Writer Paul Greenberg ate three meals a day of fish for a year. Now he’s revealing what happened to his health and his views on sustainable fisheries on a special edition of PBS’ Frontline.
“Almost half the fish and shellfish consumed in the world is now farmed — is that helpful or harmful?” asks Greenberg, who is currently a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation and has written for FERN, including a piece called the “Fisherman’s Dilemma,” about a radical effort to protect California’s fisheries. “I wanted to examine the fish on my own plate, and take stock of what’s happening in the world’s oceans and fish farms, in an attempt to find out.”
Throughout the show, Greenberg, the author of Four Fish and American Catch, travels to Norway, the epicenter of modern fish farming; Peru, the site of the world’s largest wild fishery; “Alaska, where 200 million salmon can be caught each year; and Connecticut, to visit a sustainable ocean farming pioneer who is trying to transform the fishing industry,” says PBS. As Greenberg learns what it takes to put fish on the plate, he also tracks his Omega-3 fatty acid levels, parsing the hype from reality when it comes to nutritional and health promises.
The show airs Tuesday, April 25, at 10 p.m. ET.