The Blue Revolution: Hunting, Harvesting, and Farming Seafood in the Information Age

by Nicholas Sullivan

Overfishing. For the world’s oceans, it’s long been a worrisome problem with few answers. Many of the global fish stocks are at a dangerous tipping point, some spiraling toward extinction. But as older fishing fleets retire and new technologies develop, a better, more sustainable way to farm this popular protein has emerged to profoundly shift the balance. The Blue Revolution tells the story of the recent transformation of commercial an encouraging change from maximizing volume through unrestrained wild hunting to maximizing value through controlled harvesting and farming. Entrepreneurs applying newer, smarter technologies are modernizing fisheries in unprecedented ways. In many parts of the world, the seafood on our plates is increasingly the product of smart decisions about ecosystems, waste, efficiency, transparency, and quality.

Nicholas P. Sullivan presents this new way of thinking about fish, food, and oceans by profiling the people and policies transforming an aging industry into one that is “post-industrial”—fueled by “sea-foodies” and locavores interested in sustainable, traceable, quality seafood. Catch quotas can work when local fishers feel they have a stake in the outcome; shellfish farming requires zero inputs and restores nearshore ecosystems; new markets are developing for kelp products, as well as unloved and “underutilized” fish species. Sullivan shows how the practices of thirty years ago that perpetuated an overfishing crisis are rapidly changing. In the book’s final chapters, Sullivan discusses the global challenges to preserving healthy oceans, including conservation mechanisms, the impact of climate change, and unregulated and criminal fishing in international waters.

In a fast-growing world where more people are eating more fish than ever before, The Blue Revolution brings encouraging news for conservationists and seafood lovers about the transformation of an industry historically averse to change, and it presents fresh inspiration for entrepreneurs and investors eager for new opportunities in a blue-green economy.
 

272 pages, Hardcover

Published April 19, 2022

Reviews

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Stevo’s Novel Ideas, I am a long-time book reviewer, member of the media, an Influencer, and a content provider. I received this book as a free review copy from either the publisher, a publicist, or the author, and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it.

This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 6/5, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas. Nicholas P. Sullivan presents a new way of thinking about fish, food, and oceans by profiling the people and policies transforming an aging industry into one that is “post-industrial”—fueled by “sea-foodies” and locavores interested in sustainable, traceable, quality seafood.

Yup, I'm definitely a sea-foodie. Over the years I've been craving more and more Poke (a Hawaiian salad made with raw or seared tuna), fish tacos, grilled salmon and snapper, pan-fried scallops, baked Chilean sea bass, and handfuls of oysters and mussels. But like many, I've been concerned about over-fishing, as well as the quality of my fish. In the past it was levels of mercury, more recently it's micro and nanoplastics.

In "The Blue Revolution," Nicolas P. Sullivan has a message of hope: as post-industrial out-dated wild-stock fishing operations retire or become less profitable, wild-stock fishermen, as well as fish-farmers, aquaculturists, entrepreneurs, and investors, using smart and sustainable technologies to market to a more-aware seller and consumer, are beginning to thrive.

Focusing on New England fisheries, Sullivan reports that these activities have created quick rebounds for several species such as scallops and cod. An example of the utilization of smart technologies is the creation of a Marine Databank, developed by the New Bedford Port Authority and Spherical Analytics, to outfit fishing boats with sensors to collect oceanographic data which is used to locate target species and avoid choke species.

Fisheries are much more sustainable (and healthy for humans) than beef, chicken, and pork industries. It's great to see that my ability to be a fish-foodie is also sustainable.

Find more Business Books of the Week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more reviewed and recommended books and products by searching for me on Google.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My prior knowledge of the fishing industry was strictly as a consumer of seafood. This book filled me in on fishing history, environmental and sustainability concerns, and a new and fascinating world of making fishing truly sustainable through policy and enforcement, all aided by brand-new technologies. My knowledge of what seafood species are most sustainable must have been based on some ancient list from the 1990s, because I was delighted to learn of highly sustainable fish farming practices and the revival of some wild fish populations since then. A most enjoyable, informative, and fascinating book--I found myself quoting interesting facts to anyone who happened to be sitting nearby as I read. Recommended to anyone who enjoys a lovely fish fry.

[Eric Pope · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blue Revolution is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the future of our planet. With the demand for food expected to double by 2100, we will need to harvest more fish while also protecting the oceanic environment as climate change becomes stronger. Author Nicholas Sullivan shows how these two imperatives are not mutually exclusive in a book that is both global and granular.
The book takes a close look at the fishing industry in New England, with a focus on New Bedford, Mass., once a major center of the whaling industry, then of industrial fishing and now post-industrial fishing. Many innovations have transformed the New England fishing industry since the depletion of cod and scallops in the late 20th Century. The author tells the stories of entrepreneurs who have worked within a new regulatory environment to develop sustainable ways to harvest a wider variety of fish. They are finding creative ways to meet the demand for fish, a food source more ecologically sustainable than beef, pork or chicken.
The Blue Revolution also examines fishing from a global perspective. China and several smaller countries such as Iceland play much bigger roles in this industry than the United States, which imports most of the fish it consumes. The United States leads in some areas of the Blue Revolution but is far behind in others.
While the book is loaded with facts, figures and examples, the author exhibits a light touch with references to Herman Melville and Henry David Thoreau, colorful figures such as the Codfather and Dr. Seaweed, and fascinating factoids -- did you know that New York City was once called the Big Oyster?

[Rosalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blue Revolution is one of the most fascinating—actually gripping— books I have read. As a former docent at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, a current docent at Maine’s Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and an editor and published writer, I commend not only the incredible amount of research The Blue Revolution represents, but also the author’s ability to synthesize it into logical chapters that flow smoothly and describe the decades-long work to further the viability of sustainable fisheries. The author’s inclusion of quotes from fishermen, researchers, politicians, and retailers anchors the book’s credibility. Of the three sections (Wild-capture Fisheries; Farmed Finfish, Shellfish, and Sea Greens; and Global Challenges: Criminals, Climate, Conservation), I found the second especially interesting, as I regularly see seaweed-gathering boats, oyster farms, and lobster pounds here in Maine. Details about the programs and efforts being made locally, nationally, and internationally gave me great hope for a very viable future for fisheries. The innovation going on at present is incredible, and the author offers well-written, detailed explanations. Another point of interest was learning about innovative practices being followed in Iceland, Norway, and others countries around the world, along with the cooperation going on between these countries.

Rosalie Birlem, Docent, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

[Jon Choi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I went into this book thinking it'd be informative, providing a broad, well-written overview about the science and technology that underlie the transformative changes happening in seafood and aquaculture. Perhaps we'd get some interesting and illustrative anecdotes featuring individual fishers or processors or distributors. I was excited to hear about how the author went out on an oyster boat with a former lobsterman who was now doing new things with aquaculture.

Instead, this book seems to have difficulty finding any sort of narrative arch or focus. Every two paragraphs, it felt like I was being introduced to a new fisher and the intricate details of how they had sold a company in the past decade to a different company that was last referenced 48 pages ago in chapter 6 or that we will discuss later in chapter 11. The sheer number of people and companies we are introduced to, complete with details about their operations and random asides, overwhelmed my ability to get any overarching message. Take for example, pages 142 and 143 in the chapter on oyster and mussel farming. In these two pages we read about the Malinowskis of Fishers Island Farm, Carey Matthiessen and his oyster hatchery, Norm Bloom and his son of Copps Island Oysters, Bill Mook of Cuttyhunk Shellfish, Bristoll Shellfish Company, and Mook Sea Farm, Seth Garfield who originally owned Cuttyhunk, Carter Newell of Pemaquid Oyster Company, Chris Davis of the Darling Marine Center (who is "boyhood friends from summers on Cuttyhunk" with Garfield), and Skip Bennett of Island Creek Oysters. Rather than provide any broader lessons learned from talking with all these people, we get individual details about how an individual operation is using centrifuges or planting their oysters in a particular spot further down river.

Further, the book kept introducing concepts without any explanation, like the "Dutch method" of mussel farming (page 150). The interviews with these fishers and the handful of academic/government voices seem to all have the undercurrent of "the environmentalists are nuts and are making things too hard," which is weird because the last 30 pages are all dedicated to how the ocean is under threat because of illegal fishing and climate change (so, you know, maybe we should be cautious).

I'm clearly an environmentalist, but I really wanted to get a peek into the future of seafood protection in the US. I believe in the value of working waterfronts, with fisheries and aquaculture based in science and good governance. Unfortunately, this book decided it was more important for me to know that two particular oyster farmers grew up spending summers on the same island rather than providing a readable overview which summarized how the industry was moving and evolving.

[Marc Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The global seafood industry has gone through a serious transformation in recent decades in a bid to secure a sustainable future for itself. It is an ongoing journey writer Nicholas P. Sullivan explores in his wonderfully researched new book: The Blue Revolution – Hunting, Harvesting, and Farming Seafood in the Information Age.
“A lot of the perceptions that people had about the state of fisheries are based on things that were happening in the 1990s where there was incredible over-fishing and the depletion of some iconic stocks like the Atlantic cod and the Norwegian salmon farming, which had all kinds of negative environmental effects,” Sullivan said. “But in the last 20 years or so there’s been a major shift: a behavioral shift and policy shift, towards more sustainable and restorative wild-captured and farming techniques – and I wanted to tell this story.” Nicholas P. Sullivan

I had an interesting conversation with Nicholas on Inside Ideas, you can find episode 158 here;
https://youtu.be/KYszWehHxGU

Or check out any of the links below:
https://www.innovatorsmag.com/the-cha...
https://medium.com/inside-ideas/nicho...

[Abe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative but desperately needed more editing, copy editing, and fact checking