What is the Autumnal Equinox?
The equinox marks the point in the year when day and night are equal in length, the pivot between summer's outward energy and winter's inward turn. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, late summer is considered a fifth season, one that lasts until the equinox arrives and asks us to shift from expansion toward reflection.
This is a season for noticing what's ripened: the seeds planted in spring, the growth of summer, and what has now come to be. It's a welcome hibernation with your innermost circle, where you take a collective breath, and let the year settle into the much-needed quiet time.
The Equinox Marks a Transition
Every equinox we make sure that we circle back to the standards that have defined us from day one; third-party lab testing suppliers for mercury and microplastics, sashimi-grade quality seafood, and sourcing we can actually show you. Whether you use this season for simple meals or complex flavours, you know your base ingredients are true to a standard that you can trust, for yourself, your family, your circle.
Our For Picks For Fall
Enjoy some great Seafood together.
Sweet, briny shrimp with a natural richness, best enjoyed quickly seared for a delicate snap or pan-fried to preserve their depth.
Freshwater elegance — tender, nutty, and superb when pan-fried with herbs or gently smoked
Where Autumn Gathers
How we imagine autumn gatherings take shape: fire-pit conversation, a dinner for four that stretches deep into the night, a table dined by your favourite seafood and whatever was available at the farmers market that morning. This season isn’t about filling the calendar, breaking out or hosting big, energetic gatherings. It’s the chance to hone in on a dish you’re trying to perfect, to try something new with a small, forgiving audience, to keep it simple and spectacular.
A Grounding Ritual for Autumn
Before the meal begins, step outside. Take a short walk, around the block or into the yard, and gather something along the way: a few fallen leaves, a handful of kindling, a late imperfect apple. The point isn't to collect, it's to notice.
Bring what you've gathered inside. If you have a fireplace or a fire pit, use the kindling to build the evening's fire. If you don't, let a few candles do the same work.
Before you sit down to eat, take a moment, just a breath or two, to look at the people around the table. No toast required, no words if you don't want them. Just the quiet acknowledgment of being together in this way.
Build Your Autumn Menu
A Centerpiece of Art: Apple Cider Poached Steelhead
Nothing says fall like apple cider and browned butter, and this dish has both. Poaching steelhead is a gentle way to prepare it, served here with plenty of good fat for a rounder, more satisfying bite. It feels like something you'd discover in a casual French kitchen, simple and elegant, and pairs beautifully with a few cheeses for dessert.
Crafted in Ojai by Chef Miriam Thom
Co-created in the magical Valley of the Moon in Ojai, California, this season's menu comes alive through the vision of Miriam Thom. Miriam Thom is a new mum to Winona Oros, a content creator, writer, and chef based in Ojai, California. Working across mediums, she explores regenerative narratives through storytelling and immersive experiences. Her practice is grounded in inquiry into community, place, and the sacred intelligence of nature.
Stay connected with Miriam’s work on Instagram @miriamthom or through Ikigai World on Substack.
All photography credited to: Devin Wilson @devin.r.wilson
Perfect Seafood Served This Autumn
September corresponds with Virgo, a sign associated with earth and an attention to detail. These recipes celebrate the fine print of autumnal produce: the rose-like fractals of maitake, the polka-dot russeting of an Asian pear, the black tiger stripes of shrimp, or the dusky skin of grapes.
There is a distinct concentration to the way we eat once the light starts to shorten. Rushed and excited conversations are swapped out for quiet, focused ones. And the food that goes with it becomes about moments to savour and celebrate inwardly.
Our community trusts us for clean, healthy seafood
Join a community that is transforming their health
“I’m cooking with seafood from this company I found called Seatopia that does all sustainable seafood, and mercury tests all their products which is really good!
Gwenyth Paltrow
Celebrity & Wellness Guru
“We are what foods we eats and thanks to Seatopia the next generation of omega-rich, microalgae-fed farmed seafood can help us live more vital lives with mitigated exposure to heavy metals, microplastics, GMOs or antibiotics”
Dr. Mark Hyman
Leader in Functional Medicine
"If you want healthy, gourmet-style seafood, in the comfort of your own home, seafood that goes above and beyond any you've tasted before, you need Seatopia in your life!"
Ben Greenfield
Health & Fitness Coach
FAQs
Please read our FAQs page to find out more.
Can I customize my box?
We are essentially a farmers market for artisanal aquaculture. In that sense, our Seatopia curated boxes are like a CSA box. We offer our curated boxes as a way to highlight what is seasonally available and introduce our members to new seafood and farm partners they might be interested in. So, they cannot be customized.
But we do offer custom boxes! Members can order a custom box through the a la cart section of our website. Subscription members can mix and match items in their portal and take advantage of member-only items and offers.
Do I have to subscribe to place an order?
No! But becoming a subscriber is the best way to support aquaculture farmers raising fish the right way.
Your subscription helps us with planning harvest timelines and scheduling ocean freight, helping us move the industry away from unsustainable practices of flying fresh fish around the world. Subscribers also have early access to preferred pricing, exclusive add-ons and limited time offers.
You will never be locked in to a subscription - you may change the order, the frequency or cancel anytime.
Do you offer discounts?
As a general rule, we do not offer discounts, aside from a small thank you for first time customers. We offer the same incentive if you find us through one of our affiliate friends or supporters. Both are only available to first time customers.
Rather than ask our members to search the internet for discounts and coupons, we always offer the lowest prices we can.
The best way to save is by becoming a monthly subscriber. Our subscription members receive a small price incentive for helping us to reliably and predictably support artisan, regenerative aquaculture.
What about antibiotics?
At Seatopia, we have a strict zero-tolerance policy for the use of preventative antibiotics in our feed, and our partner farms do not use preventative antibiotics.
In extreme cases where a veterinarian prescribes antibiotics for an individual animal's treatment, that animal is quarantined for a sufficient period, typically at least 30 days, to ensure no detectable levels of antibiotics remain before it can be reintegrated or harvested.
However, these instances where antibiotics are prescribed are rare, and typically only realistically possible in open-ocean aquaculture.
Many of our land-based (RAS) farms use zero antibiotics under any circumstances. More information about these and our other farms can be found on individual farm pages.
We are always able to answer any additional questions via email at nemo@seatopia.fish
What is a portion?
Many in our community are cooking for households or meal planning around specific protein requirements. For that reason, we sell our curated boxes in portions, not pieces.
A portion is typically 5.5-8oz for filets. For other items, like scallops or smoked trout, a portion can be considered 3-4oz, which is the recommended portion size per the professional chefs and nutritionists that we work with.
So, a 12 serving box will contain 4.5-5.5lbs of raw seafood.
