Bren Smith the ocean farmer who says the sea can save the planet

Bren Smith, executive director of GreenWave, shares his vision

3D Ocean Farming

Bren Smith is a lifelong commercial fisherman turned restorative ocean farmer. He pioneered the development of 3D Ocean Farming on his farm nestled in the Thimble Islands of Long Island Sound. 3D Ocean Farming uses the entire water column to grow a variety of species—ranging from sugar kelp and oysters to mussels and scallops—and has emerged as a national model for sustainable food production, ocean restoration, and economic development. Bren is the executive director and co-founder of GreenWave, an award-winning organization that supports a new generation of ocean farmers.

Believing that Thimble Island could provide a blueprint for a new ocean economy, Smith open-sourced his model. Today, his GreenWave organization helps would-be entrepreneurs start their own ocean farms, providing new employment avenues for those left behind by unsustainable industrial economies.

What is your vision for the future of ocean farming?

Bren Smith: The vision is what we think of as GreenWave reefs dotting our coastlines: 25-50 farms, seafood hubs, and hatcheries placed in struggling coastal communities to lift them out of poverty, and a ring of entrepreneurs and institutional buyers. Further off-shore we can embed our farms in wind farms and in conservation zones so as former fishermen, we restore rather than deplete our ocean ecosystems and serve on the front lines of building an alternative food system in the era of climate change.

Why is an ocean farmer also a climate farmer?

Bren Smith: The new sea-to-table is climate farming, growing resilient and restorative species for a new climate cuisine. We think of ourselves as climate farmers because the crops we grow to soak up five times more carbon than land-based plants and function as storm surge barriers, protecting coastal communities, and they’re zero input. With all of these benefits combined, we’re hoping to invent an entirely new ocean farming system that creates thousands if not millions of new farmers around the US and the globe.

What does “food literacy” mean to you?

Bren Smith: Food literacy is about understanding that food acts as a core tool for lifting communities out of poverty and building a regenerative economy. It’s about reshaping the conversation and ensuring that the food movement–and each of us–is literate in the struggles that everyday people face in making a living.

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