Project Period 5/01/2014-1/01/2016 Project Location Description (from Proposal) Project Summary (from Proposal)

Transcription

1 Easygrants ID: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation NFWF Project ID: Fisheries Innovation Fund Submit Final Programmatic Report (New Metrics) Grantee Organization: Central California Seafood Marketing Association Project Title: Securing and Expanding Collaborative Fishery Advancements (CA) Project Period 5/01/2014-1/01/2016 Project Location (from Proposal) Project Summary (from Proposal) This project will take place in three historic California fishing communities - Morro Bay, Fort Bragg, and Half Moon Bay - and across 15 million acres of Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Advance bycatch reduction and seafood marketing solutions that not only promote the sustainable harvest of rockfish, sole, and other West Coast groundfish species, but also support viable fishing communities in Fort Bragg, Half Moon Bay, and Morro Bay California. Project will create an efficient, viable, and more formalized organizational structure in addition to developing and implementing a collective operations plan and marketing plan for the California Groundfish Collective. Summary of Accomplishments Though the West Coast groundfish IFQ fishery in California has achieved significant conservation gains over the past five years, the fishery is still challenged by significant management costs, underutilization of abundant species, regulatory constraints, and stagnant ex-vessel prices. As a result of these economic challenges, fishermen are choosing to fish fewer months or not at all, threatening the stability of the groundfish fishery and making it difficult to provide a reliable and consistent supply of seafood to market. In response to these challenges, the California Risk Pool, now called the California Groundfish Collective, sought to formalize its management structure and operations plans, and develop marketing initiatives to support member businesses and increase the durability of the organization. Funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation allowed us to retain legal counsel and consider the benefits and downside to several structural options for the Collective. We determined the Collective will continue to operate on the basis of an annual contractual agreement governed by an advisory body. We also determined that the best structure and tax strategies for each association differed and were able to finalize the legal status and tax structure of two member associations of the Collective. Funding and match was also used to support a collaborative process across three California fishing ports to rename and develop a brand identity for the California Risk Pool, now the California Groundfish Collective (CGC). Working with consultants and creative agencies we developed brand guidelines, photo libraries, messaging, and other tools to describe and promote the work of the California Groundfish Collective and its member vessels to key audiences. The associations in the CGC successfully developed and entered into a license agreement with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and developed a business collaboration agreement with Monterey Bay Aquarium s Seafood Watch Program to use certain marks and messaging in support of the California Groundfish Collective s marketing goals. In addition, over the course of 18-months, we were successful in developing and implementing three separate port plans that identified and advanced transferable collective harvest operations and marketing initiatives in Fort Bragg, Half Moon Bay, and Morro Bay. Lessons Learned Critical to moving into a new market space, is finding an innovative and visionary seafood processing partner is required to develop a value-added product that uses the sustainable, local seafood in a way that is easy-to-prepare and attractive from a taste and texture perspective. Few, if any, nutrition directors have the time, expertise and staff to support product development; however, many have the desire to purchase nutritious, easy-to-prepare, cost-effective seafood products that are already accepted and desired by students. When we started our work with Owen Jones, we grappled with the question of whether or not to change the name of our collaborative project. Since 2011, our group of ports working with The Nature Conservancy was together known as the Risk Pool and later, the California Risk Pool. The recommendation from Owen Jones was to rename the project and we considered several names and designs. Some initial name choices were discarded due to similarities with other fishery projects or because they could cause confusion in consumers. Ultimately we returned to who we are at the core,

2 and the California Groundfish Collective a name we had considered long ago was finalized. We learned that to increase participation in an educational forum about seafood, combining education with a fun event is more effective. Sustainable Seafood Saturday was hosted at a community college and brought together a panel of experts on Sustainable Seafood in an educational setting. This event was attended by 40 or so engaged individuals that learned a great deal and reported that they enjoyed the event. The Fish and Fleet Festival was hosted the following day in the harbor parking lot with food trucks, music, educational booths, and arts and crafts. An estimated 3,000 people attended this Sunday event. For future events, we plan to bring the educational panel to the Sunday event to increase the audience and awareness. We also learned that it is challenging to create awareness without a follow up plan. At the Fish and Fleet event, consumers from all across the state tasted and experienced seafood dishes directly from California Groundfish Collective boats. They learned about the California Groundfish Collective and were inspired to search out and purchase seafood harvested in a truly sustainable manner in their own neighborhoods. Without adequate infrastructure or traceability programs in place, it was challenging to direct consumers to where they could find local and sustainably harvested groundfish.

3 Activities and Outcomes Planning, Research, Monitoring FIF - Management or Governance Planning - # plans developed Recommended Enter the number of plans developed that had input from multiple stakeholders # plans developed - Current 3.00 # plans developed - Grant Completion 6.00 With support of the NFWF FIF grant, the California Risk Pool completed 6 plans: (1) A white paper business plan template (2) a California Groundfish Collective Powerpoint, (3) A HACCP plan guide (4) An event planning report (5) brand guidelines and tool kit (6) Exploring new markets report Capacity, Outreach, Incentives FIF - Economic benefits - # jobs sustained Recommended Enter the number of jobs sustained # jobs sustained - Current # jobs sustained - Grant Completion With the support of the NFWF FIF grant, the California Risk Pool will sustain the current number of fishing jobs (e.g. captain and crew) and association executive directors (which also serve as Advisory Committee members). Species-specific Strategies FIF - Fishing effort - Catch per unit effort Recommended Enter the catch per unit effort Catch per unit effort - Current Catch per unit effort - Grant Completion Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) is a metric that is tracked internally by the California Risk Pool and is estimated by dividing the pounds (of IFQ species) caught by a unit of effort. In this instance, we ve used hours as the unit of effort to standardize across fixed gear and trawl. This represents hours of tow time or hours of pots or longlines being set. The overall average CPUE for the entire risk pool in 2013 was lbs./hr and for Capacity, Outreach, Incentives FIF - # participants complying with their incentive agreement - # participants in compliance Recommended Enter the number of participants complying with their incentive agreement # participants in compliance - Current # participants in compliance - Grant Completion 28.00

4 An integral component of the California Risk Pool operation is compliance with our annual agreement and regional fishing plans. With the support of the NFWF FIF grant, the California Risk Pool maintained the current number of participants (e.g. captain and crew) complying with their incentive agreement. Membership was not increased - over the course of the grant cycle. Planning, Research, Monitoring FIF - Monitoring - # monitoring programs Recommended Enter the number of monitoring programs established or underway # monitoring programs - Current 1.00 # monitoring programs - Grant Completion 1.00 The California Risk Pool will continue utilizing ecatch, an electronic logbook application, as part of its harvest-side operations to track, monitor, and share spatial and harvest data by fishermen/vessel participation and at the association level. Planning, Research, Monitoring FIF - Monitoring - # vessels in monitoring program Recommended Enter the number of vessels engaged in monitoring programs. # vessels in monitoring program - Current 9.00 # vessels in monitoring program - Grant Completion 9.00 The California Risk Pool maintained the number of vessels being monitored through the ecatch monitoring program during the grant cycle. Other Metric - Planning, Research, Monitoring FIF - Monitoring - Ratio of overfished species to target species Optional Other Metric As part of its annual harvest-side operations and data reporting, the California Risk Pool tracks the ratio of its members catch of overfished species to target species, and compares it against the rest of the Pacific Coast Groundfish (non-whiting) fishery. This reporting continued to show the value of the program throughout the grant period. Capacity, Outreach, Incentives FIF - Economic benefits - # of buyers, processors, restaurants, and markets purchasing product Optional Other Metric

5 Other Metric - The Business Plan white paper, Event Planning Report, Brand Guidelines and tool kit, and Exploring new markets report all provide additional opportunities to promote and expand markets. Food Bank and School markets have increased the markets for product during the grant period. Other Metric - Capacity, Outreach, Incentives FIF - Economic benefits - # of media coverage of California Risk Pool story Optional Other Metric The CRP increased the awareness of this fishery reform project and the value of being associated with the project. The creation of a project website, brand guidelines and tool kit as well as hosting a seafood event and opening new markets were all recognized in the press..

6 Final Programmatic Report Narrative 1. Summary of Accomplishments Though the West Coast groundfish IFQ fishery in California has achieved significant conservation gains over the past five years, the fishery is still challenged by significant management costs, underutilization of abundant species, regulatory constraints, and stagnant ex-vessel prices. As a result of these economic challenges, fishermen are choosing to fish fewer months or not at all, threatening the stability of the groundfish fishery and making it difficult to provide a reliable and consistent supply of seafood to market. In response to these challenges, the California Risk Pool, now called the California Groundfish Collective, sought to formalize its management structure and operations plans, and develop marketing initiatives to support member businesses and increase the durability of the organization. Funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation allowed us to retain legal counsel and consider the benefits and downside to several structural options for the Collective. We determined the Collective will continue to operate on the basis of an annual contractual agreement governed by an advisory body. We also determined that the best structure and tax strategies for each association differed and were able to finalize the legal status and tax structure of two member associations of the Collective. Funding and match was also used to support a collaborative process across three California fishing ports to rename and develop a brand identity for the California Risk Pool, now the California Groundfish Collective (CGC). Working with consultants and creative agencies we developed brand guidelines, photo libraries, messaging, and other tools to describe and promote the work of the California Groundfish Collective and its member vessels to key audiences. The associations in the California Groundfish Collective successfully developed and entered into a license agreement with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and developed a business collaboration agreement with Monterey Bay Aquarium s Seafood Watch Program to use certain marks and messaging in support of the California Groundfish Collective s marketing goals. In addition, over the course of 18-months, we were successful in developing and implementing three separate port plans that identified and advanced transferable collective harvest operations and marketing initiatives in Fort Bragg, Half Moon Bay, and Morro Bay. 2. Project Activities & Outcomes Activities The Central California Seafood Marketing Association received a grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation in April 2014 to secure and expand collaborative fishery advancements through its partnership with the California Groundfish Collective (CGC). The California Groundfish Collective is an agreement between three fishing associations the Central California Seafood Marketing Association, the Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association, and the Fort Bragg Groundfish Association to pool overfished species quota with the goal of maximizing conservation and economic opportunities while retaining local access to fish. After three years of successfully managing harvest activities and achieving environmental gains, the California Groundfish Collective requested funds to allow it to continue to build durability and deliver greater efficiencies to its members by supporting leadership capacity development within each of its fishing associations, formalize its management structure and operations plans, and develop valuable marketing initiatives. Our activities include these three components: Identifying and establishing a formalized management structure for the California Groundfish Collective and Association(s) Developing and implementing a collective operations plan

7 Developing and implementing a collective marketing plan Below is the process by which the CGC accomplished its proposed activities outlined in the original proposal: [Proposed] Identify and establish a formalized management structure. The project team will meet with legal/professional experts to determine legal and tax structure for the California Groundfish Collective and Association(s) and create business-planning tools to create efficiencies and durability. [Actual] The project team worked on a 3-pronged approach: Determination of Legal Structure - California Groundfish Collective: Members from the California Groundfish Collective and The Nature Conservancy met in person and held phone conferences with consultants and attorney Joe Sullivan as well as pro bono counsel from Morrison Foerester to discuss and implement a management structure for the California Groundfish Collective. The original concept was to consider the formation of a single, overarching nonprofit or member-based organization, but after several meetings it became clear that simply creating another entity would not provide the desired outcomes. We agreed to maintain an annual contractual agreement, and we formalized the Advisory Committee to carry out duties, responsibilities and obligations of the contractual agreement. Determination of Management Structure - California Groundfish Collective: Members from the California Groundfish Collective met with attorneys from The Nature Conservancy to refine the annual agreement and streamline routine operations. These changes resulted in adaptive management efficiencies. At our annual end of the year California Groundfish Collective meetings held in San Francisco, we first built the framework for our strategic plan and then refined the plan for the subsequent year. In addition, bi-weekly calls were held to conduct operations, including revisions to the strategic document, which serves as an annual guide. Determination of Management/Legal Structure Participating Associations: As a result of the process to determine the legal structure of the California Groundfish Collective, Associations were well informed of the various entity and tax structures. Each of the three Associations were at different stages of development and over a period of six months worked with attorneys Joe Sullivan, Matt Avedikian, and Pine, Pedroncelli & Aguilar, Inc., to update Articles and Bylaws, IRS and FTB applications, and other related filings to secure their tax status, IRS determination and get current with income tax filing requirements. While associations function independently and perform activities specific to their fishermen and port needs, Association leads maintained regular communication over this activity to share documents and lessons learned to facilitate the development of all three management structures. Central California Seafood Marketing Association (CCSMA) and Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association (HMBGMA) are Sub Chapter-T Corporations and Fort Bragg Groundfish Association is a 501(c)5. [Proposed] Develop and implement a collective operations plan. California Groundfish Collective will hire a consultant to identify and understand the requirements of collective harvest planning and to assess the costs, risks, and benefits involved, and operational changes required of its members. A consultant will be used to assist in developing and implementing a collective operations plan. [Actual] Association leads worked with experts to enable greater harvest-side results by developing port plans for collective operations. Port Plans: Association leads held bi-weekly conference calls to gather information and details to develop collective operations plans. Guiding some of the decision-making is our collective marketing plan, which focuses on creating a project brand versus a seafood brand (see details below). We collected information from fishermen about their buyer/processor, first receiver status, gear type (fixed for single species or trawl for multi-species), homeport and other fisheries they participate in. With all of the variables compiled, we agreed that creating a system and process for collective operations in each port designed to

8 scale to or across ports would best serve the California Groundfish Collective. We created a template for Association Leads to develop and put out for bid proposed projects that would serve their port s needs but would also meet the overall goals of the California Groundfish Collective. Consultants were hired to understand and relay the information about the requirements of collective operations planning in the three ports, Fort Bragg, Half Moon Bay, and Morro Bay, and guide development of products, events, reports, etc. The Fort Bragg Groundfish Association is working to expand opportunities to partner with school districts in Northern California to offer an affordable, alternative source of protein to serve in their school lunch program. This work is a continuation and expansion of an existing project FBGA put in place with the Fort Bragg School District as a result of a grant awarded from NFWF in Ongoing meetings with the school district s Director of Nutrition are being conducted to identify ways to increase student participation, increase sales, and identify and put in place tools to incentivize student participation for the next school year. Regularly scheduled conference calls and two in-person meetings were held to kick off the project and understand all stakeholders needs, challenges and to discuss the use of technology and marketing tools to promote the California Groundfish Collective project. FBGA is also working with a consultant and two separate buyer/processors to assess the feasibility of new partnerships to operate in unison with existing buyer/processor relationships. Telephone conferences and in-person meetings have occurred to identify level of interest and commitment, and an assessment of costs and risks. An initial introductory document has been creating as a starting place for ongoing discussions. The collaboration focuses on bringing the valuable "story" content from the fishermen to the front-ofthe-house in restaurants, markets, and food service (e.g., university, school district). Partnership to supply healthy seafood to local Bay area food bank: Over the course of this grant, the California Groundfish Collective has been working with The Nature Conservancy to develop new markets for sustainably caught seafood and underutilized species. After initial outreach and a series of phone calls and in person meetings, we recently were able to partner with Alber Seafoods to deliver Dover sole caught by a California Groundfish Collective fishing vessel to the SF-Marin Food Bank, supplying over 5,000 meals. This project delivered benefits to both fishermen and the community. We were able to help get high-quality, healthy seafood to Bay Area residents and access a new market that delivers significant quantities of fish locally instead of exporting overseas. We believe there is an opportunity to scale this project up regionally across California and support healthier oceans and healthier communities. Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association worked with a consultant to organize a local Fish and Fleet Festival and an educational fishing panel, both featuring the CGC. The event took place over two days in Half Moon Bay. Multiple in-person meetings were held with consultants in the planning and implementation phase as well as meeting with city and harbor officials, stakeholders, and fishermen in the planning phase. Vendors were secured as well as food trucks, which offered fresh local seafood. Panelist were invited to participate in the educational fishing panel held at the local community college and featured the CGC, local fishermen, representatives from the Department of Health, and others. The Fish and Fleet Festival celebrated the local commercial fishing industry, as well as the California Groundfish Collective and our strategic partners and sister ports (Fort Bragg and Morro Bay). This event served to educate the public and allow for community building. Central California Seafood Marketing Association and Cayenne Consulting developed a white paper on critical issues and challenges associated with collective harvest with the goal of providing solutions and presenting options for marketing and sharing these approaches with other California Groundfish Collective ports. The report is structured as a business plan and focuses on different sources of revenue, seafood pricing, identification of short-term and long-term marketing and sales tactics, a product development plan, a legal and regulatory plan, and operational logistics. Research was conducted looking at several different revenue streams, such as value added products or offloading fees, to assess opportunities for diverse port needs. Over six to eight weeks, regular meetings and phone calls occurred to gather information and edit draft documents. Research on target markets, market trends and observations were conducted. The report will serve California Groundfish Collective members with a blueprint for developing a refined business plan to pitch a fishing business to professional equity or debt investors and explore marketing opportunities. The aim is that the report will bring more awareness and value to the California Groundfish Collective and enable the collective to market their fish as a whole.

9 Also, Central California Seafood Marketing Association developed and expertly implemented a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan. Working with an expert who understood the commodity system, they successfully identify all likely hazards and critical control points of food preparation or processing and designed a plan to ensure that all the HACCP required tasks are articulated so principles are properly applied correctly. California Groundfish Collective fishing businesses and other fishing businesses operating in the West Coast groundfish fishery have made significant adjustment in harvest plans and have taken on new costs related to fisheries management, but many of smaller operations have not seen a significant increase in revenue for delivering high quality, sustainable seafood. The current shoreside port infrastructure (e.g. hoists, offloading facilities) and supply chain restrict most fishing businesses to sell to established buyers with offloading and processing facilities. This precludes smaller fishing businesses from controlling where supply is delivered and tailoring marketing to those end-market segments to increase demand and revenue to the harvester. Central California Seafood Marketing Association wanted to enable its member fishing businesses to sell more of their local catch in Morro Bay and the surrounding communities that value local, sustainable seafood. Central California Seafood Marketing Association and its member fishing business South Bay Wild in particular, developed and executed a plan to develop a small dockside processing facility that provides members with increased direct marketing flexibility. Processing facilities require HACCP certifications, among other certifications, and the development of the HACCP plan was a major outcome that is applicable not only to the Morro Bay dockside facility but to any prospective fishing business developers in other California Groundfish Collective ports. [Proposed] Develop and implement a collective marketing plan. Create a communications and media strategy, website, marketing collateral, formal endorsements, and promotion. [Actual] Developed a comprehensive communication strategy and marketing plan that has enhanced the California Groundfish Collective brand with the goal of bringing value back to fishermen who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to innovative fishing and marine stewardship practices. Implementing Collective Marketing Plan: Since 2011, the California Groundfish Collective has put its efforts into developing more environmentally and economically sustainable ways of fishing and in doing so created an opportunity to turn its attention to the demand side of the industry and leverage the California Groundfish Collective s partnership and conservation story. The project team worked with The Nature Conservancy and the creative agency, Owen Jones, to rename the California Risk Pool and create a brand identity, messaging, a website, and template materials that would highlight the benefits of the partnership and create recognition within seafood marketplaces to gain improved market access for participating project partners. Over a 10-month period, the project team participated in online meetings, correspondence and phone conferences with consultants, designers at Owen Jones, and staff at The Nature Conservancy to assess current association marketing activities (and brands, where they exist) and provide recommendations for how to best leverage the California Groundfish Collective project brand in their own marketing efforts and raise awareness and interest in California groundfish. Fishermen and project team members gave interviews and provided existing marketing collateral to Owen Jones to develop recommendations. We participated in Web-ex meetings to review, provide feedback, and finalize brand messaging, standards including brand hierarchy, logo imagery, and website design recommended by Owen Jones. Developing Brand Materials: The three associations hired web designers to incorporate the California Groundfish Collective brand material into their respective websites and social media outlets in a way that provided consistency across the ports. The following designers were hired to perform the work: TrimTab Media, Dasine Designer & Developer, and Eric Ball Designs. The project team conducted weekly check-in calls to ensure that consistent messaging was being incorporated into websites according to brand guidelines. Weekly or biweekly strategy calls were held with association leads and developers to share information, get project updates, design recommendations and approvals to incorporate materials in a way that is consistent across ports. Association leads also participated in strategy meetings with developers to update their social media outlets and websites to include the sustainability ratings from Seafood Watch and the certification from the Marine Stewardship Council for certain groundfish species. The project team met with fishermen and conducted research to develop printed materials to complement the online media. After months of planning, strategic meetings, phone calls and sharing of information and ideas across stakeholders, a polished and promising Marketing Plan was finalized.

10 Incorporating On-the-water Imagery: Over a 30-day period, the project team worked with The Nature Conservancy and photographer, Corey Arnold to organize photo shoots in three ports and during fishing trips out at sea. Fishermen and their families from each port met with Cory and his team on land and at sea to create a photo documentary of fishermen in the California Groundfish Collective. Working with fishermen and The Nature Conservancy, Association leads selected over 100 photographs for the marketing plan. License Agreements: Through a Seafood Watch Program external assessment, eight species of groundfish harvested by fishermen in the California Groundfish Collective received a Best Choice/Green rating. Phone conferences were held with The Nature Conservancy and Seafood Watch to discuss options for business and/or partnership arrangements and how to integrate Seafood Watch messaging and marks into new or existing marketing strategies. All three Associations partnered with Seafood Watch as Business Collaborators. Also, stemming from the development of the California Groundfish Collective brand and guidelines, Associations worked with The Nature Conservancy to develop and enter into License Agreement to use the trademark The Nature Conservancy and the Conservancy logo to promote the California Groundfish Collective. Partnership to supply healthy seafood to local Bay area food bank: Over the course of this grant, the California Groundfish Collective has been working with The Nature Conservancy to develop new markets for sustainably caught seafood and underutilized species. After initial outreach and a series of phone calls and in person meetings, we recently were able to partner with Alber Seafoods to deliver Dover sole caught by a California Groundfish Collective fishing vessel to the SF-Marin Food Bank, supplying over 5,000 meals. This project delivered benefits to both fishermen and the community. We were able to help get high-quality, healthy seafood to Bay Area residents and access a new market that delivers significant quantities of fish locally instead of exporting overseas. We believe there is an opportunity to scale this project up regionally across California and support healthier oceans and healthier communities. Outcomes Increased Capacity and Efficiency: Secured guidance and expertise to inform tax and legal entity status of California Groundfish Collective associations and developed association leads understanding of management responsibilities and applicable laws and regulations. Formal organizational and legal documents have been filed and association and California Groundfish Collective roles established. Created a revised annual contractual agreement to streamline the California Groundfish Collective renewal process, approve fishing plans, and ease adaptive management in a way that delivers efficiencies to fishing operations and associations. The California Groundfish Collective has had consistent and ongoing support from The Nature Conservancy to develop leadership within associations and carry on the work of the California Groundfish Collective. The California Groundfish Collective advisory body includes a representative from each port community and one from The Nature Conservancy to manage operations and priorities taken on by the California Groundfish Collective. Developed a guide to joining the California Groundfish Collective available on the website, for prospective members that communicates benefits and requirements of membership. Also developed an informational PowerPoint about the California Groundfish Collective for use with various audiences, including prospective members. Developed brochures (and templates) for each association in the California Groundfish Collective to communicate their respective benefits and requirements of membership. Increased Awareness & Recognition of California Groundfish Collective and Fishery Reform: The California Groundfish Collective now has the tools to reach more people and tell our collective story as well as each port s story. These tools and messages have facilitated the California Groundfish Collective sharing its cooperative model with other fishery stakeholders and interested parties across the US.

11 The California Groundfish Collective developed four (4) conceptual brand designs based on research, interviews, and information learned from prior brand development projects. Two (2) designs were fully developed and one (1) final design was chosen for implementation. Standards were created and developed into a Brand Design Guidelines and Took Kit (38 page booklet) that describes: o Messaging and language: What the California Groundfish Collective is and how we talk about ourselves o Logo: One (1) primary logo with six (6) color variations and three (3) sizes and use rules o Defined brand hierarchy: The Nature Conservancy + California Groundfish Collective + Individual Brands o Promotional materials: flyer, banner, poster, , and business card templates, contextual examples of website pages, t-shirts, and mugs o Brand elements: Tag lines, secondary brand elements and icons, brand colors, typography, and guidelines for photographs subject matter and color treatments A California Groundfish Collective website ( was developed, and individual association websites were refined to incorporate the California Groundfish Collective brand elements. Having all the association s websites linked will increase awareness for each port and the work that we are doing together. [ and, Marketing materials are continually in development for particular events or audiences to promote the California Groundfish Collective and its member associations and fishing businesses. The California Groundfish Collective participated as a city-level sponsor of the first ever Sustainable Seafood Week in San Francisco directly reaching over 500 consumers and has targeted and participated in other sustainable seafood events. The materials and templates developed for these events and other marketing opportunities (including farmers markets and festivals) currently include: recipe cards, species-specific nutritional fact sheets, association-specific brochures, a Meet Your Fishermen poster, an infographic on the California Groundfish Collective harvest results, a local seafood fact sheet, t-shirts, and a general California Groundfish Collective informational flyer. Improved Conservation Impact: By improving the capacity of the California Groundfish Collective and its member associations and the efficient use of resources, we re able to better facilitate and improve on the harvest practices and operations of the California Groundfish Collective, which is based on collecting and sharing critical catch information to reduce bycatch and protect sensitive habitat, and adaptively manage spatial fishing plans over 15 million ocean acres off of California. The development of an outward-facing identity and brand for the California Groundfish Collective has allowed us to more effectively participate in seafood or local food events, showcase our positive impacts on platforms like FishChoice.com, but also publicly engage in coalitions advocating for policy changes in forums such as the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. The Collective has demonstrated how to adaptively manage a fishery in order to catch fewer overfished species and more of the healthy target species. As one indicator of success, the Monterey Bay Aquarium s Seafood Watch External Assessment Program recently rated seafood caught from the Collective with its highest sustainability ranking of Green/Best Choice. Increased Demand for California Groundfish Collective Seafood and Increased Value for Fishermen: The Seafood Watch ratings of California Groundfish Collective-caught groundfish have driven real purchasing interest from processors and distributors. The California Groundfish Collective and its associations created Supplier Directory pages on FishChoice.com and have each fielded inquiries about products. The Environmental Defense Fund recently published a manual to guide consumer and restaurant/retailer purchasing of West Coast groundfish and the California Groundfish Collective s specific Seafood Watch ratings are highlighted in that report. While our collective efforts have all increased the recognition of the California Groundfish Collective and

12 the seafood products coming out of it, the California Groundfish Collective s members are still challenged by barriers to distribution, including aging and inaccessible shoreside infrastructure, and lack of traceability of their products through the supply chain. Our work in partnership with The Nature Conservancy to expand access to new or unsaturated markets seeks to work around these barriers or identify inexpensive solutions. A Report of The California Groundfish Collective activities in Fort Bragg to explore new markets and new uses for underutilized Groundfish species was created to highlight potential markets that might be most interested in groundfish from the Collective and to identify benefits, mutual needs and potential constraints to accessing such markets. Participating in seafood events and organizing the Fish and Fleet Festival has highlighted the California Groundfish Collective through direct educational opportunities, such as handing out branded recipe cards, but also allows for targeted social media outreach that has increased the recognition of the California Groundfish Collective and can build demand for California seafood. 3. Lessons Learned Many lessons have been learned throughout this process, five (5) of which are highlighted here. The importance of finding the right partner: Critical to moving into a new market space, is finding an innovative and visionary seafood processing partner is required to develop a value-added product that uses the sustainable, local seafood in a way that is easy-to-prepare and attractive from a taste and texture perspective. Few, if any, nutrition directors have the time, expertise and staff to support product development; however, many have the desire to purchase nutritious, easy-to-prepare, cost-effective seafood products that are already accepted and desired by students. Not all entities are created equal: Non-profit entities with interests in local fishing communities can play a valuable, direct role in increasing public awareness about the sustainable fishing behavior of local fishing vessels. However, such entities need to be extremely cautious about engaging in any activities (such as marketing particular products from individual or groups of vessels) that might be similar to the type of business normally conducted by a for-profit. If the shoe fits: When we started our work with Owen Jones, we grappled with the question of whether or not to change the name of our collaborative project. Since 2011, our group of ports working with The Nature Conservancy was together known as the Risk Pool and later, the California Risk Pool. The recommendation from Owen Jones was to rename the project and we considered several names and designs. Some initial name choices were discarded due to similarities with other fishery projects or because they could cause confusion in consumers. Ultimately we returned to who we are at the core, and the California Groundfish Collective a name we had considered long ago was finalized. Engage the Community: We learned that to increase participation in an educational forum about seafood, combining education with a fun event is more effective. Sustainable Seafood Saturday was hosted at a community college and brought together a panel of experts on Sustainable Seafood in an educational setting. This event was attended by 40 or so engaged individuals that learned a great deal and reported that they enjoyed the event. The Fish and Fleet Festival was hosted the following day in the harbor parking lot with food trucks, music, educational booths, craft beer and arts and crafts. An estimated 3,000 people attended this Sunday event. For future events, we plan to bring the educational panel to the Sunday event to increase the audience and awareness. Going down the Rabbit Hole: We also learned that it is challenging to create awareness without a follow up plan. At the Fish and Fleet event, consumers from all across the state tasted and experienced seafood dishes directly from California Groundfish Collective boats. They learned about the California Groundfish Collective and were inspired to search out and purchase seafood harvested in a truly sustainable manner in their own neighborhoods.

13 Without adequate infrastructure or traceability programs in place, it was challenging to direct consumers to where they could find local and sustainably harvested groundfish. 4. Dissemination We disseminated information about the California Groundfish Collective and lessons learned to external audiences in the following formats: Sustainable Seafood Saturday Educational Event hosted by Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association Presentation on Fisheries and Technology Panel at International Sustainable Seafood Summit Meetings with Fort Bragg Unified School District Nutrition Director and Faculty. Meetings with Davis Unified School District Nutrition Director Meetings with Royal Hawaiian Seafood Meetings with Caito Seafood Processors Meetings with Alber Seafood Processors Meetings with Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch California Groundfish Collective website FishChoice website Half Moon Bay Fish and Fleet Festival hosted by Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association Sustainable Seafood Week in San Francisco Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association website Central California Sustainable Marketing Association website Fort Bragg Groundfish Marketing Association website 5. Project Documents Include in your final programmatic report, via the Uploads section of this task, the following: 2-10 representative photos from the project. Photos need to have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and must be accompanied with a legend or caption describing the file name and content of the photos; Report publications, GIS data, brochures, videos, outreach tools, press releases, media coverage; Any project deliverables per the terms of your grant agreement. Project Documents and Deliverables: 1. Central California Seafood Marketing Association Website ccsma.org 2. California Groundfish Collective trifold & templates 3. Central California Seafood Marketing Association trifold & templates 4. Fort Bragg Groundfish Association Nutritional Facts templates 5. Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association Nutritional Facts & templates 6. Central California Seafood Marketing Association Nutritional Facts & templates 7. Business Plan Template White paper developed by Central California Seafood Marketing Association and Cayenne Consulting 8. HACCP plan - Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point developed by Central California Seafood Marketing Association 9. California Groundfish Collective PowerPoint 10. Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association Website hmbgma.org 11. Seafood Festival Planning Guide created by Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association 12. California Groundfish Collective Website cagroundfish.org 13. Fort Bragg Groundfish Association Updated Website fbgaca.org 14. California Groundfish Collective Brand Guidelines and Tool Kit

14 15. Report - Exploring New Markets for Sustainable California Groundfish developed by Fort Bragg Groundfish Association & Cap Log Group 16. Local Seafood Fact Sheet 17. Joining the California Groundfish Collective Pamphlet 18. Fisher Bio s 19. California Groundfish Collective 2014 Annual Report Infographic 20. Sablefish, Petrale Sole and Lingcod cards Photos: 1. California Groundfish Collective members and The Nature Conservancy meeting with SF-Marin Food bank to discuss seafood deliveries from California Groundfish Collective vessels (Photo_2) 2. Food bank meeting between California Groundfish Collective advisory body members, The Nature Conservancy staff at the SF-Marin Food Bank (Photo_3) 3. California Groundfish Collective advisory body members and The Nature Conservancy tour the SF-Marin Food Bank (Photo_4) 4. California Groundfish Collective advisory body members and The Nature Conservancy tour the SF-Marin Food Bank (Photo_5) 5. Dover sole caught by a California Groundfish Collective vessel provided to the SF-Marin Food Bank (Photo_6) 6. Dover sole being weighed before being sent to the SF-Marin Food Bank (Photo_7) 7. Label for the Dover sole processed for the SF-Marin Food Bank (Photo_8) 8. California Groundfish Collective advisory body members at the San Francisco Sustainable Seafood Week (Photo_9) POSTING OF FINAL REPORT: This report and attached project documents may be shared by the Foundation and any Funding Source for the Project via their respective websites. In the event that the Recipient intends to claim that its final report or project documents contains material that does not have to be posted on such websites because it is protected from disclosure by statutory or regulatory provisions, the Recipient shall clearly mark all such potentially protected materials as PROTECTED and provide an explanation and complete citation to the statutory or regulatory source for such protection.