Project – Archived

True Fin: Premium Gulf of Maine Seafood

Securing locally sourced, premium quality seafood for New England

True Fin first launched in 2019 (under the name Gulf of Maine Sashimi, Inc). as the first mission-driven business venture of our Gulf of Maine Ventures initiative. After watching the region's fleet dwindle amidst declining boat prices and increased competition from imported seafood, we set out to build a seafood business that works in harmony with the ocean and with fishermen. Today, True Fin is committed to providing professional chefs and home chefs the best seafood from the Gulf of Maine. We buy directly from fishermen to provide top-quality, fully traceable seafood that is good for our customers, the ocean, and coastal communities.

Project Goals:

  • Create a premium market for the highest quality, sustainably harvested fish from the Gulf of Maine.
  • Support harvesters by training them in best handling practices that produce superior quality fresh fish, prolonged shelf lives, and reduced waste.
  • Compete with high end imported products by maximizing the value of locally harvested fin fish and showcasing the seasonal variety and diversity in the Gulf of Maine.
  • Create a new seafood business paradigm that contributes to coastal economic health, food security, and environmental stewardship.
  • Buy directly from fishermen who use our techniques to deliver high quality products.

Top U.S. chefs and food retailers crave the finest ingredients, including a diversity of fresh seafood with a story. Yet, most cannot presently access local sashimi-grade seafood and instead import product from Japan. This drives up the price (as much as half of the cost of the fish is for shipping), and chefs and retailers lose the opportunity to prepare and market “local” seafood, which is extremely appealing to their customer base. True Fin provides the highest quality, locally harvested seafood to markets that demand top quality and are willing to pay for it.

We work directly with harvesters to provision leading chefs, distribution companies, and retailers that yearn for local sashimi-grade seafood. We also make our products available directly to consumers via our online store. We return the greatest per pound value to the harvester and create access to local seafood. Our quality seafood offers an extended shelf life, which translates into less waste and higher margin for our customers. We are the only local offloading and distribution company working directly with fishermen to ensure that sashimi-grade vessel-level handling protocols are followed and that fishermen are compensated adequately for high standards of stewardship practice.

True Fin was incubated at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, an internationally recognized research organization with an established Sustainable Seafood Program and strong relationships with the region's seafood industry. Our business vision emerged from several years of work with fishermen and seafood buyers to realize the market potential for high quality seafood.

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