The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘EAT LIKE A FISH’
Bren Smith shows you how with sea farming, Greenwave and new book
SHORELINE — Bren Smith is spreading the good word about kelp — its rich nutrition value, positive impact on the waters it grows in and unique taste.
His newly released book, “Eat Like A Fish, My Adventures as a Fisherman turned Restorative Ocean Farm,” is part memoir, part manifesto. Smith delves into his life story and interweaves his discovery of kelp and its vast richness in so many ways.
After moving to the Shoreline, he discovered oysters, which in turn led to kelp farming. “This is true oysters, but seaweeds taste different in every place, the same species. The sugar kelp grown here, versus Maine, versus Alaska, has different mouthfeel, different taste and flavor profile,” Smith said. “In Southern New England, we’ve got a much more delicate plant. It’s thinner and it’s milder.”
Here in Connecticut, Smith said kelp seeds are planted in November and harvested in midMarch. Locally, kelp can be purchased at Stonington Kelp Co. in season. Otherwise, it can be ordered online at California’s Blue Evolution and Atlantic Sea Farms in Maine.
Smith said his favorite dish is barbequed kelp noodles and parsnips and breadcrumbs.
“What makes that so good is that you get the heat of the barbeque sauce, you get that round flavor of the parsnips and the crunch of the breadcrumbs and those just go really well with sea greens,” he said.
When he arrived in Guilford, it was a pivotal moment in his life.
“Who would have guessed it?” he said. “The Shoreline saved me. It really did.
“When I came down here, I saw it as the suburbs and then I found the Shoreline. It’s interesting, because in Connecticut, in a way we forget — especially as a job creator and a place for opportunity — we forget our Shoreline. It’s a great recreational space, but there’s a lot more than can be done with it.”
In early 2000, he began oystering off the Thimble Islands in Stony Creek.
“Slowly, but steadily, I developed a bluegreen thumb,” he wrote of his journey as Thimble Island Ocean Farm. “My seed grew quickly, beautifully infused with the merrior of the Thimble Islands. They had deep, golden shells, and the meat was plump. … My first check was from Bud’s Fish Market, located a few miles down the road.”
After farming off Stony Creek for 15 years, he found a way to tap into the kelp market.
“There’s this whole lost tradition in the U.S. of eating seaweed,” Smith said. “There were 1,500 workers in San Diego, on the ports, producing 55 different products in the early 1900s. They were making food, they were making fertilizer, animal feed. It was huge, huge industry in the 1900s. This is about trying to revive that.”
Now, this former commercial fisherman is dedicated to teaching others the richness of what the water can offer through his nonprofit organization, GreenWave.
“That’s what’s exciting, is that in this era, climate change, our changing economy and our ecosystem, there is this opportunity to look at this whole other great resource we have and rethink it and think about how we can build something from the ground up that’s regenerative, that’s sustainable,” he said.
He no longer sells kelp; his farm has become a floating classroom. In addition, the organization has expanded to seven other states, including Alaska, California, New York and Iceland.
“We just stepped back at GreenWave and looked at who’s in the industry as a whole and it’s a majority of women is what we’re seeing and it’s stunning,” Smith said.
Smith talks about all the jobs in the industry, including GreenWave’s internship in a hatchery and then policy jobs and entrepreneurial startups that are creating kelp bouillon cubes, salsa and fertilizer.
“The role of the farm is to bring people from all around the country and the world and train them how to be ocean farmers,” he said. “We have a pretty intensive farmertraining program and we’ve got a waiting list of 4,000 farmers. It’s just stunning