Pine Island Redfish

Pine Island Redfish is a land-based aquaculture company focused on the sustainable production of redfish (red drum) using Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) technology. The company was co-founded by CEO Megan Sorby and her husband, Tom Sorby, in late 2023. Megan Sorby has a background in marine science, having studied at the University of Miami, and previously served as the operations manager for Kingfish Maine. Her experience in farming challenging fish species led to the establishment of Pine Island Redfish to reintroduce a domestically supplied native fish to the US market.

The company was established to address the market gap for redfish, a species native to the U.S. Atlantic that was commercially fished to near-extinction in the 1980s following its popularization by chefs like Paul Prudhomme. A federal ban on commercial fishing was enacted in 2007, leaving a market reliant on imports and a limited number of pond-based farms. Pine Island Redfish aims to provide a year-round, consistent supply of high-quality redfish without impacting wild populations.

The business operates on a circular model. Its regenerative RAS technology is a closed-loop, land-based system that repurposes fish waste. This waste is used as a resource to cultivate beneficial plants, including thousands of carbon-sequestering mangroves for coastal restoration and salt-tolerant vegetables like sea purslane for culinary use. This approach mitigates the high costs of waste disposal and creates an ecologically advantageous system.

After starting with a demonstration-scale facility at Mote Marine Aquaculture Park in Sarasota, the company celebrated its first commercial harvest in March 2025. The fish is now sold through select Publix supermarket locations in Florida and various restaurants. The company has fully permitted a 149-acre site on Pine Island, Florida, for a full-scale facility. This new facility is projected to produce 800 metric tons of redfish and grow nearly 50,000 mangroves annually.

Keywords: redfish farming, recirculating aquaculture system, RAS, sustainable aquaculture, land-based aquaculture, red drum, Megan Sorby, circular economy, Florida aquaculture, mangrove restoration, halophytes, domestic seafood supply, coastal resilience, regenerative farming, fisheries management, seafood sustainability, aquaculture technology, waste-to-resource, marine science, commercial aquaculture