The visit to the state-of-the-art seafood 

 facility is one stop on an East Coast trip 

 sponsored by a Rural Community College 

 Initiative (RCCI) grant awarded to Carteret 

 Community College. The project promotes 

 local seafood through community and business 

 partnerships. 



In October, RCCI community volunteers 

 unveiled the seafood branding campaign 

 — "Carteret Catch: Select N.C. Seafood from 

 the Fishermen of Carteret County" — at the 

 2005 N.C. Seafood Festival in Morehead City. 

 The campaign focuses on seafood caught by 

 commercial fishers, processed by seafood 

 dealers and served by select restaurants, all from 

 Carteret County. 



"We are trying to find ways to build 

 traceable chains from catch to plates, so 

 customers are sure of what they are getting," 

 says John O' Sullivan, the RCCI team coach. 



The group also wants to increase demand 

 for local seafood and boost revenues to local 

 fishers, seafood dealers and restaurants, 

 according to North Carolina Sea Grant seafood 

 technology specialist Barry Nash, who is 

 helping to develop the marketing program. 



Funded by the Ford Foundation and 

 implemented through the Southern Rural Devel- 

 opment Center, RCCI is a collaborative effort 

 between Carteret Community College, North 

 Carolina Sea Grant, North Carolina A&T State 

 University, North Carolina State University, 

 N.C. Cooperative Extension, and the National 

 Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. 



EAST COAST TRIP 



Last winter, the RCCI group took the 

 week-long trip to Whole Foods and other East 

 Coast markets and facilities to learn how to 

 market products in different ways, according to 

 0' Sullivan, an NC A&T farm management and 

 marketing specialist. "Whole Foods is the most 

 successful retail grocery of the natural foods 

 approach," he adds. 



The company participates in the "fish 

 for future" program that promotes sustainable 

 seafood caught by fishers who follow practices 

 that allow the fish population to grow and thrive 

 rather than be depleted, adds 0' Sullivan. 



TOP: john O'Sullivan puts on a net before touring the Whole Foods' Pigeon Cove facility in Massachusetts. 

 BOTTOM: Bradley Styron and other volunteers from Carteret County watch as a worker prepares fish fillets. 



"I was impressed how much customers 

 value local seafood," says Sandra Gaskill of 

 Harkers Island, who works the water along with 

 her husband, Elbert Gaskill. "You just need the 

 right equipment, transportation and marketing 

 of the seafood." 



To learn more about the processing plant 

 and its marketing practices, the group toured 

 the Pigeon Cove facility. 



After putting nets on their hair, they 

 crowded into a large processing room where a 

 man was filleting fresh pieces of flounder. Then 

 they moved to another area where a worker 

 places flounder fillets on a conveyor belt that 

 flows through a skinning machine. 



Nearby, a woman checked fish for 



parasites and bruises under a special light. 



"Fish has to look good and have eye 

 appeal for customers to buy it," says Parkes. 



While in Gloucester, the group also visited 

 the "Lady of the Sea" memorial — "dedicated 

 to the wives, mothers, daughters and sisters 

 of Gloucester Fishermen," according to the 

 inscription. 



"This is touching," says Sandra Gaskill. 

 "Fishing is a hard way of fife, and the women 

 deserve a memorial." 



During the trip, the group also went by 

 bus to markets and fishing cooperatives along 

 the East Coast — from the famed Fulton 

 Fish Market in New York to the waterfront at 

 Stonington, Conn. 



14 HOLIDAY 2005 



