Prof Michael Crawford: “The next opportunity is farming the sea”
Did you listen to BBC Radio 4’s A Life Through Food programme last week?
In this latest episode, presenter Shelia Dillon interviews Professor Michael Crawford on his pioneering research into the link between nutrition, sustainability and the future of food systems.
And the content made for a fascinating listen for the team here at Câr-y-Môr, and all who share in our passion for sea farming and sustainable seafood.
Professor Michael Crawford: A Life Through Food explored Crawford’s studies into the essential role of Omega-3 in our diets, and why he thinks we should all be eating more seafood.
When asked what his solution was to the apparent contradiction of increasing food supplies from the sea, whilst also supporting marine conservation, the 94-year-old professor said:
“Simple, we farm the sea.
“The next opportunity is farming the sea. I’m not talking about farming any fish in cages. But I’m talking about what the Japanese and the Chinese, and the Koreans are doing... they have cleaned out the sea bed, planted sea grass, so there are grass pastures for the fish, the way we have grass pastures for sheep and cattle on the land.
“The wealth of opportunity is phenomenal for a new industrial revolution, a new agri-industrial revolution, by using our coastline and our - what was traditional - use of the marine food web.”
The programme also featured celebrity chef Rick Stein, who talked about his work alongside his brother, into the link between seafood and health.
And Dr Anneli Löfstedt, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, also spoke about her studies into nutrition and seafood.
Her research has shown that, here in the UK “we should really be diversifying our seafood consumption, in terms of trying different species. And also eating fish locally”.
At Câr-y-Môr we cultivate shellfish and seaweed on our regenerative sea farms in Pembrokeshire and partner with local fisherman and gatherers to source Welsh seafood for chefs, shops and families across the UK.
Our Managing Director, Owen Haines, said:
“Prof. Michael Crawford explains how the simple logic for marine farming is not just compelling, but essential if we care about future generations. This interview inspires me that, here at Câr-y-Môr, we must all keep encouraging and supporting each other to continue trying to develop sea farming.
“To me, it is such a powerful story of decades of research, and Prof. Crawford’s clarity of thought on the sea farming solution that needs to be unlocked by our Government.”
Crawford's BBC interview also touched on the potential of seaweed, and, as we know, its many uses:
“Because kelp can be eaten; kelp can be fed to animals; kelp can be used as fertiliser (and was always used as a fertiliser) to put important trace elements back into heavily used soils,” he says, before noting:
“And we can’t grow any more rainforests. But we can do that in the sea with kelp. Because kelp forests fix CO2 in the same way rainforests do.”
Have a listen on BBC Sounds to this thought-provoking interview.
And should you feel compelled to play your own part in the sea farming revolution, please consider donating to our Crowd Funder, and sharing it with your own community.
