Although fish and shellfish that's locally caught has always been available to seafood consumers in the US, in the last couple of years there's been a 'sea change' in the system.  Today, around the country, harvesters, processors and wholesalers are delivering extra high quality product to consumers, sometime directly and sometimes through specialized retail outlets and restaurants.  And of course this means that consumers are getting more knowledgeable and more interested in the specifics of what they are about to buy or consume.  Because of this, the public's need and interest in fisheries science is changing. Of course, the fisheries themselves are changing on their own due to new management plans, changes in fleet structure, location and the like. Relative to this symposium, different regions are doing different things to deal with or create such changes and its extremely important to look at the phenomenon relative to fisheries science, fishery publications and fishery outreach on a local and regional basis to understand national results and implications.