EXETER — Like the words on Fresh Fish Daley’s newly painted white van in front of the store, “Fred THANKS You.”

It was a close call for Fred Daley’s store at 146 Front St. in Exeter because Daley did not own a Massachusetts regulated vehicle to transport fish from the Boston docks to his Exeter store. Earlier this winter Daley was worried this could close down his business.

Daley said it’s been “an ongoing event for the past four years.” A Massachusetts stipulation requires anyone transporting fish across state lines to have a refrigerated van to keep fish at a temperature of 40 degrees.

Daley purchases his fish at the docks in Boston because of the high quality and variety he wants to serve to his customers. For a business owner who needs to spend most of his time in the store, this was a struggle.

“For a while no one said anything,” Daley said about the regulation. Daley, instead, used heaps of ice to pack around his fish, keeping it cool at 32 degrees.

But last April, he was given a warning and Daley had to make a decision.

Daley spent the summer of 2010 in limbo, “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have the money, but I didn’t want to fold up,” he said, adding at the low end, a reliable van costs around $20,000.

Daley held on for sometime because of his loyal customers depending on him to come through with their favorites, especially during the holidays.

Daley said he “kept looking for a solution, hoping one would pop out” at him. That’s when he sent “a plea” to customers in the first week in January.

The e-mail sent to his customers explained the store’s fragile state and offered a membership to anyone who donated money, even as little as $10, in exchange for 5- to 10-percent discounts on future purchases. Daley said he didn’t want it to be a “hand out.”

The plea, “took on a life of its own” and customers were forwarding it to friends, and friends of friends, to help Daley. He was surprised at how quickly people responded. More than 200 people, a lot of whom he didn’t even know, helped right away and halfway through the second week of January, Daley had to ask people to stop sending him money.

One man helped in another way. Being savvy with eBay, he searched for a van that would comply with Massachusetts state regulations and found a white van ready for bidding in Philadelphia.

Daley said the man called the owner of the van, told him Daley’s story and the owner was willing to accept his offer before the bidding. The van is a very good value, and “it will probably outlast my lifetime, it’s so young,” Daley said.

But one donation “floored” Daley in particular. The largest donation he received was from the Little Sisters of St. Francis in Danville.

“The biggest donation came from people with the least,” Daley said. The nuns had found themselves in a similar situation last August when they asked the community for help and received a “bounty of funds,” Daley said.

Daley said the nuns sent the excess to him and he found it “very touching” but felt guilty taking it and wanted to give it back. He was told by a friend that it would be considered an insult to the sisters, whose life mission is to serve and help others. In exchange, he made a haddock dinner and brought it to Danville to treat the ladies.

Many of his customers do not ask for their membership discount. “Most people just want me to be here,” he said.

Daley had his message of gratitude painted on his van because he wanted to thank the community for helping him keep his business alive. “The whole thing was very emotional,” said Daley, “it’s a story of goodwill.”

In his store, Daley can continue to offer all wild seafood, with staples such as haddock at $10.95 a pound, Atlantic and Wild King salmon, lobster at $7.95 a pound, scallops and native Maine shrimp at $5.95 a pound. He is also making prepared foods, such as crab cakes at $3.50 each, stuffed clams at $1.50 to $2 each, a calamari salad, a seafood stuffing, and some soups and chowders. He also has fresh produce he finds at the Chelsea Market, with options including mesclun lettuce mix, ripe cantaloupes, figs, and pears, and red potatoes.