Kona Blue in Business 2.0

The January/February 2007 issue of Business 2.0 is chocked full of green initiative news. And while I suggest picking up a copy and reading it from cover to cover, one page really caught my attention.

Overfishing has become a problem in recent years and there have been a variety of suggestions put forth in the public arena. I have heard ideas of extending the zones in which fishing would be illegal to 100 miles of the coast, an idea that would effectively destroy many family operations throughout the coastal United States.

But after reading the article about Kona Blue and their pioneering program, I am excited at the potential resolution and improvement in fish population decline. While there are still many advancements that need to me made, Kona Blue has accomplished significant progress in aquaculture.

Fresh water aquaculture has been a viable business for many years. Catfish, shrimp, shellfish, and tilapia have all been sucessfully raised and harvested commercially, but deep sea fish, such as tuna and swordfish have not been successfully raised in "captivity." I use the word captivity, but in reality, it is farming fish in a controlled environment to maintain wild populations and ensure the safety of seafood consumers.

Kona Blue was started in 2001 by two Marine Biologists, Neil Anthony Sims and Dale Sarver, and their initial crop is the Hawaiian amberjack, which they have branded as the Kona Kampachi, and is a species very similar to yellowtail.

There are currently no competitors successfully deep sea fish farming, but with their success, perhaps others will invest efforts into expanding the aquaculture business.

As a huge fan of seafood and a man interested in sustainability in all its aspects, I am happy to see progess and hope to sample the fruits of the labor guilt free.