The Tortuga Music Festival, held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from 12 to 14 April, 2019, will once again feature the Rock The Ocean Foundation’s Conservation Village – a collective of more than 30 thought-leaders specializing in ocean conservation.
The Conservation Village is divided into five tents dedicated to Rock The Ocean’s core issues: overfishing, shark conservation, coral reef degradation, marine pollution, and turtle conservation. Hand-selected experts from relevant fields and sectors are stationed at each tent to educate and engage festival-goers about ocean health and seafood sustainability.
Green Gourmet, a space reserved for South Florida chefs to showcase their culinary talents while preparing responsibly-sourced seafood, is also located within the Conservation Village for the sixth consecutive year. The chefs cooking for Green Gourmet in 2019 include: Chef Eduardo Reyes, from Cayo Esquivel Seafood Restaurant and Fish Market; Chef Lazaro Sanchez from Casablanca on the Bay; Chef Michell Sanchez, winner of Red Robin's Best of the Bash Award at the Amstel Light Burger Bash, from Latin House Grill and MadLove; and Chef Alain Lemaire, the co-owner of Sensory Delights Catering and a Cutthroat Kitchen contestant, who had been named to Legacy Miami’s Top 40 Under 40.
The seafood to be showcased by Green Gourmet will be donated by a number of local businesses – including Sea Delight, Atlantic Sapphire, and Riverence – that prioritize sustainable seafood, and will be green, “Best Choice” rated under Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.
“This is our sixth year organizing the Green Gourmet and we are excited to collaborate with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program and their partners to offer all Green rated seafood options this year,” said Adriana Sٔánchez, sustainability advocate and Seafood Ninja, Inc. founder, in a press release. “In our industry, we always speak to the challenges of connecting consumers to sustainable seafood so having the opportunity to collaborate with organizations such as Rock The Ocean in events like this one, provides us with a larger platform to connect with consumers and have a greater impact.”
“Sea Delight LLC, Atlantic Sapphire, Inc, and Riverence are making it possible for restaurants and retailers to do the right thing,” Brian Albaum, business engagement manager for Seafood Watch, said. “By communicating where their seafood is from and how it was caught or farmed, their customers have the necessary information to check the Seafood Watch rating and confirm that what they are buying is environmentally-responsible.”
Green Gourmet seafood supplier Riverence has seen encouraging signs that responsibly-raised and sourced seafood is increasing in prominence.
“The tides are turning for responsibly raised seafood, and we’re ready. At Riverence, we feel incredibly fortunate to stand alongside other Green rated producers, Seafood Watch, and all of the sustainability-focused chefs and seafood advocates at Tortuga,” Gabe Watkins, director of communications at Riverence, said. “This event is an important opportunity for Riverence to let the world know how amazing land-based, American seafood can be!"
Sea Delight, which has been a sponsor of Green Gourmet for five years, said it looks forward to aiding chefs in promoting local, sustainable seafood to concert attendees.
“We are very excited to continue supporting Green Gourmet. Sea Delight has been a sponsor since 2014 and we look forward to the opportunity to support local Chefs and help promote seafood sustainability in South Florida,” said Stephen Fisher, sustainability director at Sea Delight, LLC.
There will be Bluehouse salmon to try from Atlantic Sapphire at the event, according to company CEO Johan Andreassen.
“Atlantic Sapphire is proud to support the Monterey Bay Aquarium in their quest to promote sustainable seafood,” Andreassen said. "During the Tortuga Music Festival, festivalgoers can try our delicious Bluehouse salmon from Denmark. As of 2020, Atlantic Sapphire will be selling Atlantic salmon raised in Miami. Fish raised in a Bluehouse mitigates negative risk to our oceans.”
