Dave Adler is not new to the fair-and-sustainable fish game. If you aren’t either, you’ll recognize his name from his work with the Ecology Action Centre’s Off The Hook community-supported fisheries program—which works to connect consumers with local, small-scale fishers—as well as Slow Fish Canada.
He’s the man behind Hooked Halifax and papered-over windows at 5783 Charles Street, a soon-to-be fish store. “It’ll be a seafood shop, bringing in all sorts of local products, all from small-scale fishing families,” says Adler. “I’ve done a lot of work with the EAC over the years and this is the evolution of that. We were found was what really was missing was an anchor, a retail shop to anchor the whole thing.” In addition to being a local anchor, Hooked is part of a network of similar shops in Ontario started by Kristin and Dan Donovan, friends of Adler’s from Slow Fish.
“What we’ll be able to do is when we buy products from the fishers, we can buy for more than just this market—and we can bring in products from all across the country,” he says. “In terms of supporting the fishing families, we need to work together to broaden their markets....One of the neat things, and great things about this is that we’ll have access to local fisheries and amazing seafood from all over the place.” And because summer is basically synonymous with seafood, Hooked Halifax aims to open in early July.
