Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

San Diego’s once prominent position in the global seafood market is now viewed as an interesting but distant aspect of the city’s history. The industry’s early glory days and the controversial tuna boom were considered to be environmentally damaging and unsustainable by many. Yet an opportunity exists to redefine the meaning of sustainability as it relates to San Diego’s local seafood industry today, to define sustainable fishery solutions as ones that benefit not only the environment but also fishermen’s livelihoods and the community that enjoys their products.One hundred fishermen remain in the city of San Diego today, most running one man, owner-operated businesses and committed to reviving the local industry before it dissolves. Community Supported Agriculture efforts have gained momentum worldwide by understanding the value and importance of establishing sustainable, local food systems. An increasing number of small-scale fisheries are following suit in an effort to assign more value to high quality, local seafood that is sustainably harvested. San Diego has not yet established a sustainable, local seafood system, and this is due in part to significant challenges like the mass commoditization of seafood, traceability issues and a lack of social capital. However, significant opportunity- for the environment, economy and community- lies in the opportunity for small-scale fisheries to offer a diversity of local species directly to local customers. Upon analyzing the key challenges and opportunities associated with forming a community supported fishery in San Diego, the need and great potential for such a model is clear. A go-to-market strategy is introduced at the close of this document. It aims to bolster local fishermen’s efforts to build a successful CSF entity and revitalize the San Diego local seafood industry for years to come.