The global population is surging toward 10 billion, and with it, the pressure on our food systems is reaching a breaking point. While terrestrial agriculture grapples with the threat of soil, energy, and water bankruptcy, a more sustainable solution is emerging in the form of “blue foods”: Nutrient-dense, wild-caught, or farmed aquatic foods like fish, shellfish, and algae. And while the mention of farmed fish is often met with a skeptical, nose-wrinkled response from both consumers and environmentalists, Emmy-award- and four-time James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, and author Andrew Zimmern believes it’s time to dismantle these outdated prejudices.
Zimmern cooking salmon outside. Photo by Madeleine Hill
In 2024, Zimmern collaborated with 13-time Emmy award-winning producer David E. Kelly to produce a three-part documentary called “Hope In The Water.” Focused on creative blue food solutions discovered around the globe, the Emmy-nominated series explores the stories of fish farmers, activists, and innovators who are using aquaculture to build a sustainable future for the planet.
Driven by a desire to combat widespread misinformation, Zimmern and Kelly developed the series as a direct response to their frustration with the 2021 documentary “Seaspiracy.” “A lot of the information was incorrect. It was extremely biased. It didn’t present an honest set of facts,” Zimmern says.
His chief critique lies in the documentary’s central argument: That the only way to mitigate human impact on marine life is to stop commercial fishing and to cease eating fish entirely. “Two and a half billion people around the world use [the oceans] as their means of income and [for] one billion people around the world, it’s their primary resource for food,” Zimmern explains. “You can’t just turn them off. We have a growing planet that’s increasingly hungry and we need to figure out how to feed them,” he says.
Zimmern argues that responsible aquaculture isn’t a secondary option to addressing a growing hunger pandemic — it is one of the most critical tools we have for feeding a hungry planet while protecting fragile marine ecosystems.
A RADICAL INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION
The stigma surrounding aquaculture isn’t entirely unfounded — early practices in the industry often prioritized yield over ecology, leading to concerns regarding environmental pollution and overuse of antibiotics. But Zimmern is quick to point out that the industry has undergone a radical transformation. “I can’t think of a segment of the food world that has done more to correct its problems than the world of aquaculture,” Zimmern says.
He notes that ten years ago, the use of copper netting — now known to harm both fish and the environment — was commonplace. Today, it is virtually non-existent. The density of fish pens has also been recalibrated, due to research that shows that ponds or pens with fewer fish in them actually produce more finished weight than ponds that are overcrowded.
“A little counterintuitive,” says Zimmern, “but the statistics bored out and so now people don’t overcrowd their pens.” Perhaps the most significant leap forward is in “feed-conversion ratios.” Historically, it took roughly eight pounds of wild-caught feeder fish to produce a single pound of farmed fish. Zimmern notes that technological advances have moved the needle toward a “one-toone system,” making the process exponentially more sustainable.
THE WILD-CAUGHT VERSUS FARMED DEBATE
While the romantic image of the wild-caught f isherman remains the gold standard for many, the reality of the wild fishing trade is complex and, at times, devastating for fish populations the world over. While Zimmern notes that American fisheries are largely playing by the rules — respecting no-take zones and catch limits — a few “bad actors” in the international fishing community show little regard for environmental ecosystems and limits.
“There are very large Chinese trawlers that are hauling huge amounts of fish, including bycatch, out of the ocean. There’s dredging going on that’s damaging the ocean floor and eliminating plant and coral life that is necessary for fish to sustain themselves,” he says. Despite this fact, Zimmern notes that the U.S. still imports roughly 75% of the seafood it consumes, and 75% of what is kept here is consumed in restaurants.
Seaver & Zimmern eating oysters. Photo by Eric Wolfinger
To shift these numbers, he believes the solution starts by looking closer to home — not just within our own borders, but inside our own kitchens. “We have some really amazing American f isheries that need to be supported more. We should be buying more f ish from American f isheries. Full stop,” he says.
In the pursuit of consuming more seafood from responsible American sources, Zimmern suggests that consumers must shift the focus away from the ‘wild’ versus ‘farmed’ debate. He jokes, “I’ve never stood in the supermarket and heard someone ask someone who works there, ‘Excuse me, can you direct me to where the wild cow is?’”
He points to a more critical standard: The integrity and quality of the fish itself. “The vast majority of farmed salmon is equal to the quality and healthiness of wild fish,” he says. He asserts that much of the confusion and friction in consumer messaging comes from competing interest groups providing “misinformation” to protect their respective market shares.
SHOP THE DISH, NOT THE FISH
Perhaps Zimmern’s most pivotal tip for increasing seafood consumption at home is to abandon a strict adherence to specific ingredients. If the local market’s seafood selection is sparse or the quality fails to meet a shopper’s standards, he insists that they aren’t necessarily out of luck. By prioritizing the integrity of the catch over a predetermined shopping list, home cooks can embrace his most enduring mantra: “Shop the dish, not the fish.”
“So many times, people walk into a market and they’ve got a recipe for fish and chips and it uses cod, but there’s no cod there. And they don’t understand that there’s 15 other flaky, white-fleshed fish that actually fry up beautifully for fish and chips.”
Seaver & Zimmern at an oyster farm. Photo by Eric Wolfinger
Zimmern’s Blue Food Cookbook — released in 2025 and co-authored by leading sustainable seafood expert and educator Barton Seaver — campaigns for the adoption of greater and more ethical seafood consumption by providing readers with the tools needed to adopt a seafood-centric approach at home. This 400-page “seafood bible” of sorts walks readers through the basics of sourcing and storage, essential pantry staples and equipment, and foundational cooking techniques — concluding with a diverse collection of recipes ranging from simple to sophisticated.
Broadening one’s “cooking horizons” doesn’t require a culinary degree. Zimmern suggests starting with what’s familiar — perhaps a quick shrimp scampi, easy tuna poke, or grilled salmon — and then “stretching the boundaries” with other techniques like slow baking, quick searing, or poaching.
Photo by Madeleine Hill
A DEMAND FOR FEDERAL OVERSIGHT
For aquaculture to truly succeed in the United States, Zimmern believes we need more than just better farming — we need “legal teeth.” He points toward the necessity of standardized regulation to provide a framework for responsible production and his decade-long call for a national “Secretary of Food.” Currently, food regulation is spread across eight different agencies. While these systemic changes are vital for the long-term future of the industry, Zimmern’s immediate advice is far more personal. He offers a simple mantra for the future of public health: “Remember the three S’s — don’t smoke, wear your seatbelt, and eat more seafood.”
