Meet Sea To Table: Connecting Fishermen with Chefs

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

On vacation in 1996, the Dimin family found their way to the remote village of Charlotteville on Tobago, a small island in the West Indies. It was love at first sight with the vibrant fishing community. Fishermen there used the same traditional methods of their great-grandfathers, keeping fish populations abundant. One extraordinary day with local fisherman ‘Double D’ on his boat ‘I Get Dream,’ the Dimin boys arrived back to port, alongside other boats overflowing with fish, with a problem: No external market to sell their bountiful catch. That day an idea was born: If the fishermen of Tobago could be connected with chefs in other cities, both would benefit. Seven years later, Michael and his sons returned to build Tobago Wild.

Owned and operated by the Dimin family, Sea to Table builds on the early Tobago Wild model by seeking out domestic, sustainable fisheries needing better access to markets, creating a direct connection between fishermen and chefs. 

Why did they make it their mission to help out small, local fisherman? Because more than 91% of all seafood consumed in the US comes from outside the US, with much coming from less than perfect fish farms. Just like Garnish & Gather tells you about the farmer that grew your tomato, Sea to Table tells you about the boat that caught your fish. Sea to Table thinks Americans should celebrate the strength of our fisheries and the traditional communities they support. They partner with local fishing communities, with people who are proud of their work. 

Sea to Table sees chefs as the gatekeepers of the food world. They have the ears of the dining public, and the power to change tastes. They can use their status and power to help build a sustainable food system. They can drive value to American fishermen and their communities, while delighting diners with delicious wild domestic fish. That is why they work so closely with their chef partners, like Garnish & Gather. 

So what do the experts love to cook? We asked Lindsay at Sea to Table and she told us, "I especially love fish on the grill in the summer. Most recently I took a full loin of Pacific Albacore Tuna, rubbed it down with salt, pepper, some mortar & pestled fennel seed, and a touch of cayenne - then grilled it over hot coals for 2 minutes a side. It was perfectly crusted on the outside and still nice and pink in the middle." I think we have a candidate for another G&G chef!

We asked Lindsay what sustainability means to Sea to Table. She told us "For us, sustainability is more than just the status of a fish or fishing methods. Sea to Table believes that sustainable seafood means healthy fish, healthy fishing communities, and healthy markets." Check out their posting on HuffPost for more details.