MORRO BAY, CA - JUNE 26, 2013. FishLine was featured in the June 27 issues of the Tolosa Press publications Bay News, Coast News and SLO City News. Tolosa Press business reporter Camas Frank interviewed Joe Falcone, founder, managing partner & CTO of Phondini Partners and Julie Thomas, FishLine project manager for the article. Here are some highlights: Fishermen have been using the technological advantage of satellite and sonar-based fish- finders for years now, but merely acquiring their prey does little good if they can’t find a willing buyer. That’s where a new mobile app for Smartphones, mobile devices and tablet computers comes in.
Phondini Partners has published FishLine, a program that, for the first time, gives the public a fish finding edge once the catch is brought ashore. Featuring ports throughout the Central Coast in their initial launch, the developers were inspired by market conditions after the Pacific Salmon recovery in 2012. People had gotten used to buying other foods after the Salmon numbers were previously depleted. When boats returned to Half Moon Bay (where Phondini is based) in 2012 with a new catch, their market had disappeared and it was difficult getting word out that the dockside was back in business. Falcone explained that the mobile app development company saw an opportunity to expand one feature in the Half Moon Bay iCoastside program to truly cover the entire coastline.
They started with a move down to Morro Bay. Environmental scientist Julie Thomas started making community connections in the San Luis Obispo County fishing industry, winding up with an extensive community advisory board. The app is browsable by region or by type of seafood desired and provides a wealth of information on the suppliers.
Among the better known participants locally are Tognazzini’s Dockside and Giovanni’s Market, which is now offering free shipping anywhere in California to customers ordering through FishLine App’s new direct purchasing option. Thomas explained that although the app was meant to connect local customer’s physically to their nearby fishermen, only half of their downloads are in the six-port area from Pillar Point to Port San Luis. Another 35 percent are from other parts of California and 44 other states, and 15 percent are from 41 foreign countries, so online orders were an in-demand feature.
"I think it's exciting [to build FishLine] because fishing as a profession goes back 10,000 years. It's an amazing thing to bring together the newest technology with so much history," said Falcone. Read the entire article here. Read the entire Bay News here. Download the FishLine app here.
About Phondini Partners
Phondini Partners builds award-winning mobile applications for communities, government and industry using local resources. For more information, see www.phondini.com.