Forget Everything You Thought You Knew About Farmed Fish: Here's An Inside Look At The Industry

With innovators like Jan and Ole-Kristian working behind the scenes, more brands are starting to tell their story in delicious ways. For instance, Love the Wild, a line of frozen farmed fish dishes sold in retailers across the country including Whole Foods, is serving up dishes like Striped Bass With Roasted Pepper Almond Sauce and Barramundi With Mango Sriracha Chutney that can be prepared in under 30 minutes. The company just reached $3 million in series A funding (Leonardo DiCaprio is one investor who was drawn to the company's potential to feed a growing world in an environmentally responsible way) and seeks to add more visibility to aquaculture by packaging it into a tasty, convenient product.

"People hear things [about farmed fish] that scare them off a little bit. But at the end of the day, they make purchase decisions based on taste. A lot of people never try farmed fish because they think it has to taste terrible, but when they see that it actually tastes good, they're open to having that conversation," co-founder and CEO Jacqueline Claudia tells mbg.

All of the farms that Love the Wild sources from meet the brand's sustainability standards: They are working toward using less wild-caught fish in their feed, they respect their surrounding environment, and they're constantly pushing the needle with new technologies. Love the Wild shares stories from these farms to boost transparency and give consumers a look into a previously faceless industry.

"Consumers today have an increasing want for transparency, and the seafood supply chain has been very opaque for a really long time. When you just say this is farmed fish, people picture some gross, crowded factory run by machines," Claudia says of why it's important for her to share educational materials like aquaculture tours and Q&A's with farmers. "These people are proud of what they do, and they're not trying to hide."

Thrive Market is another popular marketplace shining a light on sustainable fishing. The online healthy food purveyor included farmed barramundi from Australia in its new line of frozen fish, choosing it because it is much less calorically expensive to get to weight.

At the end of the day, eating responsibly and healthily means knowing where your food comes from and how it was grown. In a world that is increasingly seeking transparency, farmed fish makes more and more sense.

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