Port Orford Sustainable Seafood

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Port Orford Sustainable Seafood (POSS) is a CSF that was formed in 2009 to help fishermen and the community retain more of the value from local ocean resources.  The CSF wanted to sell Port Orford fish in Port Orford and to provide high-quality, sustainable, and traceable fish to Oregonians. POSS set out to pay a fair-trade price to local fishermen for their fish, to process the fish right in Port Orford and to pay processing employees a fair wage.

Port Orford’s Sustainable Seafood community includes local fishers, employees, friends and family, and everyone who shares a connection to the ocean. The CSF purchases fish directly at the dock and distributes it locally, keeping more resources in the hands of the people who are out there putting it on the line. POSS CSF aims to really strengthen the relationships between local fishing communities and seafood consumers in the area.

POSS is committed to traceability - it recognizes the importance of knowing how, where, and when fish were caught as well as knowing what type of fish it is processing and distributing. POSS collects origin information for all of the seafood it provides, which includes products ranging from albacore and rockfish to Dungeness crab and Chinook salmon.

It is also committed to sustainability - to POSS sustainability means a comfortable and productive balance between the three “bottom lines”: economy, environment, and community. The CSF works closely with the local community members to host events, develop programs, and foster communications. Its environmental goals all have an overarching ideal: to encourage the ethic of ecological stewardship that results in creative, community-based approaches to conservation. POSS aims to increase the viability of traditional coastal communities by fostering local economic opportunities. By paying a premium price to fishermen, it improves the economic performance of local fishery businesses and associated community infrastructure. In addition, the CSF cuts out the “middle man” by processing and transporting its own products - which means fresher fish for all of its members who receive local, line-caught seafood. POSS is also proud to work with many people and organizations throughout Oregon who are dedicated to creating quality products that benefit the community.