Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based seafood jerky-maker Acari is looking using a raw material that many other peers have never considered: the suckermouth catfish. In so doing, it aims to achieve a positive social, environmental, and health impact.
Playing on the name in Spanish which translates into the ‘devil fish,’ the company imports the fish to Canada to make El Diablito jerky.
“We work with fishermen in Mexico to harvest and process the invasive ‘pez diablo’ or suckermouth catfish, a fish originally from South America that has decimated freshwater fisheries across the country. As a result, we're creating new, better economic opportunities in these communities,” Acari Fish CEO and Co-Founder Mike Mitchell told SeafoodSource.
Acari has implemented a scalable model in working with fishing cooperatives across southern Mexico to provide training and the basic equipment needed for local, rural fishers to begin their own small-scale production facilities. The company guarantees the purchase of 100 percent of that production, whereby the fishers earn about 40 percent more than they did previously fishing or in other jobs. Moreover, fishers that sell their devilfish bycatch to Acari can double or triple their daily income.
According to Acari, the devilfish population has rapidly expanded over the last 20 years and now accounts for up to 70 percent of fish caught in the areas in southern Mexico in which it operates, displacing native fish species and seriously damaging the local fishing industry. By incentivizing the removal of suckermouth catfish from local waters, Acari said it is helping to bolster native fish stocks affected by this invasive species.
“And due to the fish's unique texture, El Diablito tastes and feels similar to beef, but comes with all the environmental and health benefits of eating fish,” Mitchell said.
The company is a member of the Upcycled Food Association, and it donates a portion of its production to migrant shelters in Mexico.
Photo courtesy of Acari
