Aquaculture

Patrick Bowe with Chef Martin Yan at a seafood conference

As long as he can remember, Patrick Bowe has been interested in learning how things work, as well as what he can do to make them work better.

During his childhood in Minnesota, his father took him on a tour of a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) walleye hatchery. From then on, he was hooked on seafood. While Minnesota is not an aquaculture Mecca, Patrick thought the DNR running a hatchery was a good way to help Mother Nature keep the lakes stocked with healthy and happy fish.

His first opportunity to work in the seafood industry came in 1994 with Ocean Garden Products, a major seafood importer that built its reputation on premium wild-caught Mexican shrimp. At the time, the wild harvest sector had to address the environmental issue of sea turtles getting caught in shrimp trawling nets. 

“Ocean Garden was very active with the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle restoration project at Rancho Nuevo in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and this was always something that I was proud of,” said Patrick.  Ocean Garden also was a leader in helping to equip the Mexican shrimpers’ boats with turtle excluder devices designed to allow the turtles to pass through their nets.

When Ocean Garden began importing farmed shrimp from Mexico, Patrick was confronted with another environmental issue related to seafood – the destruction of mangrove trees to make room for shrimp farms.  Ocean Garden took a lead role in assuring that mangrove forests were not destroyed and the company was involved in mangrove reforestation.  At the time, Patrick was the regional manager for Ocean Garden in Seattle. The World Trade Organization meetings also were being held in Seattle, so Patrick received a crash course in understanding and communicating the environmental impacts of his company’s actions. 

After six years with Ocean Garden, Patrick became the shrimp buyer for Darden Restaurants, which owns Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Season’s 52 restaurants and is a leader in seafood sustainability and environmental awareness.

 “Having the opportunity to work with the seafood team at Darden was like getting an advanced degree in environmental awareness and sustainability,” said Patrick, who was part of a team responsible for purchasing almost 30 million pounds of farmed shrimp a year. “Everything we did was with a great sense of awareness for the future, and the impacts that our actions may have on it. “

Fourteen years into his seafood career, Patrick realized that the future of sustainable aquaculture depended heavily on the adage “you are what you eat.”  That’s when he entered the world of animal nutrition and, specifically, fish feed.

Feed is one of the most important issues for the aquaculture industry. As the issue of sustainability becomes more critical to the global aquaculture industry, feed producers are looking for ways to reduce their dependence on fishmeal and fish oil. Patrick believes that the key to replacing fish oil is in replacing the omega 3 DHA in a sustainable manner.  This belief lead Patrick to Advanced BioNutrition Corporation (ABN) in Maryland, where he serves as vice president of Aquafeeds.  ABN, one of the leading providers of omega-3 DHA and other nutrients for aquaculture feeds, produces a product line known as AquaGrow®.  Patrick is responsible for leading the team that is marketing the products globally. The products feature non-GMO marine microalgae and are produced in Good Manufacturing Practice-regulated facilities. They can help serve as a replacement for the essential fatty acids and amino acids provided by fish oil and fishmeal.

While ABN will benefit from Patrick’s leadership, he acknowledges that he, too, will benefit from the opportunity. “I am fortunate to work at ABN,” he said, adding that ABN is bringing science and innovation to the world of aquaculture feeds.  “We believe our efforts and our products hold the key to sustainable aquaculture.”

One of his newest interests is the Aquaculture Dialogues. Patrick heard about them when he was at the Seafood Summit in Barcelona this year. He quickly jumped on the chance to participate in the next Dialogue meeting – the shrimp Dialogue in Belize in April. Patrick will be participating in upcoming shrimp and salmon Dialogues.  He also is involved with the Global Aquaculture Alliance and the Aquaculture Certification Council.

“Sustainable aquaculture is a movement that I’ve been watching grow and I want to stay a part of,” he said. “The Dialogues play an important role in the movement, partly because they bring together industry and NGOs. I also like the fact that the Dialogues have a high standard – targeting the best performers in the industry.”

While important strides have been made, Patrick recognizes that there is still much work to be done.

“We are not where we need to be yet but we are heading in the right direction. It will take many people from many disciplines to turn a vision of sustainable aquaculture into a reality.”