For 15 years, the Local Catch Network has worked to strengthen community-based seafood systems and support the people, businesses, and organizations that keep them thriving. To celebrate this milestone—and the launch of LCN’s Find Your Local Catch campaign—we teamed up to create a limited-edition hoodie honoring fishing communities and the sea that connects and sustains us all.
Established in 2011 and anchored at the University of Maine, LCN brings together seafood harvesters, researchers, technical-assistance providers, policymakers, and community leaders from across the country. Its members share a commitment to making locally and regionally harvested seafood more accessible while building resilient waterfront communities and supporting the people who bring wild food to our tables.
That mission feels close to home for us at Salmon Sisters. Our artwork has always been rooted in Alaska’s working waterfronts and inspired by the people, places, and traditions behind the fish. We believe that knowing where your seafood comes from—and who caught it—creates a deeper connection to our food systems and the waters that make them possible. When LCN invited us to create a design celebrating its anniversary and the importance of eating local seafood, it felt like a natural collaboration.
The phrase at the heart of the design, “The Sea Sustains Us,” speaks to the interconnectedness of healthy waters, healthy people, and healthy communities. The artwork celebrates the sea not only as a source of nourishing food, but also as a foundation for livelihoods, cultures, relationships, and ways of life passed between generations.
The Sea Sustains Us pullover hoodie is made in the USA from soft triblend fleece and features a comfortable contemporary unisex fit and kangaroo pocket. It’s a cozy layer made for boat decks, beach walks, market mornings, and gathering around the table for a meal of local catch.
The collaboration also arrives ahead of National Seafood Month in October, when LCN’s Find Your Local Catch campaign will highlight local seafood dishes and the people behind them across the country. Through LCN’s online Seafood Finder, seafood lovers can discover harvesters, markets, restaurants, and community-supported fisheries near them. It’s a simple way to bring more local seafood to the table and invest directly in fishing communities.
LCN is also expanding this work through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Seafood. Together, they are working to improve access to USDA programs and funding for domestic fisheries and seafood, helping ensure that farm-to-table conversations include food harvested from our oceans, rivers, and lakes.
Most meaningfully, all of LCN’s proceeds from this hoodie will benefit the Laughton Elliot-DeAngelis Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships for fishermen to participate in Local Catch Network programs and events. Laughton worked with LCN from 2023 to 2025, contributing to everything from the network’s first strategic plan to the creation of its Seafood Accelerator and Innovation Lab. He is remembered as a kind, energetic, and passionate champion of fishing communities who believed deeply in the importance of this work.
We hope this hoodie serves as a reminder to seek out the story behind your seafood, support the people who harvest it, and celebrate the waters that connect us. Find your local catch, share it around the table, and wear your love for fishing communities wherever you go.
