diego: The fishing community will benefit from increased sales; restaurants and retailers will have better access to sustainable fish at a fair price; and the public will get to enjoy healthy, quality, affordable seafood,” said PIC President and CEO Susan Guinn.

Local Supply Chain

San Diego has around 200 fishing boats, supplying about 50 different fishery products, however a report by California Sea Grant found that only 8% of San Diego’s 86 seafood markets consistently carry local fish.

“San Diego County should be a hub for local catch yet the disparity between what is available in markets, restaurants and our fishing fleet is stark, risking the viability of the local commercial fishing industry as a whole,” Halmay said. “The idea is to develop a marketing plan that takes into account as many of those fishermen and those products as we can so we can deliver to the restaurants and markets in San Diego.

Halmay said offering a steady supply of product has been a challenge for local fishermen to competing with large corporate suppliers. “By harnessing as many of these fishermen as we can into one group, I think we can accomplish that.”

Halmay also pointed out that steady supply of locally sourced fish directly marketed to restaurants is a solution to current issues with long supply chains. The grant to revive the SDFMA also comes at a time when restaurants and markets are looking to localize their supply chains following the COVID pandemic that challenged the once easy, steady source of seafood products.

The SDFMA is also capitalizing on the growing consumer trend toward more sustainable and locally sourced foods.

“We call it ‘storied fish.’ Each fish has a story – a fisherman who caught it, where he caught it, how he caught it, as compared to something that’s delivered in a box and you don’t know where it came from.” Halmay said, adding that “storied fish” give San Digo consumers “access some of our treasures here … everything from sea urchins to top snail – all kinds of different products.”

San Diego Fishermen’s Marketing Association

Founded:  2013
President: Pete Halmay
Headquarters: San Diego
Business: marketing local seafood products to restaurants and retailers
Annual Budget: $55,000
STEERING COMMITTE: Peter Halmay, Mitch Hobron, Matt Pressley, Phil Harris, Mac Makul
Website:  sandiegofishermen.com
Notable: San Diego’s fishing industry dates back to the early 20th century and by the 1960s became known to be the tuna capital of the world.