Features Marketing Profiles Sustainability
Hope floats for sustainable aquaculture in docuseries

Martha Stewart may be a household name but it’s not typically associated with aquaculture. This may soon change with the launch of a new documentary series that puts the spotlight on some of the world’s innovators in sustainable seafood harvesting and production.

Stewart is among celebrities and high-profile environmental advocates featured in the three-part, character-driven docuseries titled, Hope in the Water, from award-winning producer Andrew Zimmern and multi-awarded, acclaimed storyteller David E. Kelley. The series premiered on June 19 on PBS.

“Fresh seafood has always been a big part of my life,” Stewart’s voice is heard at the beginning of Episode Two, as she joins scallop farmer Andrew Peters on his boat to check on the sea scallops at his farm on Penobscot Bay in Maine. 

“I was anxious to see what Andrew and his crew were doing out there in Penobscot Bay,” Stewart continues.

Peters is the owner of Vertical Bay, one of only a handful of sea scallop farmers in the United States. He proceeds to explain to Stewart the process of farming scallops from seed to market size, which takes approximately three years. 

The long and tedious process of growing sea scallops from spat to harvest is not lost on Stewart as she helps Peters attach the scallops to the dropper line – called the ‘ear hanging’ technique – after tiny holes had been drilled through one corner of the shells. 

“To see a group of young men trying to do something a little bit different with a fishery business in America is very encouraging,” Stewart says.

Media attention

Peters is not new to being in front of a camera, having been featured in an episode of reality show, The Lost Kitchen, hosted by local celebrity chef, Erin French. His company was also part of an NOAA-led informational video series on sea scallop aquaculture.

In the second episode of Hope in the Water docuseries, Martha Stewart visits with sea scallop farmers in Maine. (Photo: Intuitive Content)

These publicities are helping put Vertical Bay on the radar of consumers and the food industry across the U.S. For Peters, being part of these productions not only helps raise the profile of his business but also that of the sea scallop farming industry, which is still in its infancy.

“We’re on a bit of a mission to grow our business, but also grow the industry as well because there’s a lot of potential in Maine for scallop aquaculture,” Peters says.

As a small business venture in an even smaller scallop farming industry in the U.S., to be featured in the media or on TV shows, is always a welcome opportunity, says Peters, but these publicities do not necessarily translate to an overnight success, let alone a sudden jump in sales.  

It certainly creates some level of familiarity with his product, but the heavy lifting still needs to be done, particularly around educating consumers about farmed scallops versus wild catch.

“I think every little bit helps, whether it’s a print piece here, a little video clip there, or an Instagram tag here. It’s all incremental, and it’s just a slow snowball,” Peters says. “(But) we’re still having to reach out.”

“I say, ‘Oh, yeah, I farm scallops,’ and they say, ‘Oh, cool. That’s really great. You farm oysters!’ There’s just this disassociation of farming scallops with ‘farming.’ It’s definitely a great opportunity to have our story told, whether it’s in our words or somebody else’s words. It’s really helpful for communicating what we do.”

The Native Conservancy kelp farm is also featured in the docuseries to share details of Indigenous Peoples’ deep relationship with the ocean as a food source. (Photo: Intuitive Content)

Lending an ‘ear’

Sea scallop aquaculture in the state of Maine has been developing over the last two decades, thanks to technology adopted from Japan’s scallop aquaculture industry. 

The farming life cycle starts with spat (or larvae) collection in the wild. They are then kept in submerged nets where they develop until they are ready for grow-out. The ear-hanging technique is one way to grow out juvenile scallops. 

It involves drilling a tiny hole in the ear of the scallop shell and using it to tie the scallops to vertical lines that are then submerged in the water to allow the scallops to grow to market size.

This labour-intensive process takes about three years, according to Peters, but it’s well worth the wait.

“We can harvest year-round, but we choose to harvest in the summer months, when the scallops are packing on fats and sugars, as they’re getting ready to spawn. And their meats are therefore bigger,” Peters explains. The bigger the meat, the higher the yield.

The lengthy process is also where sustainability meets profitability. Like other shellfish, scallops are filter feeders, therefore they don’t require artificial feeding. The farm simply provides an optimal environment for them to grow and nature does the rest.

“(Scallop farming) offers us the opportunity to grow a truly sustainable, regenerative product… We’re really just providing them a wonderful habit for them to literally hang out and grow up,” Peters says.

Kelp is on the way

Alaska native and Native Conservancy executive director, Dune Lankard, is also a main character in the documentary Hope in the Water. Highlighting regenerative kelp farming in Alaska, Lankard details the Indigenous Peoples’ deep relationship with the ocean as a food source. 

Dune Lankard, executive director of the Native Conservencay was also main character in the documentary. (Photo: Intuitive Content)

“What we’re hoping with this ocean-farming industry is that we’ll be able to help Indigenous People change their relationship with the sea and the food sources that they traditionally have harvested for thousands of years,” Lankard says in the second episode, “Farming the Water.”

Based in Cordova, Alaska, the Native Conservancy is “devoted to the protection and restoration of Native ecosystems for coastal communities in Alaska, with a focus on Indigenous food sovereignty and cultural revitalization.”

Kelp has been a staple in Indigenous Peoples’ dining tables for hundreds of years, and the episode, through Lankard’s storytelling, highlights the innovative and sustainable ways Alaskan Natives are now farming and harvesting this versatile seaweed. 

“I believe we can work together and figure out how to restore the ocean. We’re just going to have to work a little harder and a little smarter.”

Hopeful take on climate change

Hope in the Water offers a positive spin and a welcome respite from the usual “doom-and-gloom” scenarios associated with climate change conversations. 

Dune Lankard talks about the growing mariculture industry in Alaska, specifically kelp and seaweed aquaculture. (Photo: Intuitive Content)

Offering a hopeful path forward, the series focuses on positive, innovative solutions to saving the planet through real-life storytelling.

“Through Hope in the Water, we are on a mission to reimagine a planet where both ecological balance and food abundance are possible,” says David E. Kelley in a statement announcing the launch of the documentary. “Our series is a fresh take on how we can rewrite menus worldwide that will create meaningful and lasting impact for generations to come.” 

Kelley is best known as writer and producer of some of the best known television hit series, including Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, Big Little Lies, Boston Legal and most recently, Presumed Innocent starring Jake Gyllenhaal. 

Hope in the Water is part of a larger multi-year campaign spearheaded by Fed by Blue, a not-for-profit advocacy group advancing responsible food production and protection of the world’s waters. 

“Fed by Blue is working to amplify efforts that are bringing new pathways, new dialogue, and new perceptions about the importance of foods that come from water. Helping to develop a docuseries on this topic has been an anchor for our greater work,” says co-founder Jennifer Bushman in a statement.