2025 Local Seafood Summit

We are expecting 200-300 attendees at the 2025 Local Seafood Summit from across the United States, Canada, and affiliated islands. Participants will have a range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives related to community-based fisheries and seafood systems. What makes our events impactful is that everyone in the “room” brings knowledge and expertise.

We welcome session proposals for the summit. Session proposals were due May 17, 2025. We will do our best to accept new proposal ideas after the deadline. Please use this form to submit your proposal. 

Registration for the 2025 Local Seafood Summit is now open (register). 

November 9

Early Registration (4 PM)

Welcome Social Event (6 PM)

We are hosting our pre-summit welcome social at the Beach Pavilion in the beautiful Gulf Shores State Park. The evening will feature good food, community, and music by Barbara Garrity-Blake and Brian Blake from the Cajun Zydeco Band, Unknown Tongues.  

November 10

Registration

Day 1 Sessions 

Seafood Dinner 

November 11

Day 2 Sessions 

Summit Closing 

November 12

Field Trip to Water is Life Oyster Farm, Near Futures Projects, and Magical Apalachicola Bay (Nov 12-14) (Register)

Lodging

The Local Seafood Summit will be hosted at The Lodge at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama, November 9-12, 2025. The venue overlooks the Gulf of Mexico and is within driving distance of fishing communities across the region. Gulf State Park  has a wide range of accommodations available onsite, including a lodge (where the Summit will be held), cabins, and a campground:

• Lodge at Gulf State Park: We have reserved a block of rooms at a discounted rate at the Lodge at Gulf State Park. Rooms are limited, so book your room as soon as possible in order to secure a discounted rate. Please use Group Code 94G.
  • The discount code is available until October 18 or until the group block is full.
  • Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-618-4350 or online.
  • Instructions for Guests wishing to check availability to extend their stay for additional contracted nights:
    • Edit travel dates at the top of the landing page, then click the UPDATE icon
    • If the requested dates are not available at the group rate, reach out to Central Reservations at 1-800-618-4350 and mention your group code 94G for assistance.
• Cabins at Gulf State Park: For those who are interested in more space and/or sharing space with others, there are several cabins available at Gulf State Park. 
• Campground at Gulf State Park: There is a large campground at Gulf State Park with hundreds of campsites available. https://reserve.alapark.com/gulf/campsites

There are also other rental options (studios, condos, houses) in Gulf Shores. You can search for rentals on VRBO and AirBnB.

Flights & Transportation

The Lodge at Gulf State Park is within driving distance of multiple airports:

Pensacola International Airport (1 hour)
Mobile International Airport (1 hour and 15 minutes)
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (3 hours and 30 minutes)

More information about transportation to and from local airports will be posted this summer.

Do want to learn more about the Gulf and the communities in the region? We are offering two unique, post-summit field trips that are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.  

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Field Trip to Water is Life Oyster Farm, Near Futures Projects, and Magical Apalachicola Bay ***Pre-registration is required*** 

Trip Hosts: Xochitl Bervera, Kung Li

We are delighted to welcome a delegation of participants from the Local Seafood Summit to tour our farm, connect with our community, and be part of local efforts to build a vibrant, sustainable local food system here in Apalachicola, centered in the wisdom and legacies of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.

Come spend a day and night with us to meet the Apalachicola Bay, recognized as one of the most biodiverse estuarine systems in the Northern Hemisphere. In these rich and nutrient-filled waters where the river joins the sea, we grow oysters in floating bags. The bay is currently closed to wild harvesting due to the collapse of the wild reefs and local oysters are hard to find. We grow oysters so our community can once again enjoy delicious, protein and zinc-packed oysters as the reefs recover. We are part of traditions that seek to produce food in the right relationship with the land and waterways and help maintain a way of life that loves and respects the waters of this area and all that she provides. 

On our field trip, we will meet with local heroes and sheroes who are building new pathways toward food sovereignty, protecting our River and Bay, and preserving the diverse histories and culture of this area. We hope to have frank and engaging conversations about how building a local food system can have a role in preventing this very special place from becoming yet another resort town. We will visit or see the farm, weather permitting. Then we invite you to join the local community for a feast in celebration of our seafood workers, past and present!

For more information, you can visit:

https://www.facebook.com/waterislifeoysters

www.nearfuturesprojects.org

Trip Logistics 

Participants will travel from The Lodge at Gulf State Park to Apalachicola, Florida on Tuesday, November 12. Participants will be expected to travel to Apalachicola on their own. If there is interest, we can coordinate group transportation.

Participants will spend November 12 exploring the Alabama and Florida coast on their own (suggested places to visit will be provided). November 13 will be the main day of the field trip. We will convene in Apalachicola early in the morning and wrap up late in the evening after the community dinner. Participants should plan to depart on November 14 or continue to explore the coast on their own.

Field trip participants will be responsible for booking and covering the cost of their own daily meals, lodging, and vehicle rentals. Recommendations for accommodations will be provided. There will also be a small registration fee to cover trip logistics.  

Space for the field trip is very limited. We expect that there will be a waitlist. If interested, be sure to complete this form ASAP.  

*** To hold your spot for the field trip, you must be registered for the summit ***

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Field Trip to Louisiana 

Check back soon for additional details. 

We are committed to lessening barriers for participation for our programming, including the seafood summit, by providing scholarships to practitioners to help off-set the cost of attending the summit. Priority for financial support was given to seafood harvesters and other related attendees. If you would like to be considered for a scholarship, please fill out the following form.

We encourage participants to bring “swag” to share with participants or donate items for our silent auction. 

Guidelines

• Bring promotional swag or auction items to the Summit
• There will be two sections including swaps and silent auction: 
  • • In the swaps section, leave something that you would like to share with others.
    • Feeling charitable? Donate something to the Local Catch Silent Auction. 
• Drop off your swag or auction items at the designated table during registration
• Be mindful of space and bring what you and others can easily transport.

What should you bring?

• Items with your business logo including t-shirts, hats, mugs, etc. 
• Paper items like newsletters, annual reports, research papers, etc.
• Shelf-stable, packaged seafood products, like canned salmon, dried seaweed
• Artwork, poetry, books, creative expressions
• A CSF subscription or gift cards
• Other items are also welcome!