Tasha's Reflections from NAMA Retreat and LSS Fall 2025
Ronnie and I were invited to hang out with Black and Indigenous leaders from all over the country at NAMA's Leadership gathering in Africantown, Alabama. I went last year in Savannah GA, and honestly, it was such an awesome and beautiful experience to be around a bunch of folks all involved with fish in some way, all from different backgrounds, sharing stories about life, work, dreams, history, tough times, and celebrations. I was so excited to go again this year and visit Alabama, which I’ve only been to once when I was around 10 — for a family wedding near Birmingham. I barely remember it, just bits and pieces. I can tell you this, my first surprise when I arrived was the PALM TREES. I learned the coastal parts of Alabama like Mobile and gulf shores have a variety of native and coastal palms. It was a serendipitous moment for me.
This NAMA Retreat was scheduled to be lined up with the LCN 2025 Local Seafood Summit which is hosted once every 3 years. The last LCN Local Seafood Summit was in Girdwood, Alaska.
First stop NAMA Retreat in Mobile, Alabama. Definitely not pronounced like "Moe-BILE," or you’ll experience some Southern sass IMMEDIATELY. Its pronunciation is “MOE BEAL”. I’ve also learned (MOE BULL) will be reluctantly accepted. Mobile is this really pretty small city with a French vibe, kinda like a mini New Orleans. (I’ve never actually been to New Orleans myself, but I’ve seen enough in movies and TV.) Later, I found out Mobile’s actually the birthplace of the first American Mardi Gras — they celebrate Mobile Mardi Gras every year around February. I’ve included some photos of the Mardi Gras statues from Mobile Mardi Gras Park.
I also had a chance to walk around Mobile and saw some cool Aquaculture art. Oysters shells used as art all around Bienville Sq with oyster facts!
We spent our days at the leadership Retreat held at The Rev. Robert L. Hope community center in Africatown. Africatown is a historic community just a few miles from Mobile, a town founded by the survivors of Clotilda. It’s a special place, still independent and owned by the descendants of those former enslaved people who originally settled the land. The town is peaceful, kind, simple, and nestled in a cozy pocket just off the bridge. The Rev. Robert L. Hope community center is where we gathered every day during our summit. The community center was really lovely, and everyone we met was incredibly warm.
During the Retreat, we introduced ourselves, shared group prayers and well wishes, chatted, giggled sometimes outright CACKLED; we listened while the elders were singing and playing instruments together. The room was filled with beautiful Black and Brown faces, each person carrying so much knowledge about their field. Some were deeply connected to their ancestry, while others, like me, were just soaking in all the storytelling and wisdom. I met so many amazing people doing inspiring work, every one of them driven by passion, ancestral ties, love for waters, land and their communities. We had an awesome time hanging out. We had so many people this time around from Philly, and as expected Philly brought ENERGY! The food was mostly brought to us by local caterers and some dried salmon fished dried and bright in by Meliania and Bridgette our fellow retreat members from the Columbia river. I’m still thinking about the wind dried salmon, fried fish and pickled okra.
One of the most powerful moments of the trip for me was visiting Clotilda: The Exhibition at Africatown Heritage House. That experience was a lot for me; I’ve never felt so many emotions in a museum visit before. It’s something I’ll never forget. I recommend everyone visit the Clotilda exhibition if you are granted the chance to visit Africatown. If not, there is a really amazing documentary about it streaming called Decedent.
After a few days in Mobile, we made our way as a group to the Gulf Shores, AL for the second half of our trip, the LCN 2025 Local Seafood Summit. But before the Summit started we went fishing, thanks to NAMA. I loved feeling the wind in my hair and watching dolphins show off their flips and following our boat. It was absolutely amazing! But then, I started feeling seasick. I ended up spending about five hours in the cabin trying to rest it off. The group managed to catch a few snappers.
I learned an interesting fishing superstition that day: when you pack bananas for a fishing trip, it’s considered a bad omen. Sure enough, when the captain’s crew noticed the bananas, they quickly grabbed them and tossed them overboard. Lesson learned: bananas on a boat = bad fishing luck! Our crew caught the fish, the charter crew filleted it and we brought it to the LCN Summit’s cooking team, so everyone who wanted to could enjoy it. Beyond the first days’ delicious dinner, we had some truly amazing food at The LCN 2025 Local Seafood Summit.
At the conference, Talia arrived and I also got to catch up with Victoria Oh, Fishadelphia’s former Operations Manager and current executive member of the LCN board. Josh Stoll gave a beautiful tribute to the life of LCN board member and his friend Laughton Elliot-DeAngelis where they shared information about his memorial fund. I listened to some awesome and inspiring speeches from the keynote speakers Diane Wilson and Alex Alverez; I also attended many workshops. I learned a lot from workshops and left with my gears really turning. The conference was also a chance to network with lots of great people from so many places. I left feeling like I gained some solid connections.
I’m really grateful to the fisher folks who brought fish from their respective homes to feed everyone. I'm also grateful to the chefs and cooks who prepared so much glorious food for us. The folks at NAMA. Thank you, for all of your deep care and hard work put into organizing this retreat for us. It's always so inspiring to be around everyone at NAMA.
I'd like to also thank The Local Catch Network for inviting me and the Fishadelphia crew to be a part of an awesome network of people. Each year I’ve attended, it’s been a different but amazing adventure. I’ve learned so much every time. I came this year interested to connect more deeply with people at the summit and conference. I believe I succeeded.
- Tasha