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Baja Kanpachi was recently featured in Livestrong's new article: "Fishing for Answers: What is Sustainable Seafood? ".

 

Click here to read the original article.

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Jess Barron, Editor-in-Chief of LIVESTRONG.COM and James Arthur Smith, Co-Founder of Omega Blue visited our farm site recently to take a tour of our facilities.

 

While here, they discussed various aspects of sustainable fishing and fish farming and why 'wild-caught' doesn't necessarily mean sustainable and/or healthy. James explains the various issues surrounding industrial fish farming (e.g. overcrowding and the use of antibiotic, hormones, or steroids), as well those surrounding large-scale commercial fishing (e.g. bycatch and depletion of wild fish stocks before they have time to recover).

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" We're very capable of eating these fish right out of existence, " said Sheila Bowman, manager of Culinary and Strategic Initiatives for Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch when referring to commercial fishing stocks.

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James encourages people to ask more questions about where their seafood comes from and how by doing so, we can drive market demand towards a more sustainable and healthy future.

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" What we need to do is continue to create awareness about these problems and the solutions. "

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James goes on to explain how Baja Kanpachi is raised in a sustainable manner without falling into the trappings of mainstream industrial fish farming - including low stocking densities, careful environmental monitoring, and abstaining from the use of antibiotics, hormones, or steroids. James also discusses the efficiency of the feed our Baja Kanpachi are given, and how the use of trimmings has allowed us to achieve a phenomenal Fish in Fish out ratio (less than half that of farmed salmon). He goes on to explain that feed is also vital in terms of consumer health.

 

 " By taking the flesh off of the sardine and just grinding up the head, the tail, the backbone and putting that into a feed we've mitigated our concentration not only on the pressure on the wild fish stock, but also of heavy metals and plastics in our fish. Our fish are quantifiably, 0.04 ppm of mercury. If you look at mercury levels in wild-caught tuna, for example, the FDA recommends that pregnant women don't eat it. In comparison, our concentration is almost undetectable and completely safe by FDA standards. Anyone can eat it 3 times a day, 7 days a week. "

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After the tour, Omega Blue Co-Founder and Executive Chef: Cody Bryan Requejo prepared some lovely Baja Kanpachi sashimi for everyone to enjoy. Cody describes Baja Kanpachi as having a deliciously sweet flavor profile and being extremely versatile and highly forgiving in the kitchen.

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" You can sear it, you can bake it, you can poach it, you can make sashimi out of it and it's foolproof. "

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So what's the take home message? Like Jess says:

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"It's up to all of us to ask questions at grocery stores and in restaurants: 

 

"Where did this fish come from? How was it farmed or caught?" 

 

Let's all try to make sure we understand what we are eating and where it really comes from. Make an effort to choose the best options. Together we can make a difference."