A Night at the New England Aquarium: Better Food Future
The event hosted by the UN Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Council, UNGC Ocean Accelerator Network, Envisible LLC, the Global Seafood Alliance and IDH, convened seafood industry leaders advancing more responsible sourcing solutions.
On Sunday, March 12th, the UN Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Council hosted a “Night at the New England Aquarium: Better Food Future” alongside the UNGC Ocean Accelerator Network, Envisible LLC, the Global Seafood Alliance and IDH: The Sustainable Trade Initiative.
The evening began in the New England Aquarium’s touch tank room, where Mark Kaplan (Envisible) and Martin Exel (SeaBOS) welcomed guests with a collective intention: to advance traceable and responsibly sourced blue foods and initiatives contributing to the UNGC’s Tipping Points for Healthy and Productive Oceans.
Guests enjoyed appetizers in close proximity to sting rays and living mangroves:
- Smoked Rainbow Trout from Riverence, fed with Benson Hill’s deforestation free soy feed
- Ecuadorian shrimp ceviche farmed in Ecuador using xpertSea’s AI technology
- Salmon Sashimi from Atlantic Sapphire Bluehouse Salmon powered by Veramaris algae oil.
After a walk up the ramp that spirals the aquarium’s Giant Ocean Water Tank, guests arrived at the dining room and its iconic view of the tank from above (including a giant sea turtle!).
The evening’s organizers including Envisible, a responsible sourcing company and technology provider, sourced every blue food ingredient on the menu with care for its journey from source to plate. Throughout the evening, guests learned about each ingredient journey using Wholechain’s consumer transparency QR codes printed on the menu. (Zoom in on the image below to scan them yourself, and see an example below.)
The entrées included:
- Little Gem Caesar Salad featuring Ecuadorian shrimp, responsibly sourced from a farm using xpertSea’s AI technology, which unlocks traceability to the farm, enable smarter sourcing, and drive carbon reduction.
- Seared Steelhead Trout from Riverence, fed with Benson Hill’s deforestation free soy ingredients and Veramaris algae oil. (Click here to learn about the journey of the feed ingredients and trout, from source to plate.)
- Roasted Grouper sourced from Maspesca and sustainably caught by artisanal fishers in Yucatan, Mexico.
The working dinner generated lively conversations among industry leaders. Participants represented diverse corners of the industry — from commercial and small scale fishers, to large scale aggregators and buyers, as well as policy advocates, environmental groups, seafood assurances organizations and technology providers—all aligned with the goal of improving sustainability practices from source to plate.
Leading these conversations were special guests who left us with these important takeaways:
- Earn consumer’s trust by substantiating ESG claims with real actions and data: Alison Harris (GSA) and Steve Philips (Wegmans) emphasized the importance of taking actions that substantiate consumers’ trust in our responsible seafood practices as an industry. Among these were enabling better data collection and consumer transparency through traceability technologies like Wholechain. We hope guests came away from the evening with actions their companies can take to advance their own.
- Consider small scale fishers and farmers when searching for more responsible sources: EDF Mexico’s Nadia Olivares discussed EDF’s initiative to advance sustainable practices with small scale fishers. The Maspesca grouper featured in the dinner is an example of EDF’s efforts and a participant of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Mexican Snapper and Grouper Supply Chain Roundtable. (The Roundtable participants, including small scale and artisanal fishers like those supplying Maspesca, will soon be BSP certified through GSA and Envisible’s new certification sponsorship model, which started with Cape Fish.)
- Remember that responsible aquaculture sourcing starts with feed: Lisa van Wageningen (IDH) discussed IDH’s sustainable soy program, which is working to implement traceability from the farm to ensure deforestation free sources for aquaculture feed. And Anthony Kingsley (Benson Hill) introduced the Riverence Trout served at the dinner as an example of farmed fish fed with Benson Hill’s responsibly sourced soy feed, as well as Veramaris algae oil.
- Invest in supporting producers at the ground level: Katie Sokalsky (xpertSea) and Flavio Corsin (Aqua Spark) presented their innovative solutions on shrimp farms. Investing in innovations like AI technology and traceability can help farmers and fishers improve their product quality, safety, and enable them an easier route to market — supporting industry goals and fishing communities worldwide.
Thanks again to the event hosts, the UN Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition and Ocean Accelerator Network, GSA, IDH, and Envisible; sponsors, Benson Hill, Veramaris, xpertSea, Aqua Spark, Environmental Defense Fund, and Wholechain; suppliers for their commitment to responsible practices, Maspesca, Atlantic Sapphire, and Riverence; PADNOS for providing samples of their fully traceable, recycled Ocean-Bound Plastics; and to Two Oceans LLC for their commitment to improving the seafood marketplace by importing more diverse and responsible ingredients from small scale fishers.
Finally, thank you to the New England Aquarium for the breathtaking venue, and to the Patina Group’s entire team for preparing and and making the dinner a success.
We look forward to the next Better Food Future dinner at the Barcelona Aquarium during Seafood Expo Global next month. Interested in joining us? Please fill out this interest form.
