Fighting For Local Seafood

By Anita Rao,

Published June 5, 2015 at 11:33 AM EDT

Image of Eddie Willis, who is a fourth-generation fisherman. He is the founder of a community supported fishery called Core Sound Seafood.

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Eddie Willis is a fourth-generation fisherman. He is the founder of a community supported fishery called Core Sound Seafood.

John Day

Image of Paul Greenberg, who is an author and journalist who focuses on fish and aquaculture.

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Paul Greenberg is an author and journalist who focuses on fish and aquaculture.

Paul Greenberg

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In Paul Greenberg's latest book "American Catch," he details how America imports the majority of its seafood despite access to a lot of oceans.

Paul Greenberg

Image of John Aydlett showing a local seafood exhibit at the State Fair.

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John Aydlett shows a local seafood exhibit at the State Fair.

Ann Simpson

Image of cultural anthropologist Barbara Garrity-Blake.

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Barbara Garrity-Blake is a cultural anthropologist who has spent more than two decades documenting coastal folk traditions.

Barbara Garrity-Blake

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Steamed blue crab tasting at Outer Banks Seafood Festival.

Ann Simpson

The United States controls more ocean than any other country in the world, but more than 85 percent of the seafood Americans eat is imported.

Award-winning author Paul Greenberg calls this “the great American fish swap.” His latest book, “American Catch: The Fight for Our Local Seafood” (Penguin Books/2014) uses shrimp, salmon and oyster as case studies for what he calls the “unraveling of America’s seafood economy.” The fishing industry in North Carolina is one part of this greater seafood economy and faces a number of unique environmental and economic challenges.

Host Frank Stasio is joined by Greenberg and a panel of North Carolina experts to discuss the industry: Barbara Garrity-Blake is a cultural anthropologist who documents coastal folk traditions; Eddie Willis is a fourth-generation fisherman and the founder of Core Sound Seafood, a community supported fishery; and John Day is the vice president of NC Catch, an organization that supports initiatives to educate the public about local seafood. They speak Saturday as part of the “Farm To Fork” events that supports The Center for Environmental Farming Systems.