Page 6 - MidWeek Windward - July 21, 2021

6 JULY 21, 2021
New App Connects People To Local Fishermen’s Catch
Two University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa students, Spencer VanDerKamp and Lau- ren Pierce, wanted to find a way to make it easier for local fishermen to connect with residents. The duo’s new mobile app works to do just that.
ing management information systems and sheʻs an economics major) won seed money from the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship via its UH Ven- ture Competition, as well as two grant programs. The ReelFresh technology has been instrumental in helping small- scale fishermen maximize their wages of up to six times their normal pay, as they emerge from a pandemic that crip- pled the industry. In turn, it furnished consumers with in-season seafood — all sold within 24 hours of being caught — at an, on average, 30%-50% savings. The day boat catches are sustainable, as the licensed, small-scale fishers commit to harvesting responsibly and abiding by strict fish handling procedures. The app soft launched in May.
“Growing up on the Windward side of O‘ahu, Lauren and I fished all of our lives,” shares VanDerKamp, who is one of the founders of the ReelFresh app, as well as a part-time commercial fisherman.
“We empathized with our local fisher- men, especially the smaller-scale ones, as they endured the challenges caused by the pandemic. Therefore, we are thrilled to develop an app that currently helps 90 fishermen maximize their wages as the world hopefully emerges out of this pan- demic. We also have received tremen- dous feedback from local consumers who are thrilled to have access to the freshest seafood such as ‘ahi, ‘ōpakapaka, onaga, mahimahi, akule, ‘ōpelu, octopus and Kona crabs.”
ReelFresh is available for download in the iPhone and Android app stores. Through the app, consumers are alerted when there is a fresh catch in their area, allowing them to view the fish, order and pay securely.
Lauren Pierce (left) and Spencer VanDerKamp are University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa students who developed a mobile app that helps consumers locate and purchase daily catches brought in by local fishermen. PHOTO COURTESY REELFRESH
VanDerKamp and Pierce (he’s study-
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