Fish & Us: Climate Stories from the Waterfront

Ocean Conservancy

What stories do the people who spend their lives on the water catching, researching and managing fish have to share about climate change? How is climate impacting the fish and places they care about? Join host Alliyah Lusuegro, RAY Fellow at Ocean Conservancy, as she sits down to learn more. This podcast is a production of Ocean Conservancy. Cover artwork designed by Nicole Dornsife of thornwolf.com with photograph by Rafeed Hussain. Audio editing by 4Site Interactive Studios. read less

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We protect our species because it’s our way of life | Mellisa Maktuayaq Johnson

We protect our species because it’s our way of life | Mellisa Maktuayaq Johnson

Join us for this season’s final episode! I speak with Mellisa Maktuayaq Johnson, who grew up with a subsistence way of life in Nome, Alaska and is now the government affairs and policy director at the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium. Mellisa shares her story which includes the landscapes of the Bering Sea region, the seasonal cycles of following the fish, and her experiences incorporating traditional foods in Tribal health care. Mellisa highlights the importance of working together and involving Indigenous peoples in fishery management systems as climate change continues to impact Indigenous holistic ways of life.

Episodes

We protect our species because it’s our way of life | Mellisa Maktuayaq Johnson

We protect our species because it’s our way of life | Mellisa Maktuayaq Johnson

Join us for this season’s final episode! I speak with Mellisa Maktuayaq Johnson, who grew up with a subsistence way of life in Nome, Alaska and is now the government affairs and policy director at the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium. Mellisa shares her story which includes the landscapes of the Bering Sea region, the seasonal cycles of following the fish, and her experiences incorporating traditional foods in Tribal health care. Mellisa highlights the importance of working together and involving Indigenous peoples in fishery management systems as climate change continues to impact Indigenous holistic ways of life.

I always loved when fish was on the table | Feini Yin

I always loved when fish was on the table | Feini Yin

How do you like your fish cooked? Listen along to hear more in my conversation with Feini Yin, a storyteller, fishmonger and community organizer from Philadelphia. Together we explore how fish can foster connections to community, culture and our local waters. Feini tells us about the community-supported fishery Fishadelphia and its mission to connect Philly’s diverse residents to local seafood. With climate change in the mix, we discuss changes on the water and the huge potential for people to adapt their long-standing fishing and cooking practices.

Recognizing the links between humans and biology and fish | Mandy Karnauskas

Recognizing the links between humans and biology and fish | Mandy Karnauskas

Let’s talk about fishery science! Join me in my conversation with Mandy Karnauskas, a fishery biologist with NOAA Fisheries and long-time resident of Miami, Florida. We cover Mandy’s love for fish from a young age, the many interconnected components of a fishery ecosystem, climate impacts and red tide in the Gulf of Mexico, and how exactly science gets translated and used in managing fisheries.

Fair winds and lobster traps: Collecting ghost gear in coastal Maine for a clean ocean

Fair winds and lobster traps: Collecting ghost gear in coastal Maine for a clean ocean

Come set sail with us for the first episode of season two! A crew from Ocean Conservancy partners with Rozalia Project to retrieve discarded lobster traps and other ghost gear in the islands of Maine. We hear many sides of the story: Ocean Conservancy’s very own Global Ghost Gear Initiative, Rozalia Project’s mission and world-famous vessel American Promise, all the way to the key moments of our expedition with the lobstering community in Corea, Maine. All aboard!

Living and learning and surviving on the water | Hannah Heimbuch

Living and learning and surviving on the water | Hannah Heimbuch

In this season’s final episode, we hear from Hannah Heimbuch, a commercial fisherman and policy and communications consultant with Ocean Strategies, who lives on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Hannah shares her experience growing up in a fishing family and fishing town and how profoundly climate change is affecting salmon and other fish central to the way of life in the North Pacific. We also eagerly connect about storytelling and Filipino food–yum!

Preparing for climate change is part of who I am | Michele Conrad

Preparing for climate change is part of who I am | Michele Conrad

Fishermen aren’t alone in their dedication to fish. This episode, I talk with Michele (Robinson) Conrad, a fishery manager from Washington State with years of experience under her belt working on marine fisheries and ecosystems. Michele shares with us about what it means, and the many partners it takes, to manage fish as a sustainable resource. We chat about how an interest in wildlife led Michele to fishery management, the foundational basics of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and what climate-ready fisheries look like.

It’s no secret that fish are moving north | Dave Monti

It’s no secret that fish are moving north | Dave Monti

It’s also no secret that fishing can provide connection—to the ocean, to one another, and to where the fish are biting. Tune in to one of my first interviews here with Dave Monti of No Fluke Fishing, a charter captain and fishing writer in Rhode Island. Dave shares his deep knowledge of the geography and history of his local waters, his observations of changing species of fish in his area and what’s needed to address the problem, and the importance of getting everyone on board to move forward on climate change.

If you take care of the fish, the fish take care of you | Tony Friedrich

If you take care of the fish, the fish take care of you | Tony Friedrich

Join me as I talk with Tony Friedrich, lifelong fisherman and policy director at the American Saltwater Guides Association. We chat about Tony fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, what motivated him to start an association of fishing guides fighting for healthy fish resources, and how fish along the Atlantic are responding to our changing climate. And even…fish farts?