Chef Dan Barber – How I Fell in Love With a Fish

There are two reasons many of us love fish. The first is the enjoyment we receive from pursuing and catching them. That is, in fact, the defining reason the Orvis Company has existed for more than 150 years. While we purvey much more than just fishing equipment, it’s our expertise in this one area that separates us from a hundred other purveyors of things. Fishing, or fly fishing to be precise, is our identity and our first love.

The second reason we love fish is they taste good, but that brings on its own set of conundrums, as our desire to protect fish for our love of their pursuit can be in direct conflict with our desire to eat them. Most responsible sport anglers now practice catch-and–release, understanding that the resource is not infinite and therefore needs to be protected. But most of the world likes to eat fish, and they don’t fish. Their only relationship to a fish is on the table. The result is rapidly declining populations of fish in the oceans under ceaseless pressure from those who make their living satiating the appetites of those who love to eat fish.

Click here for more information on this TED talk.

Dan Barber is a chef on a quest to find a way to keep fish on the table. What he finds is a way that not only sustains the fish, but has the remarkable ability to rebuild a once devastated coastal environment. The video above is well worth your time, particularly if you love fish for both reasons.