Duke University students who organized Walking Fish, the region's first community-supported fishery, delivered their first shipment of fresh North Carolina fish to Durham-area shareholders Thursday.

Students from Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment were to distribute 400 shares -- or roughly 500 pounds -- of refrigerated, fresh-caught fish in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens parking lot on Anderson Street. The students teamed up with local fishermen in Carteret County to launch the project this summer.

"We hoped to sell 250 shares. We knew there was interest, but didn't realize just how much," said student organizer Joshua Stoll, a master of environmental management student at the Nicholas School. "It goes to show you how strong local support is for this type of initiative.

"Last month, I worried that we set our goal too high," he said. "Now, I stay up at night worrying how we're going to keep up with demand."

By the 12-week pilot project's end, Stoll estimates he and his fellow students will distribute more than 6,000 pounds of fresh fish and shellfish to area shareholders. In a community-supported fishery, members of the public buy pre-paid "shares" that entitle them to weekly or bi-weekly deliveries of fresh fish and shellfish.

Profits from Walking Fish support the commercial fishery in Carteret County and encourage greater environmental stewardship, Stoll says. "Our goal is to increase access to locally harvested fish, let consumers know where and how their seafood was caught and, ultimately, strengthen our local food system," he said.

To learn more about the program, go to www.walking-fish.org/