You might think that local, fresh fish from sustainable and environmentally friendly sources would be readily available to consumers in Halifax, but you would be wrong. A young fishmonger is out to change that with her shop at a north-end market, which has built a loyal following since opening last summer.

Hana Nelson is the owner of Afishionado, a shop at Halifax’s Local Source Market. She sells locally sourced fish that she buys from fisheries devoted to sustainable catch methods and environmentally friendly practices.

“I wanted to see more sustainable fish offered on the Halifax peninsula, and even the Halifax peninsula itself doesn’t have a dedicated fish shop,” Nelson told CTV Atlantic.

“And I wanted to fill that need and be able to tell a little bit the stories of our fishermen and aquaculturists to our consumers.”

Nelson first planned to sell fish at a local farmers’ market. However, tight provincial regulations say fish sold at a farmers’ market must come from a fish processor.

So she opened her own shop in order to “maintain close relationships with those who catch our fish,” she writes on the shop’s website.

“For us, knowing the story behind the fish we sell is important.”

She buys as often as she can from fisheries that have received the Ocean Wise certification, an initiative started by the Vancouver Aquarium that identifies seafood caught or farmed in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

“I like to go and visit the places where I get the fish from,” Nelson said.

Buying fish whole means Nelson must filet and prepare the fish herself before it is sold. While she handled fish as a teenager, Nelson has had to learn how to prepare all sorts of seafood.

“I didn’t know anything before I started,” she said. She wears gloves so her hands don’t take on a fishy odour. She can’t say the same thing for her car.

“My car smells quite bad right now,” she said.

Nelson opened her shop just last August, but has already built up a loyal customer base that is keen on her environmentally friendly business practices.

“Since Hannah’s opened up I’ve been able to buy fresh, sustainable fish on a weekly basis,” one customer told CTV.

And she doesn’t just sell fish. She offers workshops, cooking classes, and hosts pop-up events, including a popular oyster bar. Her cooking classes bring in chefs from local restaurants to teach consumers about handling, cleaning and preparing fish and seafood.

The shop’s Instagram account is filled with shots of Nelson happily collecting fresh fish from her suppliers, or the shop’s display case full of the days’ wares.

“We value any opportunity to hear from or share knowledge with our community,” Nelson writes on her site.

Meanwhile, she hopes that regulations will change to make it easier for consumers to access local, sustainable fish.

With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Priya Sam