The species native to the US Atlantic is back on the public’s tables after the overexploitation of the wild population a few years ago
The first US Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) to farm red drum, Pine Island Redfish, is celebrating its first harvest of Florida-farmed, sustainable redfish. “March 2025 marks our first harvest and now we begin to fulfill the strong retail and restaurant demand for this incredible fish across the United Stated (US),” said Megan Sorby, CEO and Co-Founder of Pine Island Redfish.
In fact, the exclusive harvest is available at select Publix retail locations in the Sarasota, Florida area, as well as several restaurants in Florida. “Since launching Pine Island Redfish late in 2023, we have concentrated on our biological prep work at our demonstration scale facility,” she added.
It’s good to remember that Pine Island Redfish was a featured start-up at the Blue Food Innovation Summit in 2024. The company is a land-based aquaculture development that pairs sustainable and responsible RAS technology to produce redfish (red drum). They say their sustainable promise goes beyond the species. “Our technology repurposes waste nutrients from our fish to cultivate nutrient-rich and climate stabilizing plants,” they assure.
Bringing the Highly Prized Fish Back to the Menu with RAS Production
Redfish, native to the US Atlantic, was popularized in the 80’s by Chef Paul Prudhomme and other celebrity chefs. But the high demand resulted in severe overharvesting of the wild stock and near decimation of the species. In 2007, the federal government stepped in to prohibit commercial fishing and only allow sport fishing.
Sorby, who co-founded Pine Island Redfish with husband Tom Sorby, said: “Pine Island Redfish is bringing this highly prized fish back to the menu with RAS production and no compromise of our wild stock,” said Sorby, who co-founded the company with her husband Tom Sorby.
“We can offer year-round, consistent quality redfish. We are proudly the only ‘Fresh from Florida’ source, and we are grateful to be supported by Florida Division of Aquaculture in bringing this native fish home,” she finished.
Over 5,000 Mangroves
Pine Island Redfish’s sustainability mission goes beyond its fish. The farm’s regenerative RAS technology repurposes fish waste nutrients to cultivate carbon sequestering mangroves and nutrient dense halophytes, such as sea purslane and barilla.
According to Sorby, this year’s harvest has fueled the growth of over 5,000 mangroves, all of which are committed to coastal restoration efforts along the Gulf coast of Florida. “It is pretty special to bring our redfish to market knowing that for consumers, it is a seafood they can truly feel great about. It strengthened and nourished the future of our coastal ecosystems before making its way to market.”
Debut in Publix Super Markets
The exclusive harvest of Pine Island Redfish is already available at select Publix retail locations in the Sarasota, Florida area, as well as several restaurants in Florida. “Our mission statement calls for us to be responsible citizens in our communities,” said Guy Pizzuti, Publix Business Development Director of Seafood.
“The Pine Island Redfish project allows us to continue our support of local, Florida aquaculture. We are excited to offer this exclusive, limited harvest of sustainable, Florida-farmed redfish to our customers in the Sarasota area,” he added.
For her part, Sorby commented: “To have an esteemed retailer such as Publix carry our sustainable, Florida-farmed redfish is a testament to the success of our regenerative RAS technology. US consumers value food that’s sustainable and sourced close to home. And with our anticipated success of this exclusive first harvest, we will begin gearing up for a more extensive second harvest later this year and the next steps in achieving that year-round supply.”
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