It’s unusual, nowadays – a fisherman that mongers his fish.
But Meredith native Amanda Parks, 24, and Tim Rider, 40, of Manchester arrive at their boat in Portsmouth about 2 a.m. most mornings before going four or five hours into open ocean.
There, listening to hip-hop and ’80s tracks on satellite radio, they use large fishing rods and bait hooks to catch pollock, cusk, haddock, cod and Acadian redfish before returning home, some 16 or 18 hours later.
The next morning, Parks and Rider hop into their white, refrigerated van with their business name, New England Fishmongers, proudly painted on the doors. With energy drinks vibrating in the cup holders, the two bounce from restaurant to restaurant along the New Hampshire Seacoast, plopping whole, gutted fish into chef’s metal trays.
They meet with a handwritten list of established clients and also stop at some new spots, offering free fish samples. Rider and Parks sell their product hard, knowing they’re likely the only ones doing what they’re doing in the entire state.
And even then, Rider said, “We’re hanging on by the skin of our teeth.”
Rider, the boat’s captain, and Parks are fighting against an industry seemingly pitted against them with heavy reporting requirements, high licensing fees and advantages for larger, consolidated players.
Andrea Tomilson, who runs the cooperative New Hampshire Community Seafood and works with the last remaining commercial ground fishermen in the Granite State, said their numbers have been decimated in the last few decades.
“In the mid-’90s, there were approximately 100 ground fishermen,” Tomilson said. “In the mid-2000s, there were about 30. Now, we’re down to eight.”
The change began in 1976, when the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act was passed and gave the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jurisdiction over ocean between 3 and 200 miles offshore to prevent overfishing. A decade later, the New England Fishery Management Council was established to oversee the Northeast coastline.
In 2010, federal regulators set annual catch limits, and it was then, Tomilson said, that small fishermen felt a major squeeze. The rights to cod fishing quotas – the main fish for the industry – had to be purchased, and those quotas were drastically reduced from previous harvest numbers.
“There’s a real animosity among fishermen for the regulators,” she said.
As most of the fishing quotas were purchased by larger, corporate interests, Tomilson said the fishermen she works with have had to lease part of those quotas. While they technically have the right to a certain number of cod, Tomilson said the fishermen are aiming for the underutilized, unregulated species of fish that don’t go for a lot in the fish market but seem to satisfy the appetite of New Hampshire Community Seafood customers.
“Our clientele is so supportive of the fishing industry that they’re buying whatever product we have with glee,” Tomilson said. “The fishermen are still in awe that we’re selling dogfish to over 400 people.”
Early into its endeavor, New England Fishmongers is finding the same enthusiasm from local restaurants for their lesser-known fish.
At their first stop, Parks and Rider dropped off about 15 pounds of fish for Block 6 in Portsmouth. Sous chef Cody Chisholm said he’s been buying fish from the pair for the past eight or nine months.
“It’s as fresh as fresh can get,” Chisholm said as he held out a tray for Rider to plop pollock and some cusk caught less than 24 hours before.
Chisholm added of Block 6’s patrons when they see the fish on the menu: “They’re pretty excited about it. They say the taste – you can just taste the freshness.”
Quality and knowledge about the fish are New England Fishmongers’ main selling points, since the pair appear to be the only people in the state who both catch and directly sell their product. The two came together when Parks, a 2014 University of New Hampshire graduate, who has experience working in area restaurants, and Rider, a fisherman, saw a way to combine their skills.
“We’re trying to bridge that gap,” Rider said. “It’s a pretty difficult task we’re taking on, but we’re gaining a little more traction.”
The refrigerated truck, for instance, is only three weeks old and worth about $25,000, and it was paid for by Novel Iron Works CEO Josh Rosenthal in exchange for fish for his employees.
“They helped us so much,” Rider said.
And the truck – as well as enthusiasm from local chefs – will continue to help as the pair grow their business. During a delivery day last Wednesday, New England Fishmongers garnered at least two more potential restaurant accounts, bumping their total up to 10.
The Oar House owner Ray Guerin said he liked the prospect of serving fresher, locally caught seafood, since he knows that’s what his customers prefer.
“They’re not afraid to pay a premium for that food,” Guerin said.
As he looked over samples of pollock, haddock and cusk, Oar House chef Jason D’Agostino told Parks and Rider, “I’ll definitely give you a call back.”
New England Fishmongers and other local fishermen are working hard to find their place in the New Hampshire market, and they’re also asking for the industry to protect their interests.
Niaz Dorry, who advocates for fishermen like Parks and Rider as the coordinating director of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, said small and medium community-based fishing operations are currently at a disadvantage.
“The voices . . . are sometimes literally shut out of the system,” Dorry said. Parks and Rider have been at New England Fishery Management Council meetings, she said, and “often microphones have been shut off on them.”
Today, NAMA has organized a demonstration outside the New England Fishery Management Council being held in Plymouth, Mass., to demand action. The group is continuing to ask for increased transparency, fairer regulations and a bigger emphasis on rewarding sustainable fisheries.
“I think the main issue at this point is there’s a morale problem within the fishing industry in New Hampshire and elsewhere,” Dorry said. “(Fishermen feel) that they’re not valued, that they’re not recognized by the regulatory system and by the consumer.”
But if people like Rider and Parks can stay afloat, Dorry said greater consumer demand for seafood harvested sustainably and locally, plus working together with the wider food system, could help change the tide.
“We have an opportunity here,” she said.
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)