a different kind of FARM
documents the journey of Carol and Craig Schmarr in their quest to save the
seahorse. Interviews with their collaborators, critics, and fans shed light on the
complexity of the “farm-raised” versus “wild-caught” issue so prevalent today in
Hawaii and the entire world.
While the global demand for reef tanks is increasing at an exponential pace, the need for farm raised fish has never been more important. The goal of the producers of this documentary is to bring awareness to this issue so that solutions can be found.
In 1998 Carol Cozzi-Schmarr and her husband Craig Schmarr took their life savings and moved to Kona, Hawaii to build the first seahorse farm in the world. As experienced aquaculturists and environmentalists, they knew the seahorse was endangered and wanted to do something about it. There was one big problem though. Seahorses had never been successfully bred in captivity and the experts said that what they were attempting was impossible. Carol and Craig not only succeeded, but within two years were producing enough seahorses to supply the global demand. As conservationists who love the oceans, Carol and Craig have a vision of changing the way the pet trade looks at farm-raised alternatives and hope that their efforts will lessen the numbers of marine tropicals taken from the world’s reefs.