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Sustainable Seafood Spotlighted by SeaWeb at
Google Seafood Festival

In celebration of ocean conservation and epicurean excellence, SeaWeb was pleased to partner with Google on their second annual Google Green Seafood Festival at their Northern California Mountain View campus on July 13.                         

SeaWeb president Dawn Martin sporting official judging garb takes measure of one of the dishes with fellow judges Michiel Bakker, Google Global Food Services director, on the right, and Google’s Northern California Director of Real Estate and Workplace Services, Patrick Nielsen, on the left. Credit: Simone Lewis-Koskinen

In celebration of the company’s revolutionary purchasing policy sourcing local, seasonal, healthy and sustainable seafood – the pillars of Google’s Green Seafood policy- nineteen teams of Google chefs vied to win best dish featuring each of the nineteen ‘Google Green’ species. Festival-goers were treated to adiverse range of delectable dishes, from Cambodia street style grilled Monterey seine caught sardine sandwiches to delicately prepared white sea bass crudo wrapped-watermelon slivers with pickled rind, chili oil and Indian fish stew.  The judging panel included Director of Global Food Services Michiel Bakker, Northern California Director of Real Estate and Workplace Services Patrick Nielsen, and SeaWeb’s own president Dawn Martin. While all of the seafood offered demonstrated the incredible culinary potential of healthy, sustainable seafood, the judges ultimately awarded Tomales Bay smoked mussels with chili-jicama mignonette, black japonica rice chicharrones “best dish.”

From left to right, Seasonal Seafood panelists executive chef Parke Ulrich, fishing captain Roscoe “Rocky” Burns, and California Sea Grant Extension program director Dr. Rick Starr stand at the ready to answer questions from interested Googlers and their guests. Credit: Simone Lewis-Koskinen

Beyond the competition, the food and vivacity of the atmosphere created an ideal platform to raise awareness about the need for sustainable fisheries management and the protection of our ocean. Through connections in the ocean conservation community, SeaWeb convened an impressive battery of renown scientists, activists, fishers, and chefs to speak on different aspects of ocean conservation and the importance of sustainable, local, and seasonal seafood, and as free of contaminants as possible. Between talks, people were also able to converse directly with the experts, giving Google employees a rare opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas with those at the forefront of ocean protection efforts.      

To complement the panel discussions, SeaWeb hosted an educational booth stocked with materials featuring eco-conscious buying practices, recipes, fun facts and other family-friendly resources. SeaWeb partnered with FishWise and the Aquarium of the Bay to provide hands-on learning opportunities, including a wildly popular mobile touch tank, an interactive seafood purchasing game and a test-your-knowledge fishing methods matching game. The suite of resources encouraged attendees to learn more about how they could be involved in preserving the world’s fish stocks. Google employees left the event with their stomachs full of gourmet sustainable seafood and their minds brimming with new knowledge about the importance of our ocean, the species that inhabit it, and the steps that we all can and must take for their protection.

FishWise engaged participants in a fun, interactive seafood purchasing game to help raise awareness about responsible purchasing practices. Credit: Simone Lewis-Koskinen

SeaWeb was honored to partner with Google on this event in support of their truly innovative and impactful seafood policy. As a pioneer of a new wave of business leaders leveraging culinary endeavors and people’s love for seafood to protect the ocean, SeaWeb hopes Google’s efforts may serve as a model that other companies around the world may replicate and incorporate into their purchasing strategies. Looking to the future, SeaWeb and Google hope to take this festival beyond the Google community to host a Northern California event to celebrate seafood and raise awareness among a broader public audience.

SeaWeb would like to thank the Aquarium of the Bay, FishWise and all of the panelists for helping make the event such a success and helping to protect our oceans.

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