Hope in the Water

With demand for fish and seafood on the rise around the world, what we eat can put tremendous pressure on wild fisheries, limit access to local communities in need, and negatively affect the health of the ocean. But creative approaches to diversifying our seafood diets are already rewriting menus worldwide.

Shailene Woodley pays a visit to The Cultured Abalone Farm where she meets with General Manager and Partner Doug Bush to learn about their harvesting process. While at the farm, Shailene learns how abalone and purple sea urchin are raised as well as how the team supplies local kelp to feed both seafood species.

Farmed fish has a PR problem rooted in a legacy of pollution and environmental disaster. But innovative technologies and a reconsideration of ancient practices may hold the secrets to sustainably feeding our growing population. In this episode, lifestyle guru Martha Stewart learns the ropes at a scallop farm off the coast of Maine.

Vietnam is one of the world’s largest shrimp suppliers, however, in 2009, the country’s shrimp industry experienced economic disaster following a pathogen outbreak. Dr. Loc Tran, a shrimp aquaculture specialist and a critical figure in identifying and eradicating the pathogen, is helping to pioneer a more sustainable approach to shrimp production.

Martha Stewart joins Andrew Peters, a scallop farmer in Maine, where he and his crew grow scallops in Penobscot Bay. Peters, who leads one of only a few scallop farm operations on the East Coast, was drawn to aquaculture when thinking about how he could be more sustainable in his approach to fishing.

Baratunde Thurston joins Raimundo Espinoza, Founder and Executive Director of Conservación ConCiencia, and a local fisherman, Rodolfo Abrams, as they hunt for diamondback squid in Puerto Rico. However, their day at sea is quickly cut short as the three men are suddenly surrounded by ominous, torrential downpour – and must head back to land quickly to escape the storm.

After Hurricane Maria hit, Chef José Andrés and his team at World Central Kitchen provided meals to the people of Puerto Rico as well as issued money for fishers who needed new boating equipment, motors, and tools. According to Raimundo Espinoza, the environmental disaster highlighted the island’s need to invest in food security options that were not dependent on imports.

As our seas and sea life face existential threats on an unprecedented scale, new approaches to fishing on the open ocean aim to turn peril into plenty. In this episode, journalist Baratunde Thurston travels to Puerto Rico to see a sustainable diamondback squid fishery born from the wreckage of 2017’s Hurricane Maria.

From Emmy Award producer Andrew Zimmern, in collaboration with multi-award-winner and storytelling visionary David E. Kelley, Hope in the Water explores the groundbreaking work of dedicated fishers, aqua farmers, and scientists who are attempting what was once thought impossible: harvesting aquatic species to feed our growing planet while saving our oceans.

From Emmy Award producer Andrew Zimmern, in collaboration with multi-award-winner and storytelling visionary David E. Kelley, Hope in the Water explores the groundbreaking work of dedicated fishers, aqua farmers, and scientists who are attempting what was once thought impossible: harvesting aquatic species to feed our growing planet while saving our oceans.