SAIL Catalyst: producer-centered business training program

Posted by Local Catch Network

Type: Training
Location: Statewide
Application Deadline: November 23, 2025

SAIL Catalyst is a 2.5-month, producer-centered business training program developed to help seafood companies build the knowledge, skills, and networks needed to sustain and/or grow their operations. The program is run as a partnership between the Local Catch Network and Ecotrust. 

SAIL Catalyst participants will learn alongside their peers during virtual sessions twice a week. These sessions are 1.5 hours over three months.

Catalyst sessions are led by professional service providers who understand the unique needs of seafood harvesters. Catalyst participants can expect to deepen their knowledge and competencies in the following areas:

• Business Structure/Entity Formation
• Contracts and Partnerships
• Accounting Framework for Managing Liquidity and Building Wealth
• Marketing
• Introduction to Taxation
• Access to Capital
• Labor & Employment for your Fishing Business
• Necessities in Insurance and Understanding Risk
• Cashflow

Review a sample program syllabus for full session descriptions.

Participants must be able to attend a majority of the training sessions and be willing to complete “homework” between sessions. Participants can expect to commit a total of approximately 50 hours to the program. A full agenda with training dates will be distributed upon acceptance into the program.

As part of our efforts to assess the effectiveness of the program, participants are required to complete a series of evaluations throughout the duration of the program and beyond.