A near-death experience inspired fisherman Chris Goldblatt to channel trauma into action by founding the NGO Fish Reef Project to help restore decimated kelp forests along the US Pacific coast. He went on to invent innovative new marine-life sanctuaries known as Sea Caves and launched the world’s first marine-friendly bank to help fund his mission. Cecile Gauert finds out more...
Did you ever think a fuel barge under tow could sink your boat? It happened to Chris Goldblatt, founder and CEO of the NGO Fish Reef Project, based in Santa Barbara, California. In November 2003, Goldblatt had a harrowing, near-death experience that changed the course of his life.
He was asleep in the foredeck cabin of a 45-foot Radovcich fishing yacht when a violent shudder jolted him awake. The Brinda — the boat name had been misspelled, which Goldblatt believes to be bad luck — had snagged the towline of a fuel barge about 20 miles off the coast of Southern California.
“I looked at the black water and the boat was being pushed under. I gave the ‘abandon ship’ order. It sounded like a whisper, but I feel it was a yell,” Goldblatt recalls. “What saved me was anger” — and a hydrostatic-release escape pod the boat owner’s wife had insisted they bring along.
After a frantic scramble in the cold, dark water, everyone managed to get aboard the life raft, cutting it free from the sinking boat with a tiny knife found on board. They drifted for hours toward Mexico before a US Border Patrol boat rescued the shaken, half-frozen group. “Their first question to us was, ‘Where are you from?’” Goldblatt remembers. “I had a 20-year career as sport/commercial fishing captain that ended that night but (was) folded into a lifelong endeavour to ensure healthy fisheries,” he says.
Writing helped Goldblatt process the trauma, but he also wanted action. In 2010, he founded the Fish Reef Project with a goal of rebuilding decimated kelp forests along the US Pacific coast. These forests support marine biodiversity as well as capture significant amounts of atmospheric carbon. However, storms, pollution and other environmental pressures were destroying them.
Goldblatt’s solution was to create artificial habitats where kelp and marine life could thrive. He began with reef balls but soon developed a new design: Sea Caves. He originally created the structures made of seawater-pH-matched concrete for a deep-sea mining company to restore the seabeds they had disturbed in Hawaii.
When that project came to a halt, Goldblatt repurposed the Sea Caves for kelp forest restoration. To fund these efforts, Goldblatt and his team — many of them volunteers — raised money through talks, events and website donations but it did not keep pace with the organisation’s needs. So, he took a more innovative route: blue carbon credits, working with the International Carbon Registry and UK-based Earthhood, a carbon credit accreditation and auditing firm. Goldblatt also launched the International Marine Mitigation Bank, “the world’s first global marine mitigation bank". “For every $2,000 in revenue, a 1,000-kilogram [2,200-pound] Sea Cave is deployed in kelp or coral ecosystems,” he explains. “Each patented Sea Cave generates five verified True Blue Carbon credits per year and sustains more than 2,000 kilograms of robust marine life — including giant kelp, coral, lobster, abalone, fish, scallops, sea cucumbers, sea fans and more.”
Today, Fish Reef Project has expanded to initiatives in Mexico, South Carolina and soon Papua New Guinea. “So far, more than 700 Sea Caves have been deployed, restoring or enhancing vast stretches of kelp forests in both California and Baja Mexico,” Goldblatt says. “The Sea Caves are a powerful tool for turning barren seabed into thriving kelp and coral ecosystems. We are currently expanding the Goleta Reef, just off the Central California coast, to 65 acres.”
First published in the June 2025 issue of BOAT International US Edition. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.