Oregon’s first Blue Foods Forum brought together chefs, scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs to explore new ways of connecting ocean health with coastal livelihoods. In the months since, that gathering has sparked real change, launching new seafood products, creative collaborations, and innovative ventures that are redefining what it means to build a truly sustainable blue economy on the Oregon Coast.

Sea Wolf Books offered an ocean-centric poetry-writing station with poetic inspiration and writing prompts available to folks of all ages during our Winter Waters Weekend in Port Orford, Oregon. As promised, we have published the poetry written here!

Winter Waters is made our first-ever journey to the Southern Oregon Coast, landing in the gem of a fishing village, Port Orford! A huge thank you to Discover Port Orford, Port Orford Main Street, and Travel Curry Coast for sponsoring Winter Waters on the South coast.

A Winter Waters dinner along the Nehalem River, enjoying local food, plenty of seaweed and oysters, with views of the coastal mountain range!

Chef Jonathan Jones hosted guest chef Enrique Sanchez Rodriguez, from Newport’s Local Ocean Seafoods at Epilogue Kitchen, in it’s new home in South Salem. Both these chefs have participated in Winter Waters events in the past, we were excited for the opportunity to join them together for this special collaboration dinner.

Chef Maylin Chávez of Nácar Oysters joined Chef Mark Doxtader at Tastebud, in Multnomah Village for a special night of seaweed-centric bites and special dishes including sea-focused pizzas, breads and salads from the team of Tastebud, and raw bar with a Baja twist from Chef Maylin.

Seven local Oregon breweries crafting seaweed beers specifically for the February Winter Waters dining series, so we decided to get them all in the same bar so you can try them side by side.

Chef Ian Grant of Savvy Food Co and Chef U’ilaniku’ulei Vele of The Hoxton, took over the Lovely Rita kitchen for a night of ocean delicacies with a focus on seaweed and local sustainable seafood.

This 5-course dinner showcased the abundance of the Oregon coast and creative techniques, cultural heritage and expertise of these chefs.

On the evening of Thursday, February 20, 2025, at the cozy venue Union Pine in Portland, we celebrated the final act of our three-day Blue Foods Forum with the Seafaring Speakeasy — a spirited, sea-centric gathering of community, creativity, and culinary craft.

In February 2025, Oregon’s first Blue Foods Forum brought together an extraordinary mix of chefs, economists, artisans, food innovators, marine scientists and ocean advocates for three days of hands-on industry collaboration and culinary inspiration.  

Set against the creative backdrop of the Ecotrust Redd East event venue in SE Portland, this action-driven gathering invited participants to explore how Oregon’s ocean-based foods — from wild seafood to regenerative seaweeds — can contribute to a more sustainable, resilient, and delicious local food future.

We brought Winter Waters Ocean Trivia back to Flying Fish Co. for the 2025 series, and had a hoot! We enjoyed dulse hush putties and seaweed beer over a couple rounds of trivia.

The Feast of the Local Fishes was another unforgettable seafare celebration—perched over the water with panoramic views of Tillamook Bay, where guests enjoyed incredible food while learning about Oregon’s sustainable fisheries.

As part of our Winter Waters x Cannon Beach takeover weekend, Winter Waters teamed up with Fed by Blue for a screening of Hope in the Water followed by a deep dive on the Blue Foods industry with some Oregon experts. Hope in the Water is a PBS series about the Blue Foods industry that features kelp farming, urchin ranching, sustainable shrimp farms, and more!

We loved making seaweed cyanotypes so much last year, that we decided to do it again! A hands-on interaction day playing with dried seaweed specimens and creating art to take home.

The Oregon Albacore Omakase at Snowpeak’s NW-Portland Japanese restaurant, Takibi, was an exercise in utilizing albacore in unique ways, including in dessert! Chefs Gille Nakagawa of Takibi and Jeff Kim of Aji Butchery & Zilla Sake teamed up on this special event.

A huge shoutout to Siletz Valley School’s culinary director Patrick Clarke and his students, who teamed up with the Local Ocean Seafoods culinary team for our Winter Waters dinner.

Chef Jack created a special menu infusing exquisite farmed sea vegetables into common ingredients. This evening showcased a simple coastal menu, with exceptional flavor and presentation.

Any seafare feast, overhanging the water, with panaramic views of Tillamook Bay are incredible, but especially when Tournant are your chefs, and you get to try your haul at crabbing!

We were so thrilled to make local seaweed a part of Durant’s highly anticipated annual winter culinary event featuring fresh Pacific Northwest seafood and Durant olive oils.