A PERSONAL JOURNEY

HEIDI HANSON - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER + CREATOR of GOOD CATCH + SALTY FARMER

I grew up eating wild salmon. I don't think I really thought much about it or even realized that there were other choices out there, afterall the waters of the Pacific Northwest, where I grew up, were "teaming with fish." We'd all seen the photos of people walking across a river full of fish or heard the stories of neighbors who spent their summers in Alaska hauling in an endless catch.

I'm not sure when I first heard about farmed fish, but I do know that it probably had something to do with escaped fish wreaking havoc on our wild salmon populations. The early days of fish farming were plaqued by mishaps and failures that received widespread attention. I was a self proclaimed "wild"gal, happy to hold out to eat only wild caught seafood.

But then a revelation hit. It was one afternoon, as we filmed at Penn Cove Shellfish for an episode of Chefs A' Field with famed chef Tom Douglas. As the farmer and chef pulled up line after line of fresh, delicious mussels, I witnessed the clarity in the water, the abundance of other aquatic life, and the pure cleanliness and innovation of this farm. It was so familiar. This looked like any other domestic farm -- nicely laid out rows of a flourishing crops. Albeit his crops grow in water instead of soil and are attached to long lines instead of sowed rows. This was a farm producing delicious food in a means that did not pollute, was healthy for me and the environment, and tasted of the place. This was a local, sustainable farm I could get behind.

Over many years of visiting aquaculture farms of all kinds, after talking with countless experts, farmers and scientists, I have  come to see the huge opportunities and endless varieties of seafood that aquaculture holds. If you think about it, it's pretty silly to think that we can rely on wild caught seafood. A vast ocean and we have guys out there trying to catch one fish at a time. There is virtually nothing else we eat that is wild.

American farming has evolved. Today, the local and sustainable farm movement has overtaken our plates and the national food economy. Farmers markets exist in every American town. And countless dinner conversation revolve around who grew those local tomatoes or whether my beef is grassfed or heirloom breed.

Aquaculture, done responsibly, holds endless possibilities for feeding a growing planet, for enriching our palettes with new varieties of seafood, and for providing a booming economy of farming that is good for the planet. Like anything I put on my plate or into my belly, I want to know how it was grown and by whom. Now, I extend that to all kinds of farms - the ones with soil and the ones in water, too.

Stay tuned to GOOD CATCH and SaltyFarmer.com to learn more.

Or drop us a line if you would like to be a part of this exciting blue revolution.