Ecoislogical

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What seafood is the most eco-friendly & sustainable? (Book review: Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith)

What sea food is the most sustainable and eco-friendly? (Eat like a fish - Bren Smith)

A topic I have often debated and thought about. What type of seafood (prawns, fish, clams, oysters, mussels) are the most sustainable and eco-friendly ones? Should I leave them off my food completely? Are there any sustainable methods in the sea-food industry? These and many more questions I have been asking myself in the latest time and has been even more fueled after my discovery of bottom trawling (dredgers), my view on the sustainability and health of our oceans and seas has never been the same. I can not grasp how such cruelty and destruction must happen before the greedy wakes up from their spell as currently, it feels we might truly soon be hitting a point of no return. The extended forest fires in (Russia, Brazil, Bolivia, Indonesia, and Australia), the high temperatures of Antarctica (over 20 C), the bleaching of the corals due to warmer seas and accelerating rate of extinction of species faster than they can evolve (with estimated extinction rates up to 45 000 times their natural speed) and so on...

This brings me to a book written by Bren Smith about 3D ocean farming which is truly genius in my humble opinion and I hope is not too forward-thinking and evolved for its time and that humanity will be able to accept and learn from it, the book is called Eat like a fish.


What sea food is the most sustainable and eco-friendly? (Eat like a fish - Bren Smith)



Bren Smith says that ,,climate change is going to force us to eat zero-input foods, the question is, is it going to be delicious,, or not? Mr. Smith who is a former commercial fisherman turned ocean farmer who pioneered the development of restorative 3D ocean farming, co-founder of GreenWave, ecological pioneer is the author of the book: Eat like a fish - my adventure as a fisherman turned restorative ocean farmer which is full of extremely easy yet ground-breaking ideas and we will be asking ourself, why this industry has not evolved earlier. 

Reviews from some other publications: 

,,A perfect balance between storytelling and blueprint for a new way 
to harvest our seas that can create meaningful jobs while 
simultaneously combatting climate change.,, 
- Forbes 

,,Bren Smith is a hero of ours - not just for his ingenious vertical farming
of kelp and shellfish in the Thimble Islands, but for facing squarely the 
root causes of one crisis with many symptoms:
climate change, desertification, obesity, and hunger.
This book shows us new ways to grow food and make a living 
that can both heal the planet and make life more satisfying.,,
- Yvon Choinard, Founder of Patagonia

,,Seaweed is the food of the future; it's a powerhouse of nutrition
and holds a world of untapped flavor and deliciousness. Bren's underwater
kelp farms can feed us for years to come and the more we eat, 
the more we also give back to the ocean. This book leads the way.,,
- René Redzepi, Head chef & Co-owner Restaurant noma

,,Smith in an articulate, very human ambassador for sustainable, 
ethical and environmentally beneficial mariculture, weaving his plea 
for changing the way we eat with solid proof of why it's so necessary. 
He includes a global history here as well, spanning coastal cultures from China 
and Japan to Scotland and Atlantic Canada, all rich with best practices 
and viable traditions...If this new age of ,climate cousine, 
needs an introduction, Eat Like a Fish is surely it.,,
- Book Page 


The book is full with many interesting topics about how you, too could set up your 3D ocean farm, about his life since he dropped out of school at the age of 14, about the memories he has from working on a destructive trawling boat, how ocean farming is so important to tackle climate change, feed the Earths population, reduce the need for cruelty filled land animal farming, removing CO2, nitrogen absorbing seaweed and shellfish, the difference between ocean farming and aquaculture, history of eating sea greens, environmentalism, overfishing, pollution and the complete direspect many humans have for the life giving seas. 

The most sustainable seafood according to this book (and I fully agree) are those which he proposes to grow and harvest in his 3D ocean farm and those are: oysters, clams and seaweed. 

I truly recommend this book as it is unvealing a whole new world wehere we can thrive nutritionally, environmentally, along with the oceans and the nature as well as providing an abundance or work, living and passion for us people.


* Disclaimer: This post contans amazon affiliate links to purchase the book: Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith. I have not been paid in any shape of form for this article nor has the book been given for me for free.I have written this article purely of my large respect for this topic. If you purchase trough this amazon affiliate link I will be paid a small comission at no extra cost for you. This helps me to upkeep this blog and pay for the running costs of is (for example domain name). 


15 comments

  1. Oh wow good to know, and for the suggestion of the book, thanks for posting!

    Allie of
    www.allienyc.com

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    Replies
    1. Dear Allie, thank you for your lovely comment it really means a lot.
      Yes, his change of life and book is really enlightening and I feel the whole world could learn, as well as tackle a big chunk of climate change and make a good living from his ideas. Really simple yet genius solution!
      xx

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  2. wow sounds great! will definitely check it out

    xoxo
    style frontier

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! Thank you for your kind message :)
      Yes, there truly are some remarkable people who think if such genius yet simple ideas just like Bren Smith and his book.
      xx

      Delete
  3. I've been trying to eat better over the years. Although I haven't given up land meat completely, I have reduced it as much as possible. On the other hand, I love seafood! It is great that it's more eco-friendly to eat them. However, they tend to be more on the expensive side. Thanks for sharing all of these facts!

    Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me

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    Replies
    1. Hello dear Nancy, thank you fro you lovely comment.
      Well done for trying to minimise your impact:) The world needs more people like you :)
      When buying any type of sea-food it is important to make sure it is not caught by bottom trawling (dredgers) as that is incredibly
      destructive and cruel to the nature.

      There is an amazing article here:https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local - I have learned so much from it!

      Thank you for your lovely comment and thank you for trying to eat better for so long :)

      /N

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  4. The state of our oceans is really scary. And doesn't really get as much limelight as other issues when it comes to our environment. I don't eat seafood but I definitely don't turn down seaweed. I've been made aware of seaweed and it's incredible benefits to everyone on this planet (human, animal, the ocean etc) and it amazes me how we are not doing more to implement it. That said those in power do nothing at all so it shouldn't really come as a surprise sadly.

    Sxx
    daringcoco.com

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    Replies
    1. Hello, and thank you fro your most amazing comment!
      I do not eat as much seaweed as I would like to (as it has not been easy for me to find fresh close to me and the dried Nori makes me extremely hungry afterward - not sure why, probably all the vitamin B), but I feel as my body is craving when I do eat the fresh one. Should take it as a push to make a bigger effort to do so.
      Yes, it is truly heartbreaking to be uncovering the truth about the state of our oceans and Mr Smith is really giving us such a great opportunity to do better. We need to create the right demand for it for people to make it more mainstream (demand and purchase sustainably farmed seaweed from small ocean farms.
      Once again, thank you for your most lovely comment and for stopping by here:)

      Delete
  5. Great post. I am aware about some of this because of the sustainable farmers that we use. I learnt about the Scottish salmon issue last year, and now we use sustainable cod. This is very important to understand the state of our world and environment, what is in the waters affects so much of what we use.

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    1. Thank you dear for your lovely comment, that is amazing that you are getting to know sustainable farmers! I would love to hear more. Do you have a sea weed farmer as that is something I truly miss and would love to find as to me that is the food of the future + I think it is super tasty and crave it on regular basis :)
      Once again thank you for stopping by and for you eco-friendly effort and changes :)
      xx

      Delete
  6. It sounds like a really interesting and eye opening read! I have reduced my seafood intake massively, and think I'll probably become completely plant based eventually xo

    Makeup Muddle

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    Replies
    1. Oh, well done! I am so very prod of you! Yes, it really is eye opening and so easy and genius Bren Smith proposes in his book eat like a fish! Thank you for your kind comment.
      xx

      Delete
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