Stepping Up: Fishing industry creates seafood cooking classes that will also feed families in need

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Local fishermen have had to figure out ways to stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The industry has been impacted the closure of local restaurants and limited reopenings, which followed a COVID-19-driven slowdown in worldwide markets which began even before the virus hit American shores.

But fishermen, who have had excess supply because of the limited markets, have seen an even greater need locally: Families struggling to put food on the table because of sudden income loss due to the pandemic.

“They had extra fish they were willing to donate, but they didn’t have a way to get it to people in need,” Eating with the Ecosystem Program Director Kate Masury told Providence Business News. “In order to get it to the food pantries, it had to be processed and packaged in a certain way because seafood is perishable.”

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Masury also said her organization, along with Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, came to a similar conclusion that they would love to see consumers cook more seafood at home, using the old adage: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

From there, the virtual cooking-class series “Cook a Fish, Give a Fish!” was conceived. According to the organizations, each class will be led by a different local chef. Chefs will send recipes to participants, who will then have to obtain the ingredients, including the fish. Then, through video chat, participants will connect with chefs to socialize, learn about local fisheries and create new meals.

Masury said each class will be limited to 10 people in order to keep experience “fairly intimate.” The money raised from each ticket sold – $75 per ticket – for classes will help purchase 10 meals for Rhode Island families who cannot afford to buy fish this summer.

“All of the seafood groups in Rhode Island thought a great way to combine these two efforts, both teaching people how to cook local seafood at home so that helps support our fishing communities, but also raising money and getting the seafood prepared so then we can donate it through the food pantry system,” Masury said.

JOSHUA RIAZI, chef and culinary arts manager for Providence-based nonprofit The Genesis Center, will lead the July 16 class as part of the 'Cook a Fish, Give a Fish!' online class series. / COURTESY EATING WITH THE ECOSYSTEM
JOSHUA RIAZI, chef and culinary arts manager for Providence-based nonprofit The Genesis Center, will lead the July 16 class as part of the ‘Cook a Fish, Give a Fish!’ online class series. / COURTESY EATING WITH THE ECOSYSTEM

The three organizations held their first class June 29, which Masury said was via invitation only to test out the format. The upcoming July 16 class will be open to the public, Masury said, and people can register through Eventbrite.com. Joshua Riazi, chef and culinary arts manager at Providence-based nonprofit The Genesis Center, will lead the next class.

Masury said she hopes the classes can continue throughout if the need is still there to support struggling families and individuals.

Local fishermen have been hit hard by the pandemic, Masury said. She said they were feeling the decline in foreign markets where they send seafood too – including China – well before the pandemic reached stateside. Plus, 70% of seafood is consumed in restaurants and the market there became “severely limited” with restaurants needed to downsize operations in order to adhere to social distancing.

However, Masury said the industry has adjusted to some degree while trying to figure things out on a daily basis. She said fishermen have been allowed by the state to sell seafood directly to customers from their boats to make up for lost sales they would have seen by selling to restaurants.

“A lot of the fish that we catch here, like black seabass and fluke, are allowed to be sold direct to the consumer,” Masury said. “You can go meet the fishermen at the dock and buy your fish.”

Masury hopes the fishing industry can rebound a bit with restaurants being able to expand capacity and see more seafood sales as a result, but also hopes to see people more eat seafood in general – at restaurants or at home. But the waters are still uncharted at this point.

“Summer is usually a busy time to catch and sell a lot of seafood here,” Masury said. “[Fishermen are] not 100% sure what’s going to happen at this point.”

Providence Business News is spotlighting nonprofits, companies and workers stepping up to challenges presented by the spread of the new coronavirus.

James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.