June 16, 2014 — The alarming headlines are everywhere: “Overfished and under-protected: Oceans on the brink of catastrophic collapse”(CNN); “Scientists predict saltwater fish extinction” (Huffington Post); “The end of fish” (The Washington Post). They reflect real issues, but according to sustainable seafood expert Barton Seaver, they tell only part of the story.
Seaver, who moved to South Freeport with his wife, Carrie Anne, last November, is a chef, not a scientist. Yet his pragmatic and nuanced approach to sustainability have made him one of the world’s leading voices on the issue, which he left a restaurant career to focus on in 2010.
“Sustainable seafood was started as a campaign as we became aware of the failing state of the oceans,” he said. “The campaign was: ‘The oceans are in trouble. We must save the oceans.’ Not a mention of humans. And if you identified overfishing as one of the principal causes of the detriment on the oceans … Just looking at that language: If overfishing is the problem, then the logical solution to the layperson, is underfishing. But the causalities of the issues facing our oceans and the solutions to them are far more complex.”
Seaver isn’t the first to include humans in efforts to save the environment. This approach, called “community-based conservation,” has been the focus of conservation organizations for several years. But he takes the
concept further, saying that the nature, culture, economics and health should all be included in the sustainability discussion (see sidebar).
Beyond his culinary background, Seaver, 35, has the resumé to back up his (big, brainy) ideas. He is a National Geographic Fellow; the director of the Healthy and Sustainable Food Program at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard University’s School of Public Health; and the New England Aquarium’s first Sustainability Fellow.
His work at Harvard primarily involves institutions, and how their food-purchasing decisions can affect human and community health. At the aquarium, he helps translate the organization’s conservation efforts to people’s dinner plates. All three appointments require him to travel extensively, lecture and serve on many boards and panels.
Read the full story from The Portland Press Herald