by Kati Moore (MEM ‘ 16)
Nicholas School Communications Student Assistant

DURHAM, N.C. – Sustainable seafood expert and award-winning author Paul Greenberg will present a free talk, “American Catch—The Fight for Our Local Seafood,” on Monday, March 2, at Duke University.

The talk will be at 6 p.m. in Griffith Film Theater in the Bryan University Center on Duke’s West Campus. It is open to the public but requires a ticket, which can be obtained in person at the Duke University Box Office from 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. weekdays. Tickets also can be obtained with a $6.00 service fee online at https://tickets.duke.edu or by phone at 919-684-4444.

Greenberg will be delivering the 2015 Ferguson Family Distinguished Lectureship in the Environment and Society, sponsored by Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. The event is co-sponsored by Duke Fish, an award-winning community-supported fishery, and NC Sea Grant, the NC State Fisheries Society and Locals Seafood.

He is the author of the best-selling book “Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food,” for which he won the James Beard Award for Writing and Literature in 2011. His second book, “American Catch: The Fight for Our Local Seafood,” was published in 2014.  He writes regularly for The New York Times on fish and aquaculture and has been a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow and a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellow.

His talk at Duke will focus on the disconnect between consumers and the seafood industry, with a close look at Eastern oysters, Gulf shrimp, and Alaska salmon. Greenberg will explore why the United States exports three billion pounds of fish and shellfish every year yet more than 85 percent of fish consumed here is imported. He argues that consumers can and should be reconnected to American-caught fish through organizations such as community-supported fisheries, which are cooperatives for local seafood. 

The talk will be preceded by a reception at 5:15 p.m. and a followed by a book signing at 7:30 p.m.

The Ferguson Family Distinguished Lectureship was established in 2009 by the Nicholas School Dean’s Office to bring to Duke thought-leaders to speak on pressing social and environmental issues. Past speakers have included conservationist Ullas Karanth, former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and former Vice President Al Gore Jr. To learn more, go to http://nicholas.duke.edu/fergusonlecture.