“We must plant the sea and herd its animals using the sea as farmers instead of hunters. That is what civilization is all about - farming replacing hunting.” --
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
HOW IT BEGAN
We can no longer ignore the impact of overfishing from industrial “wild-caught” seafood. Nor can we condone commodity fish farms devoid of transparency or environmental accountability. Having worked in marine ecology, we understood that properly managed aquaculture was not only possible, but essential to feed a growing global population and mitigate pressure on the oceans. But where were the truly sustainable "smart-aquaculture" farms and why was it so difficult to consistently access high-quality seafood with transparent provenance?
Well, as it turns out, the commodity seafood supply chain that most of the world relies on, was not designed to support boutique farmers. It was optimized to quickly move vast quantities of highly perishable seafood from a myriad of sources, as cheaply as possible. For farmers, the incentives are all based on volume and price. Quality, sustainability, and fair labor are not valued in a supply chain that lumps everything into a commodity bucket devoid of connection to the farmer. As a result, most aquaculture farms follow the industrial agricultural model, producing cheap products for commodity aggregators who pay as little as possible before reselling commodities to distributors who resell it to smaller distributors who resell to retailers who eventually resell it to consumers.
In 2014, we began a journey to find the outliers of the industry, the artisan aquaculturists who resisted the temptations of global scale, to focus on innovative algae-based feeds, low-density open ocean farms, antibiotic-free operations, and multi-trophic permaculture systems. In the years that followed, through Omega Blue Seafood, we partnered with artisan farmers and began introducing a never-before seen quality of seafood to Southern California chefs and quickly earned our fish a place on the menus of many of the most celebrated Farm-To-Table restaurants in North America.
![HOW IT BEGAN]()
We can no longer ignore the impact of overfishing from industrial “wild-caught” seafood. Nor can we condone commodity fish farms devoid of transparency or environmental accountability. Having worked in marine ecology, we understood that properly managed aquaculture was not only possible, but essential to feed a growing global population and mitigate pressure on the oceans. But where were the truly sustainable "smart-aquaculture" farms and why was it so difficult to consistently access high-quality seafood with transparent provenance?
Well, as it turns out, the commodity seafood supply chain that most of the world relies on, was not designed to support boutique farmers. It was optimized to quickly move vast quantities of highly perishable seafood from a myriad of sources, as cheaply as possible. For farmers, the incentives are all based on volume and price. Quality, sustainability, and fair labor are not valued in a supply chain that lumps everything into a commodity bucket devoid of connection to the farmer. As a result, most aquaculture farms follow the industrial agricultural model, producing cheap products for commodity aggregators who pay as little as possible before reselling commodities to distributors who resell it to smaller distributors who resell to retailers who eventually resell it to consumers.
In 2014, we began a journey to find the outliers of the industry, the artisan aquaculturists who resisted the temptations of global scale, to focus on innovative algae-based feeds, low-density open ocean farms, antibiotic-free operations, and multi-trophic permaculture systems. In the years that followed, through Omega Blue Seafood, we partnered with artisan farmers and began introducing a never-before seen quality of seafood to Southern California chefs and quickly earned our fish a place on the menus of many of the most celebrated Farm-To-Table restaurants in North America.
Our Mission
It's our mission to directly connect our friends, family, and community with the artisan farms we've come to know and trust. Done right, we can feed our community with clean, responsibly-farmed seafood, mitigate pressure on wild stock populations of sea life, and help create a growing network of Marine Protected Areas.
Connecting the members of our Collective directly with regenerative farms raising real fish breed from non-GMO eggs, responsibly fed and conscientiously raised in low-density, and antibiotic-free environments, Seatopia is the first farm-to-table seafood cooperative! Only working with the “best-of-the-best” truly sustainable aquaculture farms, our direct farm-to-table seafood supply chain values and incentivizes artisan quality production, fair labor practices, and environmental stewardship.
Furthermore, in alignment with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, we are donating 1% to the planet to promote and establish a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). It's our mission to directly mitigate pressure on wild stock populations while helping to create more MPAs.
![Our Mission]()
It's our mission to directly connect our friends, family, and community with the artisan farms we've come to know and trust. Done right, we can feed our community with clean, responsibly-farmed seafood, mitigate pressure on wild stock populations of sea life, and help create a growing network of Marine Protected Areas.
Connecting the members of our Collective directly with regenerative farms raising real fish breed from non-GMO eggs, responsibly fed and conscientiously raised in low-density, and antibiotic-free environments, Seatopia is the first farm-to-table seafood cooperative! Only working with the “best-of-the-best” truly sustainable aquaculture farms, our direct farm-to-table seafood supply chain values and incentivizes artisan quality production, fair labor practices, and environmental stewardship.
Furthermore, in alignment with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, we are donating 1% to the planet to promote and establish a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). It's our mission to directly mitigate pressure on wild stock populations while helping to create more MPAs.
Why Only Farmed Seafood
The saying “all fish are created equal” could not be further from the truth.
Despite seasonal opportunities to acquire wild-caught seafood, sometimes at bargain prices, unlike most seafood companies, we do not promote any wild-caught seafood. If you have a direct relationship with a fisherman you know that is catching individual fish with a single hook and line in regions with clean water, devoid of parisites, or concerns of overfishing, by all means, support him or her.
For us, SEATOPIA is about scaling a regenerative supply chain for that only works with truly sustainably-farmed seafood, thus that we can proactively and quantifiably mitigate pressure on the ocean's overfished wild stock populations while directly monitoring feed inputs to produce clean, consistent and quantifiably safe seafood.
The saying “all fish are created equal” could not be further from the truth.
Despite seasonal opportunities to acquire wild-caught seafood, sometimes at bargain prices, unlike most seafood companies, we do not promote any wild-caught seafood. If you have a direct relationship with a fisherman you know that is catching individual fish with a single hook and line in regions with clean water, devoid of parisites, or concerns of overfishing, by all means, support him or her.
For us, SEATOPIA is about scaling a regenerative supply chain for that only works with truly sustainably-farmed seafood, thus that we can proactively and quantifiably mitigate pressure on the ocean's overfished wild stock populations while directly monitoring feed inputs to produce clean, consistent and quantifiably safe seafood.
We Care
Stewards of the Blue Planet
While we’ve put a lot of energy into delivering the absolute best seafood to your dining table, we’ve also done the same with everything else you’ll receive from Seatopia. There are a lot of companies out there claiming sustainable solutions but then you receive your seafood packaged in styrofoam and other petrochemical plastics.
Our seafood is delivered carbon neutral via UPS Priority overnight with carbon offset shipping, packaged in an environmentally-friendly cold chain, thermal cooler that is fully compostable. The outer shipping box is made of 100% recycled materials using soy inks and our vacuum-sealed freezer bags and labels are also compostable. Even our postcards are printed on 100% sustainable, hemp-blended, recycled paper. We’re not perfect, but we’re endeavoring to create a truly sustainable company and committed to improving at every facet of our supply chain.
Learn more about our efforts to create the world's first truly sustainable seafood supply chain.
![We Care]()
Stewards of the Blue Planet
While we’ve put a lot of energy into delivering the absolute best seafood to your dining table, we’ve also done the same with everything else you’ll receive from Seatopia. There are a lot of companies out there claiming sustainable solutions but then you receive your seafood packaged in styrofoam and other petrochemical plastics.
Our seafood is delivered carbon neutral via UPS Priority overnight with carbon offset shipping, packaged in an environmentally-friendly cold chain, thermal cooler that is fully compostable. The outer shipping box is made of 100% recycled materials using soy inks and our vacuum-sealed freezer bags and labels are also compostable. Even our postcards are printed on 100% sustainable, hemp-blended, recycled paper. We’re not perfect, but we’re endeavoring to create a truly sustainable company and committed to improving at every facet of our supply chain.
Learn more about our efforts to create the world's first truly sustainable seafood supply chain.
