Eighth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

The main objectives of this project are provide quantitative information on which underutilized fish species are most likely to gain popularity with consumers in New England (using both taste experiments and survey data); collect quantitative and qualitative information on why restaurants choose to source local fish for their menus or not; evaluate if restaurant participation is a stronger financial supporter of regional community supported fisheries (CSFs) than individual households; evaluate if consumers are driven to purchase underutilized species if provided information on the status of their local fishing community, economy, and current environmental impacts; determine how marketing and other informational interventions affect consumers’ behaviors; and, identify how millennials’ perspectives and purchasing decisions in regards to seafood differ from those of the previous generations. By addressing these objectives, this project will show how marketing and regional public relations can be improved, identify if restaurants offering locally caught fish can stabilize and grow domestic fishing cultures and economies, quantify to what extent fishermen could financially benefit by keeping and selling underutilized species, project which underutilized species could become the next highly demanded fish, and evaluate how ecological, economic, and/or environmental information can be marketed and delivered in order to promote the consumption of underutilized species.