Wild Rhody Fishermen Sell Their Catch Directly To New England Restaurants

Decades ago, when Kevin Durfee’s grandfather ran George’s of Galilee, fishermen used to walk over from the docks across the street to sell him whatever they happened to catch that day.

That’s no longer possible because of strict regulations that require restaurants to purchase seafood from licensed wholesalers, explained Durfee, who now manages George’s, his family’s Narragansett seafood restaurant. The system helps ensure that food is safe, but also makes it more difficult for restaurants to get fresh fish and for fishermen to earn a living.

But recently, an entrepreneurial group of three Point Judith fishermen have started to use modern technology and business acumen to market and sell their catch directly to restaurants in Rhode Island and the Boston area. It’s a modern version of what those fishermen were doing a generation or two ago at George’s.

“We can deliver fish that was in the water at noontime to a restaurant in Providence by three in the afternoon,” Christopher Brown said. “That’s unheard of.”

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Providence Journal