Hope in the Water: the best seafood documentary ever?

Immigrant communities and communities of color are often overlooked in American seafood consumption trends. Young believes connecting consumers that have broader seafood pallets with domestic fishermen seeking new markets bycatch species, will be mutually beneficial.  

Another refreshing aspect of the series is its optimism towards aquaculture. Farmed seafood is presented as an innovative solution to economic and climate-driven coastal challenges, rather than the opposite. In one example an Alaskan salmon fisherman explains the benefit of kelp farming for native Alaskan communities. In another, the surplus of purple sea urchins in California is used as food for an on-land abalone farm. For many consumers, aquaculture is an inherently negative practice with industrial connotations. This series deserves credit for showing a mainstream audience examples of sustainable small-scale aquaculture.

Unfortunately, there is an unfair implication in the negative space of each new narrative and inspiring story.

The status of mainstream domestic fisheries and aquaculture is not discussed. The case studies are presented as sustainable alternatives…but to what?

By never mentioning mainstream sustainable fisheries or aquaculture, the creators of this show imply it doesn’t exist. Viewers are led to believe fisheries and aquaculture only improved recently when these types of pioneers came along. However, U.S. fisheries have been mostly sustainable for decades. The Magnuson-Stevens Act set the standard in 1976 to prevent overfishing and protect marine habitats. Subsequent amendments like the Sustainable Fisheries Act and the MSA Reauthorization Act expanded and strengthened those principles. NOAA’s 2023 Status of Stocks report found 94% of U.S. fisheries are not subject to overfishing, and 82% are not considered overfished. Industrial fishing and aquaculture are sustainable under the appropriate management conditions. If you’re one of our regular readers, then you probably already know these facts. But I doubt most PBS viewers had this background information.

Admittedly, industrial seafood was not the scope of this documentary series. PBS aimed to shine a light on small-scale, grassroots, sustainable seafood initiatives. To that end, they succeeded and deserve praise for expanding the perspective of a mainstream audience. Seafood production is an increasingly challenging prospect in the U.S. as fishing costs rise and adequate support for aquaculture lags behind other countries. However, consumers should understand that many offerings in the seafood case are already produced with high standards of environmental sustainability. Those able to support the exciting start-ups featured in this series should do so, but most consumers who don’t have access should not be discouraged from eating seafood from more mainstream sellers. Hopefully, PBS will consider expanding on this promising first series and feature mainstream sustainable seafood stories in season two.