This directory provides tools, guidance, and programs for North Carolina seafood harvesters, aquaculture producers, and small seafood businesses. These resources are designed to help you maintain food safety compliance, increase profit margins through value-added processing, and reach new markets via direct-to-consumer sales.

Marketing & Business Strategy

Seafood marketing has evolved to shorten the supply chain by involving fishermen in selling directly to consumers, food service operators, and retailers.

Alternative Market Strategies

• North Carolina Seafood Retail Permits: Detailed information on the specific permits required to legally operate a seafood retail business in NC.
• Market Your Catch: A comprehensive resource hub for fishermen exploring direct-to-consumer sales, restaurant sales, and e-commerce.
• Branding Seafood: Developing a Marketing Plan: A technical guide for developing a marketing strategy specifically for value-added seafood products.
• Using the Internet to Enhance Direct Sales: Strategies for using digital tools to manage online orders and enhance market reach.
• New Business Models for Small-Scale Operations: Research regarding alternative organizational models for seafood processors and harvesters.
• Preferences of Oyster Tourists: Research-based insights into what travelers look for when visiting local oyster farms and markets.

Community Supported Fisheries (CSF)

In 2007, North Carolina Sea Grant pioneered the community supported fisheries concept, building upon the community supported agriculture business model. Those operating or belonging to CSFs now sell seafood at premium prices to customers who value local products and personal relationships. Direct sales also return more money to fishing communities, enhancing their economic vitality.

Seafood Safety & Compliance

Effective seafood marketing depends foremost on maintaining safe, high-quality products. Proper handling and sanitation practices are required to prevent foodborne illnesses and ensure your facility meets federal and state sanitary requirements.

Training & Guidelines

• Basic Seafood HACCP Online Training: Access the essential Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point training required for seafood processors and dealers.
• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) Online Training: A distance-education curriculum describing the minimum sanitary requirements for safe food production.
• Guide to Seafood Sanitation Procedures: A bilingual (English/Spanish) guide (El Manjeo Seguro De Los Mariscos) to proper handling and sanitation in seafood facilities.
• Small Business HACCP Self-Guide: A specialized tool for small dealers, packers, and processors to conduct internal inspections.
• Seafood Network Information Center: Online seafood safety and quality resources for seafood processors, inspectors, researchers, and importers.
• Seafood Safety Steps (Market Your Catch): Information and resources about seafood safety tailored for alternative marketing.

Value-Added Product Development

“Value-added” refers to processing, packaging, or branding seafood in a way that increases its market value compared to raw product. These tools help businesses make local seafood more convenient for modern consumers.

Product Innovation Tools

• Adding Value to Local Food: A guide from NC Cooperative Extension on the basics of food processing and product differentiation.
• Example Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA): A template for protecting your proprietary recipes or processes when working with business partners.

Innovation Case Studies

• Ready-To-Sell: Developing Value-Added Seafood Products: Details on developing a preservation system to extend the shelf life of refrigerated seafood dips and salads with Pamlico Packing Company.
• Sunburst Trout Burgers: Facilitating Innovation through Partnerships: How underutilized rainbow trout meat was used to formulate a tasty, cost-effective trout burger.
• Value-Added Technology: Developing a Smoked Soft Crab: A study on the technical development and preservation of smoked soft shell crabs.
• Will They Take the Bait? Crafting Irresistible Seafood: Evaluating consumer feedback on a pickled-shrimp salad to provide insights for product refinement.

Market & Industry Data

North Carolina Sea Grant and its partners research strategies to help the commercial fishing industry sell more local seafood within the state.

• Demand for N.C. Seafood & Industry Economic Impact: A report on the commercial industry’s economic impact on the state.
• The Economic Impact of NC Shellfish Mariculture: Specific assessments on the financial contributions of the oyster and clam industries.
• A Supply Chain Analysis of NC Commercial Fishing: An in-depth look at how local seafood moves through the state’s commercial infrastructure.
• Virginia and North Carolina Oyster Aquaculture Case Study: A comparative look at development strategies between states.
• High-Pressure Processing Atlantic Blue Crab Meat: Research on using technology to enhance the shelf life and quality of crab meat.
• Cultured North Carolina Sturgeon Meat: Market development research for cultured sturgeon meat.
• Harvest Efficiencies and Demand for Lionfish: Assessing consumer demand and harvest potential for lionfish in NC.