Our Fishing Log: A Philly Storytelling Project

Hi! My name is Feini Yin and I'm raising money for a Philadelphia-centered storytelling project about our local fish, people who love fish, and the ways fish connect us to the world, each other, and ourselves. This project is co-produced with Rowhome Productions, a full-service audio agency in Philly, and Neal Santos, Philly-based food photographer and visual storyteller. Our community partner is Fishadelphia, a Philly community seafood program.

I’m asking for $36K to support the creation of 6 initial podcast episodes, budgeted at $6K each. Here’s a breakdown of those funds per episode:

Reporting & production - $1,000

Post production & production support - $2,000

Visual storytelling - $2,000

Additional costs (including: distribution, marketing, gear, supplies, travel, website) - $1,000

Money raised here will first go towards meeting the costs of this project. Any extra funds raised will be invested into future episodes of “Our Fishing Log.” I also plan to contribute towards providing subsidized seafood shares to Philly community members through Fishadelphia’s Neighbor Share program and supporting the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Land Acknowledgment Honorarium.

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More about Our Fishing Log:

Philadelphia is a city of two rivers, linked to the Atlantic Ocean. Its history and culture is waterborne. It’s home to many — people who are Indigenous to the region, born-and-raised, transplants, and immigrants alike — who have deep ancestral and cultural connections with water and fish. Yet today, many Philly residents may feel disconnected from their waters, cultures, and foods. Fish can connect us to, and teach us about, all three.

Our Fishing Log will attempt to collectively explore, synthesize, and build community in Philly through fish. It’s a multimedia storytelling project centered around a documentary podcast series. Along the way, Neal Santos will capture photos and share morsels of visual storytelling. I’ll also choose several fish with which to do gyotaku, or traditional fish printing, workshops with local high school students.

Each podcast episode will trace a narrative arc through a different species of fish found in local waters, including freshwaters around Philadelphia and ocean waters in New Jersey and Delaware. I’ll start by going fishing, and end by inviting a local home cook or chef to co-create and share a meal with me that’s meaningful to them. We’ll include conversations with a diverse line-up of anglers, scientists, culinary experts, conservationists, and stewards, plus exploratory interludes, lyrical reflections, and sonic pleasures in between.

Those who know me know that I'm a fish devotee. Over the last several years, my work and passions have converged on fisheries and seafood. I've come to see these issues as a container in which to world-build and explore the ways we can change our relationships to our ecosystems, economies, and each other. I’ve witnessed how fish can bring people together in unexpected ways, and I know there are so many rich and intersectional stories to showcase. If you have the means to support this, or to spread the word, I'd be so grateful.

You can follow the project on Instagram.

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More about Feini:

Feini Yin is a journalist, fishmonger, and community organizer living on stolen Lenni-Lenape land so-called Philadelphia. They work for Fishadelphia, a community-supported fishery that brings fresh seafood from community-based harvesters in New Jersey to culturally and economically diverse consumers in greater Philadelphia. They are also a media coordinator for the North American Marine Alliance, a fishermen-led grassroots organization focused on building a just seafood system, as well as an executive committee member of the Local Catch Network, a knowledge and innovation hub for local and community-based seafood systems. Previously they worked as a science, health, and environment reporter for The New York Times and WHYY. In their spare time they love to recreationally fish along the Jersey shore. A kid of Chinese immigrants, they grew up eating fish often, usually steamed whole and cooked Chinese-style, with soy sauce and plenty of aromatics.

Feini will be the lead reporter and project manager for Our Fishing Log.

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More about Rowhome:

Rowhome Productions is a full-service audio agency based in Philadelphia, founded in 2020 by radio producers Alex Lewis and John Myers.

We love every aspect of turning sound into story, and while our projects are ambitious, our goal is simple: to produce the highest-quality content in both sound and purpose. Our ideal partners are driven by the same mission as us, to make Philadelphia (and the world) a better place to live by promoting diversity, equity, truthful reporting, and originality. Our work goes beyond city limits, as our mission resonates with organizations all over the world. Rowhome has worked on projects with a range of partners including Topic Studios, WHYY, Audible, iHeart Media, Asian Arts Initiative, Community Legal Services, BlackStar Projects, and the Association for Public Art. We’re very excited about partnering with Feini to bring “Our Fishing Log” into the world.

Check out this Billy Penn story about Rowhome.

Rowhome will provide assistance with story editing, field recording and reporting, mixing, sound designing, mastering, and anything else Feini needs to make this series sing.

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More about Neal:

Neal Santos is a Philly-based photojournalist, food photographer, farmer, and entrepreneur. His photography, which appears in Food & Wine, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, and TASTE, captures beautiful food as well as the cooks, chefs, and creative process behind the food. You can usually find Neal in the kitchen photographing, on the land foraging or gardening, or out on the street finding moments to capture. A graduate of Temple’s journalism school, Neal has also spent time teaching photography and multimedia storytelling to students. In his spare time he enjoys cooking, eating, Muay Thai training, and a glass of wine in that order.

Neal will photograph, capture videos, and contribute to the website and social media for Our Fishing Log.

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More about Fishadelphia:

Fishadelphia connects communities to create win-win solutions for everyone. Seafood harvesters need to sell their hard-earned catch, and city folks love seafood; we meet these needs by bringing fresh seafood directly from the NJ shore into culturally and economically diverse communities in Philadelphia, opening new markets for harvesters while increasing access to high quality food for families. We offer a seafood subscription program (aka a community-supported fishery) in the Philadelphia region. We host community events, like our dock trips. We also run youth programming for high school students who support and learn about the business.

Check out this Hakai story about Fishadelphia.

Fishadelphia is the community partner for Our Fishing Log. The project will happen in conversation and community with Fishadelphia; in many ways it is a celebration of, and love letter to, this little seafood-program that could. However, Our Fishing Log is an independent project and the views are those of the storytellers, not necessarily those of Fishadelphia.

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More about NAMA:

North American Marine Alliance is the non-profit fiscal sponsor for this project, and a long-time ally of Fishadelphia. NAMA is a fishermen-led, grassroots alliance that’s rallying a movement to resist big-business control of ocean resources, amplify the power of local fishermen, transform problematic supply chains, and establish a fair seafood system for everyone. NAMA’s approach is to shift seafood markets and fisheries policies, while building community and fighting for food sovereignty and racial justice.

NAMA will manage funds and receive any grant money for this project. Our Fishing Log is an independent project and the views are those of the storytellers, not necessarily those of NAMA.

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Cover image photo credits: Feini Yin, PJ Agbay/Billy Penn, Neal Santos