Twin Light Smokehouse offers a membership that works like a CSA

She’s a daughter of Rockport and at the helm of a thriving fish business. “it’s definitely a boys’ club. but that’s not how i look at it,” says Melissa Marshall, who runs Cape Ann fresh Catch in Gloucester, one of the country’s largest community-supported fisheries, or CSF (akin to a CSA for produce, where people sign up for a share). it’s among the few female-owned fish businesses in the region, which she took over from her mother, Donna Marshall, when she retired. Donna remains close by for guidance and encouragement. Gloucester, though, has had a legacy of women involved in the fish industry, starting with the nonprofit advocacy group Gloucester fisherman’s Wife Association created in 1969.

When Melissa assumed responsibility of Cape Ann fresh Catch in 2020, she had just returned from eight years living and working in Shanghai. She wasted little time and expanded the operation to include twin light Smokehouse. “i got into the smoking business because i wanted the CSF to be a zero-waste business,” she says. by 9 a.m. most days, Melissa is overseeing the smokehouse that operates around the clock. Everything is smoked in small batches, from the 16-hour cold smoking of local haddock to the four-day process of infusing Norwegian salmon with a pleasant hickory flavor. the salmon comes from partner fisheries certified for their sustainable practices. the smokehouse’s lineup also includes blanched mussels, brined and seasoned with herbs before cold smoking, alongside containers of smoked salmon spread and a mussel spread, both teeming with chunks of the seafood.

Along with the fish share program, you can also get a smokehouse membership, which offers an array of surprises beyond salmon and mussels, possibly including smoked shrimp, scallops, trout, or even oysters. Twin Light Smokehouse products are available at Formaggio Kitchen locations, Whole Foods locations, and others. For information about Cape Ann Fresh Catch or Twin Light Smokehouse’s membership program, go to capeannfreshcatch.org.