partner spotlight & events
Dive In: A recap of the 2025 Local Seafood Summit
By Ellen Olack, AFPC Programs Manager
The 2025 Local Seafood Summit was held in Gulf Shores, Alabama from November 9th-12th. The summit brought together a vibrant, coast-spanning community bound by a shared purpose: protecting and uplifting local seafood systems. Attendees came from all over: West Coast, East Coast, Gulf Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and even a few folks from Canada! Each person brought unique experiences but also strikingly similar challenges and hopes.
The Summit opened with a keynote that set the tone for the days ahead. Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation shrimper, former boat captain, author, and mother of five, challenged the room to embrace radical empathy in our work. Her reminder that “we are too well behaved” and that it’s okay to be “untamed” in fighting for what matters, struck a chord. In an industry shaped by tides, storms, regulatory shifts, and cultural resilience, passion isn’t an indulgence, it’s a necessity.
Across the next several days, sessions spanned a wide range of topics reflecting the interconnectedness of seafood systems. One highlight was a conversation about Seafood to School programs, including a free middle-school curriculum developed by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The program ties together the “three C’s” to help students understand the value and complexity of local seafood: cafeteria, classroom, and community. This was an especially inspiring session to attend since AFPC has brought back the Alaska School Nutrition working group this year (you can sign up to join here!).
During a session on community-led solutions for fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, the speakers described how climate and regulatory pressures are affecting coastal communities such as Kodiak, Cordova, and Sitka. One of the speakers Natalie Sattler pointed out one striking challenge: “Believe it or not, it can be difficult to access seafood locally in our community,” an irony that underscores the urgent need for policy and systems-level shifts.
During the Gulf Panel, speakers reinforced that intentional action is not optional but rather the only path forward. “We have to be intentional now in order to save our industry,” said Chris Blankenship, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Others emphasized the relationship between environmental health and cultural survival. Xochitl Bervera, an organizer and oyster farmer from Apalachicola, spoke to the importance of ecological reciprocity: “If we get this right, we will get our reefs back and we will have a thriving oyster population… We have to be in a right relationship with the reef.”
That sense of interconnectedness was echoed by United Houma Nation citizen Justin Solet, who shared the lived expertise of coastal communities: “We have a pulse on the situation. We see things before the scientists do. We understand the ebbs and flows of the tides.” The refrain “to free ourselves we must feed ourselves” captured the spirit of the panel, a reminder that food sovereignty is inseparable from community sovereignty.
Amid these powerful discussions, one quiet installation left a lasting impression: the Net of Gratitude. Attendees wrote notes on block-print postcards to mentors, elders, family members, and colleagues who helped them find their way into this work. Each card was clipped to a large fishing net in the lobby, and by the Summit’s end, it had transformed into a vibrant tapestry of thanks. It was a visual reminder that the strength of our seafood systems depends not only on policy and programs, but on the relationships and histories that bind us.
As I left Gulf Shores, I kept thinking about that Net of Gratitude, the collective acknowledgment of the people who sustain us, teach us, and keep us grounded. The Summit was more than a gathering of professionals; it was a reminder of the relationships and shared commitments that tie coastal communities together. And as Diane Wilson encouraged, maybe a little more “untame” energy is exactly what we need to protect what matters most.
