The Truth About Gulf of Maine Fisheries

The Gulf of Maine is host to a wide variety of finfish species, including cod, haddock, flounder, pollock, hake, monkfish, mackerel, and more. All are managed by state and federal agencies that set strict regulations to ensure long-term sustainability of fish stocks. These regulations include catch limits, size restrictions, and closed areas to protect spawning stocks and critical habitats. 

While the United States imports over 90% of the seafood we consume, most Gulf of Maine fish stocks remain grossly underharvested, meaning fishermen catch just a fraction of what fisheries scientists say can be sustainably caught. Even if we harvested all of the sustainable quotas, our fisheries would not be able to compete with massive volume fisheries and farms around the world. This creates a vicious cycle in which domestic markets become more dependent on these imports and local, less abundant and consistently available local seafood gets cut out of major supply chains. 

The economic hit to fishermen is real. While they abide by some of the most stringent regulations in the world, the value for their catch has decreased over the years, making it more difficult to make a living on the water. In fact, over the past 30 years, the Gulf of Maine has seen a dramatic decline in its fishing fleet.

At True Fin, our goal is to realize more value for local fisheries, keeping fishermen fishing and creating access to domestically local seafood for consumers across the country. We exclusively offer Gulf of Maine species that are landed in Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts. While this means we'll never have sardines or octopus, it also ensures that you can trust that our product will always be domestic.