MAY/JUNE 2024
The powerful voices of today’s environmental enthusiasts are helping to save threatened seas and fresh waterways. Authentically tied to particular stories, ocean conservationists are revealing hidden underworlds jeopardized by climate change, unsustainable fishing practices, and destruction of aquatic habitat. Hope in the Water features ecology-conscious changemakers Shailene Woodley, Martha Stewart, and Baratunde Thurston in three hourlong episodes that highlight innovators, aquafarmers, chefs, and fishermen who are working toward a sustainable future for the planet’s rivers, lakes, and seas. This docuseries, from acclaimed producer and storyteller David E. Kelley in collaboration with Emmy-winning Chef Andrew Zimmern, takes viewers around the globe. To sustain our waters, each environmentalist is seeking a different solution to a planet in peril. Episode 1: “The Fish in the Sea” reveals new approaches to fishing in the open ocean, attempting to turn peril into plenty. Journalist Baratunde Thurston travels to Puerto Rico to see a sustainable diamondback squid fishery born from the wreckage of 2017’s Hurricane Maria. José Andrés recounts the aftermath of the hurricane that devasted Puerto Rico, motivating him to found the World Central Kitchen that provided meals for more than 4 million survivors.
Episode 2: “Farming in Water“ focuses on aquaculture, a practice with a public relations problem rooted in a legacy of pollution and environmental disaster. Fortunately, new technologies and updated practices may hold solutions. Martha Stewart, an earth-friendly entrepreneur, learns the ropes at a scallop farm on the coast of Maine. She sails into Penobscot Bay where Andrew Peters, a young fisherman, has a more sustainable alternative: scallop farming. As Stewart cooks the scallops, she notes that Maine lobsters are now migrating north. Therefore, aquafarms like this are essential for the future local economy. Episode 3: “Changing the Menu” investigates how a demand for seafood is on the rise and our eating habits can put tremendous pressure on fisheries and negatively affect the ocean. Changing the types of food we enjoy and how we cook them are becoming more popular with all ethnicities and age groups. In fact, creative new approaches to diversifying our seafood diets are rewriting menus worldwide and turning formerly overlooked seafood varieties into saleable commodities. Airs Wednesdays, beginning June 19 at 9 p.m. on VPM PBS.
VPM.org