Community Supported Seafood
5-Year Program
2019-2023 Membership Agreement
Member’s Name ______________________ Email _______________
Harvest: Southeast Alaska Directed Wild Coho Salmon Fishery
Value: 100 lbs for $1000
-
Salmon Arrival Notifications will be sent annually to your email address [above] once your salmon is enroute to Philadelphia.
-
Reminder Notifications will be sent to your email semi-annually until all of your yearly seasonal 20 lbs has been delivered to you.
Enrollment Terms
By purchasing a 2019-2023 Community Supported Seafood, CSS, membership you agree to: 1) become a 5-year member of Otolith LLP’s CSS program accepting your annual seasonal wild coho salmon purchased by Otolith LLP as compensation for your Membership Purchase Agreement for a term of no more than 5 years, 2) accept the shared risk of allowing Otolith LLP to contribute a portion of all CSS funds to the upfront costs of any CSS harvester’s limited access fishery permit or quota, gear, transportation, fish storage, fish handling, and/or any cost except fuel prior to your annual CSS distribution, 3) accept responsibility for keeping your fish frozen after each CSS delivery, and 4) indemnify Otolith LLP or its affiliates of any responsibility to repay your CSS investment in the event of any loss essential to the successful harvest, transport or distribution of the CSS such as the loss of vessel, crew member, gear or loss of fish quality through any means after or during its harvest or purchase rendering it unsuitable for consumption or sale.
Otolith may provide information regarding your harvester including live webcast on the first harvest date and online streaming video of your actual CSS harvest throughout the open fishing season. Otolith may provide area of harvest information upon request provided it does not jeopardize the proprietary and local knowledge of the CSS harvester. Otolith will provide online updates and links for information pertaining to fishery management protocol, fishery gear type, thawing, handling and cooking of your highest quality available wild fish. Your CSS 2017-2023 wild salmon will be sourced from a low environmental impact sustainable harvesters in Southeast Alaska, and may be purchased directly from the CSS harvester(s) or processor. Otolith may provide when available the CSS harvesters’ vessel name in a confidential email to you identified as follows: F/V [fishing/vessel] “Name of Vessel“ upon request. Further vessel information may be available online at www.otolithonline.blogspot.com/.
Quality Assurance
Otolith guarantees your annual distribution of CSS fish to be harvested within each of that same year’s annual fishery. Your CSS will arrive in average weight 1 pound blast-frozen packs providing the highest quality sustainably harvested U. S. fish on the market. Otolith’s premium fish once thawed and stored between 34-40 degrees shall maintain its quality for up to 3 days and may be cooked and eaten up to 7 days after it has been thawed. Otolith’s fish is sushi-grade and may be safely eaten raw up to 6 hours after it has been thawed using Otolith’s Quick Thaw© method and provided it has been kept dry and stored between 34-40 degrees using refrigeration to control the temperature of your sushi grade fish. Fish thawed under refrigeration for duration in excess of 6 hours or improperly held at temperatures above 40 degrees may not be safe or suitable to consume raw. It is the responsibility of each member to learn and use Otolith’s Quick Thaw© method before serving Otolith’s fish as sushi or other raw service food. ________ [Initial here]
Otolith recommends that you put your share directly into a freezer after it has been picked/up.
Delivery
CSS delivery is available to your home or designated agreed local farm market. Members must phone or email all delivery requests. Weekend deliveries must be requested by Thursday at 6pm prior to the delivery date requested. You will receive no less than 10 lbs per delivery; and all delivery expenses are included in your CSS purchase price. CSS can be delivered all at once or 10 lbs. per delivery [subject to scheduling availability].
Objective
The preferred abundant species sourced through this CSS shall be Alaskan wild harvested seasonal coho salmon. Otolith’s goal is to assist the sustainable commercial harvester with upfront costs of participating in specific sustainable limited entry fisheries governed by Regional Management Councils and/or the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and to contribute responsibly toward the costs of effective fishery management while improving access to the best domestic sustainable fish for the benefit of the market Otolith serves.
Limitations
Otolith assumes responsibility for the purchase, process, and transportation of your share to your designated delivery location excepting for any unforeseeable loss of the CSS fish as a result of circumstances beyond our control as stated above. You are guaranteed only up to the agreed weight specified on this agreement and harvested on behalf of the entire member 5-year CSS up to the aggregate annual weight of 2000 lbs. of current season semi-boneless average weight 1 lb. portion fillets. Owing to commercial fishing, purchasing and sales experience of more than 15 years, Managing Partner Amanda Bossard reserves the right to estimate the cost of your annual distribution over a five year period and providing only good faith estimate of your expected return on membership investment and calculating the minimum cost to each member to be equal to the total cost/lb to harvest, process and ship the salmon plus $2/lb. The estimated weight provided annually for the 2019-2023 5-year CSS Program(s) as specified on the CSS Enrollment Form for each CSS 5-year membership you purchase is 20 lbs distributed for each of 5 consecutive years. Otolith reserves the right to purchase from multiple harvesters and/or processors for seasonal harvested fish. Otolith reserves the right to delay your distribution in the event that your request for delivery occurs after the previous year’s inventory for your CSS has been completely distributed. Under such circumstances it shall become necessary for you to wait until the availability of the next seasonal harvest in order to receive your annual distribution. In such an event you will not be compensated additionally other than your agreed 20 lbs annually. Your program thus shall extend an additional year’s term until all of your total aggregate weight has been distributed to you.
Closing Date
The deadline to enroll in Otolith’s CSS 5 Year Coho Program is August 1, 2019. You are guaranteed the highest quality sustainable fish available. Additional CSS updates are posted on https://www.otolithonline.com/css-2/, and posted via Otolith’s accounts with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace.
Refunds/Cancellation
Otolith reserves the right to cancel the CSS and refund your money if the market value of the species defined does not support the CSS Program details or for insufficient CSS funds due to limited member participation. Otolith guarantees the refund of your CSS payment in the event Otolith cancels the CSS due to limited participation.
In the interest of Otolith LLP and other shareholders, with respect to the limited time offer of CSS, requests for refunds will be honored up to one month prior to the “ETA” harvest date, August 1st of each year. If you are dissatisfied with the quality of your CSS, Otolith’s CSS Manager will review your complaint in which case refunds will be subject to approval. A $50 administrative fee applies to all refund requests and refunds may take up to two weeks to receive. All refunds will be issued in the form of a check from Otolith LLP.
CSS 5-Year Harvest Program is only available to returning CSS members. Exclusive members of Otolith’s Community Supported Seafood 2017-2021 Salmon Harvest Program support Otolith’s harvester(s) in your community that catch wild salmon using sustainable practices, contribute to responsible fishery management, while paying only $10/lb for seasonal domestic wild coho and sockeye salmon.
To enroll: Print and mail this completed and signed Membership Agreement along with your check for $1000 to Community Supported Seafood, P.O. Box 15230; Philadelphia, PA 19125.
Signature __________________________________ Date _________________________
Address ___________________________________________________________________
Phone Hm:____________________ Wk: ___________________ Cell: ___________________
Community Supported Seafood, P.O. Box 15230; Philadelphia, PA 19125. P: 215-426-4266 or contact Amanda Bossard, CSS 5-Year Program Manager for all CSS inquiries; C: 215-531-0922.