Oct 21, 2018
Live recorded at Harvard’s Let’s Talk About Food festival – we
host a discussion about “Ocean Farming” with CEO of Ocean Approved
Bri Warner, and Perry Raso, founder of Matunuck Oyster farm &
bar ||
Our seas are under threat. Floating plastic islands are but
icing on the cake of a much bigger problem – how we manage the
oceans. It’s a complex discussion with a simple solution.
You see, we’ve got 92% of global fisheries already stressed,
and large population densities are tied to some of these soon to
reach exhaustion. The continued contamination from the waste we
spew into these channels of our food, and all the supporting
natural systems of the oceans will soon reach a ceiling. And,
it’s going to hurt. With 3 billion reliant on sea-proteins as
their main caloric intake for the day, if we have only dirty or no
fish we’re all due for a rude awaking no matter where you call
home. We’ve begun farming fish in all reaches of the planet.
In fact, today 50% of fish consumed is farmed raised.
But, most of that farm raised stuff is nearer feedlot beef as
compared to the clean and healthy moniker that open caught seafood
had long-since enjoyed. That it’s all changing is an
understatement.
Sourcing Matters ep. 40: “Regenerative Ocean Farming”- live
recorded at the “Let’s talk about Food” festival @ Harvard
University – Host Aaron Niederhelman speaks with two dynamic New
England leaders in shellfish and seagreen production to learn what
it takes to farm our waters. Similar to a terrestrial
grass-fed beef brethren – there’s been increased interest in
regenerative ocean farming. Regenerative effectively means
everything is renewed in the process of using it. It’s ecology down
to trophic level, and up-throughout the interchange of vast systems
which do include food animals, mollusks and ourselves. For
those who do tend to the farmed fresh food from the ocean, alot of
the hope for the future is being spawned in our clean cold waters
of the Northeast. These local (ocean) farmers have developed models
that give back to their natural environment to reap the benefit of
a better crop. It just makes sense. By (i) addressing
sea level rise and storm surge, (ii) alleviating hunger in
impoverished areas, (iii) creating local jobs near highly populated
areas, (iv) sourcing clean seafood as preventative human health
care, (v) stabling natural environments in keystone areas (vi)
motivated champions to fight for a cleaner environment –
Regenerative Ocean Farming has vast potential for all coastal
communities everywhere in the world.