How To Protect The Ocean

Andrew Lewin

Dive into the Depths: Join Andrew Lewin on 'How to Protect the Ocean' – Your Gateway to Exclusive Ocean Insights! Explore the latest, uncharted realms of ocean science and conservation that you won't find anywhere else. Andrew takes you on an inspiring journey to uncover the hidden gems of oceanic discovery and initiatives. Tune in to discover how you can transform your life for a better ocean, one episode at a time.

The How To Protect The Ocean is your resource to keep you informed on the latest ocean news; teach you how to speak up for the ocean; and, how you can take action to live for a better ocean.

There is so much information on the ocean and the issues that are affecting it that it can be difficult to find optimism in the future of the ocean. Climate change, overfishing, plastic pollution, water pollution, and coastal development have altered the ocean in ways that have negatively changed the way we use it.

The repercussions of climate change, including the ominous specter of rising sea levels, the relentless march of warming ocean temperatures, and the ominous shadow of ocean acidification, have not only altered the very fabric of our coastlines but have also conjured fiercer storms and summoned floods with growing frequency. The fossil fuel industry may whisper in your ear that the situation is insurmountable, an inescapable fate. However, this podcast is here to unveil a different narrative, one that empowers you to take action. It illuminates the path to change by casting your vote for leaders committed to implementing climate-rescuing policies and by offering invaluable insights into how each of us can shrink our individual carbon footprint.

The grim reality of overfishing casts a long shadow, fueled by governmental shortcomings in the stewardship of both commercial and recreational fisheries. Within the delicate balance of our oceans, every fish population possesses a threshold - a point at which the relentless harvest of fishermen begins to erode their numbers. The management of these aquatic resources is a formidable task, as the elusive currents of the sea often defy easy tracking. Furthermore, the menace of illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing looms large in many nations, adding to the crisis.

Yet, a glimmer of hope shines through the depths. A beacon for responsible consumption emerges in the form of seafood programs, guiding conscientious individuals toward choices that safeguard our oceans. By heeding these programs, you not only savor the delights of sustainable seafood but also become an informed guardian of marine ecosystems.

The relentless scourge of plastic pollution has unleashed an epidemic of death upon the denizens of our oceans. It's a ruthless killer, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of marine mammals, majestic sharks, grandiose fish, gentle sea turtles, and the graceful sea birds that soar above. The malevolence of this crisis knows no bounds, with microplastics infiltrating even the remotest depths of the ocean and etching their presence along every coastline.

To mount a defense against this ecological cataclysm, the clarion call for action echoes on the international and national stages. It beckons governments far and wide to adopt resolute policies, wielding the power to outlaw the menace of single-use plastics and demanding the meticulous detoxification of our supply chains. In this grand battle to safeguard our seas, the fight against plastic pollution knows no borders.

The ominous specter of water pollution looms large, a consequence of our thoughtless disposal into the arteries of our planet – our streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans. This callous act reverberates, sending shockwaves through the intricate ecosystems of our coastal havens, where the likes of coral reefs, resilient mangroves, and swaying seagrasses thrive. But alas, this intrusion is not benign; it bears the capacity to corrode and dismantle these vital sanctuaries, the very lifeblood of countless fish and the steadfast guardians of our vulnerable shorelines.

Yet, amidst the unsettling tide of pollution, there emerges a ray of hope. Through individual resolve and visionary government policies harnessed with cutting-edge technology, we can stem this toxic deluge. Water treatment systems stand as stalwart guardians, armed with the ability to sift out the insidious nutrients that fuel destructive algal blooms. The power to heal our waters and preserve the sanctity of our coastal treasures lies within our grasp.

Coastal development, driven by human desires to construct homes or fortify the shoreline against erosion, represents a significant intervention in the natural order. Yet, these changes, while initially confined to the coastal zone, often send ripple effects that extend far beyond their original boundaries, casting a shadow of unintended consequences.

The repercussions of altering coastlines resonate through interconnected ecosystems, occasionally triggering a cascade of events that can inflict profound harm on distant areas. In doing so, this well-intentioned transformation can unwittingly imperil the lives and livelihoods of communities residing in the wake of its impact. It is a stark reminder that our actions along the coast carry a profound responsibility, not just to the immediate environment but to the greater web of life and society that depends upon it.

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S1 · E2050
Today · 15 min
Ships Without License Plates: The Dark Fleet Behind Fishmeal
In a single day in March 2024, Gambian navy officers arrested eight industrial trawlers. Seven were fishing in waters reserved for local canoes, four were using illegal nets, and every one had switched off its tracking beacon. That one patrol shows a problem playing out across the global ocean. About three in four industrial fishing vessels are not publicly tracked, and many of the boats supplying the fishmeal that feeds farmed fish are among the hardest to see. In this episode of How to Protect the Ocean, Andrew Lewin follows the boats that catch the fish behind fish feed. He covers how vessels go dark, repaint and reflag, and how transshipment lets them stay at sea for months. He looks at fishmeal-linked boats working inside marine protected areas and the crew members who pay the price when help is weeks away. He also tells the story of Viktor Boshko, a deckhand who spent nearly two weeks at sea with a crushed arm before reaching a hospital. The episode also covers what's working. The Gambia partnered with Sea Shepherd to put armed patrols at sea. Indonesia became the first country to publish its fleet's tracking data on a free public map. Satellite radar now detects boats with their beacons off, and port controls are closing doors on illegal catch. Andrew ends with a simple action you can take tonight from your phone. Takeaways About 75% of the world's industrial fishing vessels are not publicly tracked, according to a 2024 Nature study. Fewer than 30% of the 2,400+ ships tied to fishmeal production have public location data, and fewer than 10% are in the UN's global vessel record. Without a permanent ID, a boat caught fishing illegally can repaint, rename and reflag, then return to fishing. Transshipment lets fishing boats offload at sea and stay out for months, out of reach of inspectors and medical help. Public tracking data, satellite radar and port controls are making it harder for dark vessels to hide. You can explore the Global Fishing Watch map for free and see who is fishing near your coast. Links shared in the episode: Global Fishing Watch map: https://globalfishingwatch.org/map Supporting links Outlaw Ocean Project, Food for Feed findings. This is the source for the fishmeal fleet stats: the 2,400 ships, the under 30% / 25% / 10% figures, the 70+ ships in MPAs, and the 50 crew deaths and injuries. https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/findings Bait to Plate. Their free tool traces fishmeal from vessel to plant to retailer. It ties in well with yesterday's "email your favourite company" action. https://baittoplate.theoutlawocean.com Outlaw Ocean, The Gambia story. This covers the 2019 patrol, the blank logbooks and the crew sleeping on the wheelhouse roof. https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/the-gambia Outlaw Ocean, Russia story. This covers Viktor Boshko and the Kalinovka. https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/russia Sea Shepherd Global. This is their report on the March 2024 arrest of eight trawlers. https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/latest-news/eight-trawlers-arrested-gambia ESA summary of the 2024 Nature study. This explains the 75% untracked finding. https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1/Sentinel-1_and_AI_reveal_75_of_fishing_vessels_not_tracked Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2049
Yesterday · 20 min
Whose Dinner Becomes Fish Feed?
On a May morning in 2017, the people of Gunjur in The Gambia woke to find their lagoon had turned red, with dead fish on the surface. Investigators traced the pollution to a fishmeal plant up the road. In this episode, Andrew Lewin follows the feed from West African beaches to farmed salmon fillets in Europe and North America, building on The Outlaw Ocean Project's five-year investigation into the fishmeal industry. Small, oily fish like sardinella and bonga are everyday protein in Senegal and The Gambia. Fishmeal plants buy them in unlimited volumes, outbid the women who have smoked and sold fish on the beach for generations, and ship the oil north to feed salmon. Andrew walks through what that means for families who struggle to put three meals on the table, for communities living beside the plants, and for fishers who risk the Atlantic crossing to the Canary Islands when the fish run out. Communities are fighting back. Abéné in southern Senegal got its plant suspended within three months of opening, and major salmon feed buyers say they have stopped sourcing from the region. Andrew closes with one action that takes two minutes: email the brand behind the farmed salmon or shrimp you buy and ask where its feed comes from. Takeaways Fishmeal and fish oil link West African food security to farmed salmon sold around the world Fishmeal plants outbid local women processors, driving up fish prices and pushing them out of work Plant wastewater and stench affect millions of people who live nearby Collapsing fish stocks are one of several factors pushing people onto the deadly Atlantic route to the Canary Islands Abéné, Senegal, used protests, petitions and a community vote to suspend a plant within three months Mowi and Skretting say they stopped sourcing West African fish oil in 2023 One email asking your seafood brand whether its feed contains West African fishmeal or fish oil adds pressure for change Links: The Outlaw Ocean Project (main site): https://theoutlawocean.com/ Food for Feed investigation (fishmeal series): https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/ Gambia reporting: https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/gambia Mauritania reporting: https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/reporting/mauritania Outlaw Ocean Substack: https://theoutlawocean.substack.com/ Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2048
Tuesday · 12 min
The Fish That Feed Your Fish: What Farmed Salmon Really Eat
The family behind the world's largest salmon farming company built a global industry. Now one of its members is asking how it can be sustainable to grind up fish from poorer countries, ship them across the world, and feed them to salmon sold to wealthier shoppers. In episode 2048, Andrew Lewin follows farmed fish from your plate back to the fishmeal boat to answer him. More than half the seafood eaten worldwide now comes from farms, and most of it is fed. Andrew breaks down what fishmeal and fish oil are made of, why roughly a fifth of the global wild catch ends up as feed, and how forage fish declines show the strain on the small fish that tuna, seabirds, whales and coastal communities depend on. He also explains why a half-billion-dollar insect farm couldn't replace fishmeal, and how Norway cut marine ingredients from salmon feed while total wild fish use kept climbing. The fastest fix is already at the seafood counter. Mussels, oysters and clams eat plankton straight from the water and need no feed at all. This is the first of four episodes on fish feed, drawing on reporting from The Outlaw Ocean Project. This week, swap one farmed salmon or shrimp meal for farmed bivalves. Takeaways More than half of the world's seafood now comes from fish farms, and about two-thirds of farmed seafood is fed. Fishmeal is made by cooking and grinding small fish like anchoveta, sardinella and herring, and most of those fish are suitable for people to eat. Forage fish declines are hitting fisheries worldwide, including Canada's 2022 herring quota cut and Atlantic mackerel closure. Insect protein and other alternatives remain far too small to replace the fishmeal fish farms use each year. Norway cut marine ingredients in salmon feed from about 90% to 22% over 30 years, yet industry growth pushed total wild fish use higher. Farmed mussels, oysters and clams need no feed, making them one of the lowest-pressure seafood choices available. Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2047
Monday · 1 hr 6 min
What Your Farmed Salmon Ate: Inside a Five-Year Fishmeal Investigation
More than half the seafood eaten on Earth now comes from fish farms, and most of those farmed fish are raised on fishmeal made from wild-caught fish. Maya Martin, deputy editor at The Outlaw Ocean Project, joins Andrew Lewin to unpack Food for Feed, a five-year investigation that traced fishmeal from the ships that catch it, through the plants that grind it, to the farmed fish on your plate. Maya explains how forage fish like sardinella and anchoveta are pulled from waters off West Africa, Peru and Southeast Asia, often from stocks that are already overexploited and from communities that depend on them for food and work. She walks through the stench and toxic waste that surround fishmeal plants, the protests they spark, the deaths and injuries of workers, the fire-retardant chemical ethoxyquin, and fish farms built in China's Xinjiang desert whose salmon has reached US institutions. She also shows how the team's Bait to Plate tool lets anyone follow a supply chain end to end, and why third-party certifications have missed many of these problems. You'll leave knowing which seafood choices avoid the fishmeal problem, from filter-feeding shellfish to local catch you can see come in, and which organizations are pushing retailers and governments to clean up the supply chain. Content note: this episode discusses forced labour, violence, deaths at sea and migrant deaths. Explore the investigation at foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com and baittoplate.theoutlawocean.com. Links mentioned in this episode Food for Feed investigation: https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com Bait to Plate supply chain tool: https://baittoplate.theoutlawocean.com Food for Feed findings: https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/findings Methodology, including country-by-country partner groups: https://foodforfeed.theoutlawocean.com/methodology Company and certifier responses (Discussion page): https://discussion.theoutlawocean.com/food-for-feed The Outlaw Ocean Project: https://theoutlawocean.com Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org Greenpeace: https://www.greenpeace.org Oceana: https://oceana.org Sea Shepherd: https://seashepherd.org The Outlaw Ocean Project's New York Times follow-up on eating seafood sustainably: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/briefing/fish-food.html Previous HTPTO episode with Dr. Marine Cusa (Oceana) on fishmeal: Fish Feed in Aquaculture: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-28/ The Squid You Eat is a Mystery: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/podcast-82/ Takeaways More than half of the world's seafood comes from aquaculture, and more than two-thirds of farmed seafood depends on fishmeal and fish oil from wild fish At least half of the species landed by fishmeal vessels assessed in the investigation are overexploited or worse Roughly 90% of the catch used for fishmeal is edible for people, and in West Africa sardinella is a staple protein and a livelihood More than 9.5 million people live within a mile of a fishmeal plant, and the investigation documented at least 80 incidents of civil unrest tied to the industry Over half of more than 550 seafood companies making strong sustainability claims had documented crimes or concerns in their supply chains Farmed shellfish like mussels, oysters and clams need no feed, which makes them a lower-impact choice Your action: look up one farmed seafood product you buy on Bait to Plate and see where its feed came from
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S1 · E2046
Friday · 12 min
How to Read the Seafood Counter Like a Marine Biologist
Picture a big sign over the seafood counter promising sustainable fishing, with a fish every independent guide says to avoid sitting on ice right below it. In most countries nobody broke a rule, because the word "sustainable" on seafood has no legal definition. In this final episode of our sustainable seafood week, Andrew Lewin walks you through how to see past that sign and choose seafood you can feel good about. You'll learn how to use the eco-labels and seafood guides that have already done the research for you, including the Marine Stewardship Council's blue tick for wild seafood, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council label for farmed seafood, and regional guides like Seafood Watch, Ocean Wise, the Good Fish Guide and GoodFish. Andrew explains why tuna can be a best choice or one to avoid depending on species, ocean and gear, how to ask the person behind the counter without making them the target, why "local" on vacation deserves a second look, why eating invasive lionfish and blue catfish helps, and how to think about shark on the menu. Then Andrew answers the voice in your head that says one shopper can't matter. The story of Louisiana shrimp shows how a Seafood Watch rating, the businesses that follow it, and the customers behind them pushed a state to start enforcing sea turtle protections again. Your next seafood purchase is part of that same pressure. Pre-order David Shiffman's book Why Sustainable Seafood Matters using the link in the show notes. Takeaways "Sustainable" and "responsibly sourced" have no standard legal definition on seafood in the US or Canada, so treat store signs as marketing Look for the MSC blue tick on wild seafood and the ASC label on farmed seafood, and use your region's seafood guide The same species can be a best choice or one to avoid depending on where and how it was caught Ask the counter staff politely; if they can't tell you where or how a fish was caught, choose something else Eating invasive species like lionfish and blue catfish helps native ecosystems In 2013 Seafood Watch red-listed Louisiana shrimp over a law blocking sea turtle protections, and by 2015 the state repealed that law Your action: download your country's seafood guide and look up one item before your next purchase Pre-Order Dr. David Shiffman's book called "Why Sustainable Seafood Matters" Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2045
October 15 · 14 min
Is Bottom Trawling Always Bad? It Depends Where
Off the south coast of England, about 100 kilometres out, sits Haig Fras, a granite reef covered in jewel anemones and cup corals. For years it was protected on paper, yet heavy fishing gear could still drag across it. In March 2024, that finally changed. In this episode, Andrew Lewin explains why where we fish matters as much as how much we fish, and what it takes to turn a line on a map into real protection. Andrew breaks down the difference between midwater and bottom trawls and puts the damage shown in the recent Ocean documentary into context. Bottom trawling lands about a quarter of the world's wild-caught seafood, and the impact depends heavily on where it happens. He walks through the research on paper parks, where trawling was more intense inside European marine protected areas than outside them, and the five features that make an MPA deliver results. He also explains how England used public consultations to ban bottom-towed gear over sensitive reefs, and why the same place-based logic applies to fish farms. The episode closes with a simple action anyone can take. The next time your government proposes or reviews a marine protected area, submit a public comment supporting rules that keep bottom trawling off sensitive habitats. Consultations count comments, and the rules written there decide whether a park is real. Takeaways Bottom trawling supplies about a quarter of wild-caught seafood, and its impact depends on the habitat being trawled. Regions where less than 10% of the seafloor was trawled almost always had sustainably fished stocks. In a study of 727 EU MPAs, 59% were commercially trawled, and trawling was 38% more intense inside them than outside. MPAs that are no-take, enforced, older than 10 years, larger than 100 km², and isolated deliver far more fish and sharks. England's 2024 byelaw banned bottom-towed gear over reefs in 13 more offshore MPAs, including Haig Fras. Aquaculture now produces 51% of the world's aquatic animals. Look for ASC or BAP labels and seafood guide ratings. Submitting a public comment during MPA consultations directly shapes the rules. Pre-Order Dr. David Shiffman's book: "Why Sustainable Seafood Matter" Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2044
October 14 · 16 min
The Trapdoor That Saves Sea Turtles From Shrimp Nets
A Kemp's ridley sea turtle, the most endangered sea turtle on Earth, gets swept into a shrimp trawl. It hits a metal grid, slides out through a flap in the net, and swims away. That small trapdoor, the turtle excluder device, is one of the biggest success stories in fisheries management, and in late August 2026 a US federal appeals court upheld the rule extending it to skimmer trawl boats 40 feet and longer. In this episode, marine biologist Andrew Lewin walks through the bycatch fixes that are working and the fights still underway. You'll hear why North Atlantic right whales get tangled in lobster and crab rope, how weak rope and ropeless gear could solve it, and why the US House just voted to extend a pause on new whale rules to 2035. Andrew also explains what the dolphin-safe label on canned tuna actually covers and why dolphin deaths in that fishery fell from hundreds of thousands a year to roughly a thousand. Every number in this story depends on someone counting. Andrew draws on his own time as a marine mammal observer to explain why independent fisheries observers matter, the risks they face, and how electronic monitoring is changing the job. This episode is part of a week on sustainable seafood. Pre-order Dr. David Shiffman's book Why Sustainable Seafood Matters using the link in the show notes. Takeaways Turtle excluder devices must prove 97% effective at excluding sea turtles in testing, with little loss of shrimp A loophole for small skimmer trawl boats let turtles keep drowning; a 2019 rule requires TEDs on boats 40 feet and longer, and the Fifth Circuit upheld it in 2026 Rope running from traps to surface buoys is the main entanglement risk for North Atlantic right whales, estimated at about 384 animals Weak rope and on-demand (ropeless) gear are the two leading fixes for lobster and crab fisheries Dolphin-safe means no nets were set on dolphins and none were killed or seriously injured in that set Pole-and-line, troll, and handline tuna carry the least bycatch When you choose the gear, you choose the bycatch Pre-Order Dr. David Shiffman's book "Why Sustainable Seafood Matters"
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S1 · E2043
October 13 · 19 min
The Cod Came Back: What a Fishery Collapse Teaches Us About Overfishing
Five centuries ago, explorers off Newfoundland described cod so plentiful that a weighted basket lowered into the sea came back full. By July 2, 1992, so few remained that Canada shut the northern cod fishery overnight. About 30,000 people lost their work in what became the largest single layoff in Canadian history. In this first episode of a week-long sustainable seafood series, Andrew tells the story of how the collapse happened and how slowly the cod came back. Andrew then breaks down the words that cause the most confusion in fisheries headlines: overfishing, overfished, depleted, and fully fished. Using the FAO's 2025 review of 2,570 fish stocks, he explains why 35.5% of stocks being overfished is a serious problem, why 77.2% of the fish actually landed comes from sustainable stocks, and how lumping categories together produces the misleading claim that 90% of fish stocks are in trouble. The episode closes with what good fisheries management looks like, rebuilding wins like Pacific bluefin tuna, and a cautious look at northern cod's return to the healthy zone as quotas climb. Your assignment: pick the fish you eat most and look up its stock status this week. Pre-order Dr. David Shiffman's Why Sustainable Seafood Matters using the link in the show notes. Takeaways Northern cod collapsed in 1992 after decades of industrial overfishing, and the moratorium lasted 32 years Overfishing is an action happening now; overfished means the population is already too small "Fully fished" (maximally sustainably fished) is the management target and a healthy outcome 35.5% of assessed stocks are overfished, while 77.2% of landed fish comes from sustainable stocks Good management combines science-based catch limits, bycatch and habitat rules, solid data, and fishers at the table Northern cod reached the healthy zone in 2026, but rapid quota increases still worry scientists Check your favourite fish on Seafood Watch, the MSC, Ocean Wise, or your national fisheries agency Pre-Order "Why Sustainable Seafood Matters" by Dr David Shiffman now Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2042
October 12 · 1 hr 6 min
How to Choose Sustainable Seafood
You want to eat seafood the right way. Then you hit the seafood counter and face a wall of labels, a sign promising "sustainable practices," and an employee who has no idea where the tuna came from. Add documentaries like Seaspiracy telling you to quit fish entirely, and it's tempting to give up and buy whatever looks good. Unsustainable fishing is the biggest threat to marine biodiversity, so those choices carry real weight. In this episode, Andrew's good friend Dr. David Shiffman joins the show to talk about his new book, Why Sustainable Seafood Matters. David spent two years on the Marine Stewardship Council's research team, and he wrote this book to answer the question audiences kept asking on his Why Sharks Matter book tour: what can I do as a consumer? He breaks down the difference between overfishing, overfished, and fully fished, and shows how those numbers get twisted. He explains what the dolphin-safe label guarantees, why North Atlantic right whales put Gulf of Maine lobster on the avoid list, and where bottom trawling can be done responsibly. He also covers proven fixes like turtle excluder devices, ropeless fishing gear, and camera monitoring on fishing boats. You'll walk away knowing how to use Seafood Watch, MSC, Ocean Wise, and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, and what to realistically expect at your grocery store. Every claim in David's book comes with directions to the data, so you can check it yourself and buy with confidence. Takeaways Unsustainable fishing practices are the leading threat to marine biodiversity, including overfishing, bycatch, and habitat destruction. "Overfishing" is an action and "overfished" is a population's state. "Fully fished" is the management goal. "Sustainable" has no legal definition on seafood packaging, so trusted third-party guides matter. Dolphin safe means nets weren't set around dolphins to find tuna. Pole-and-line tuna avoids nearly all bycatch. Bottom trawling is destructive in sensitive habitats and can be managed responsibly on sandy or muddy seafloors. Weak rope, ropeless traps, and turtle excluder devices solve bycatch while fisheries keep operating. Look for MSC, ASC, or BAP labels, and check Seafood Watch or Ocean Wise when a label is missing. Ask seafood counter staff nicely. They're rarely the problem. Your choices create real pressure when millions of shoppers make them together. Pre-Order David's Book
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S1 · E2041
October 11 · 10 min
Slow Down for Whales: How Global Shipping Learned to Share the Ocean
Blue whales can't dodge ships. When scientists tracked blue whales alongside cargo ships off Southern California, the whales responded in just over half the encounters, and every response was the same: a slow, shallow dive. Not once did a whale move sideways out of the ship's path. Models suggest ships kill around 18 blue whales a year off the U.S. West Coast, nearly eight times what the population can lose and still recover. The good news is in the data. Most blue whale strike deaths happen in a small slice of ocean, and that's where ports, air quality agencies, marine sanctuaries, and shipping lines decided to act. Through the Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies program, 787 vessels voluntarily slowed to 10 knots or less across more than 481,000 nautical miles in the 2025 season. Similar slowdowns now run off Vancouver, and whale sighting apps fed by everyday people warn captains when whales are nearby. This episode wraps up our week on the biggest animals that have ever lived, building on our conversation with Ashley Blawas. You'll hear how one study changed shipping behavior, why voluntary programs work and where they fall short, and how a single sighting from shore can give a whale the time it needs. Takeaways Blue whales respond to approaching ships with slow, shallow dives and never move sideways out of the way Ship speed is the variable humans can change; slower ships give whales time to sink below danger Point Blue's 2017 model estimated 18 blue, 22 humpback, and 43 fin whales killed by ships each year off the U.S. West Coast 74% of modeled blue whale deaths occur in just 10% of the area, so targeted action works In 2025, 787 vessels slowed to 10 knots or less across 481,000+ nautical miles off California Logging sightings in apps like Whale Alert or Ocean Wise's Whale Report helps warn ships in real time Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2040
October 8 · 10 min
When Whale Food Moves: Climate Change, Crab Traps, and Pop-Up Gear
In 2014, a patch of unusually warm water nicknamed "the blob" settled off the west coast of North America. The cold, food-rich water that normally stretches far offshore shrank into a narrow strip along the coast, and hungry humpback whales followed their food straight into the waters where Dungeness crabbers had set thousands of traps, each tied to a vertical rope. Entanglements jumped from about 10 a year to 53 in 2015 and 55 in 2016. In this episode, Andrew traces the line from warmer water to a specific whale in a specific rope. You'll learn why lunge-feeding whales depend on dense patches of krill and anchovy, what scientists mean by habitat compression, and how a toxic algae bloom delayed the crab season right into the humpbacks' spring arrival. Then the story turns to California, where crabbers, scientists, managers, and conservation groups built a fix together: pop-up gear, a ropeless trap that keeps its line and buoy on the seafloor until the fisher sends a signal. After a 2025 trial that landed more than 217,000 pounds of crab during a closure, California approved pop-up gear for spring fishing. Entanglements are still a risk, and Andrew closes with what you can do if you ever see a whale caught in rope. This episode wraps up our week on how whales feed, dive, and move through a changing ocean. Takeaways Lunge-feeding whales need dense prey patches, and those patches move with ocean temperature and circulation. The 2014 to 2016 marine heatwave compressed cold upwelling habitat into a thin coastal band, pulling humpbacks inshore. A toxic algae bloom delayed the 2016 crab season, putting peak fishing on top of peak whale arrival. Confirmed humpback entanglements rose from about 10 a year to 53 in 2015 and 55 in 2016. Pop-up gear removes vertical rope from the water between hauls. In spring 2025, 12 crabbers hauled 25,721 pop-up traps with 98% reliability and 0.2% gear loss. California approved pop-up gear for spring closures (April 1 to July 15) in December 2025. If you see an entangled whale, report it, keep your distance, and never try to free it yourself. Entanglement hotlines United States (NOAA): 1-877-SOS-WHALE (1-877-767-9425) Canada, Pacific (DFO): 1-800-465-4336 Canada, Maritimes (Marine Animal Response Society): 1-866-567-6277 Canada, Quebec (Urgences Mammifères Marins): 1-877-722-5346 Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador (Whale Release and Strandings): 1-888-895-3003 Elsewhere: search for your local marine mammal stranding network and save the number before you head out. Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2039
October 7 · 9 min
The Whale Heart That Beats Twice a Minute
Fill your hands with cold water, hold your breath, and press your face in. Your heart slows within seconds. That reflex lives in every whale in the ocean too, and in a blue whale it is pushed so far that the largest heart on Earth can drop to two beats a minute on a deep dive. In this episode, Andrew walks through the first heart rate recording from a wild blue whale, led by Jeremy Goldbogen's team at Stanford, and a study by Terrie Williams of UC Santa Cruz that tracked narwhals fleeing after release from nets in East Greenland. The narwhals swam as hard as they could while their hearts fell to three or four beats a minute, burning through nearly all their stored oxygen. Andrew also shares what offshore helicopter escape training taught him about holding his breath in cold water. The episode closes with the good news. Countries around the world already protect whales with distance rules, from 100 yards in the United States to 1,000 metres for endangered Southern Resident orcas in Canada. You will learn the simple steps to take the next time you are on the water with whales, so their dive stays a calm one. Takeaways Every mammal has a dive reflex; in some marine mammals it slows the heart by about 90 percent. A tagged blue whale's heart dropped as low as 2 beats a minute on dives and rose to 25 to 37 at the surface. Frightened narwhals sprint while their hearts fall to 3 or 4 beats a minute, using 97 percent of their oxygen stores. Ship traffic, engine noise, and seismic surveys can trigger this costly escape response. Keep at least 100 metres (about 100 yards) from whales, check local rules, and put your engine in neutral if one surfaces close. Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2038
October 6 · 10 min
The Biggest Mouthful: How Blue Whales Eat and Why Krill Matters
A blue whale can swallow a volume of water bigger than its own body in a single gulp. That move, called lunge feeding, is one of the most extreme feats in the animal kingdom, and it only pays off when krill is packed into thick, dense swarms. In a thin patch, a blue whale gets back about six times the energy it spent. In a dense swarm, it gets back more than 200 times. In this first episode of the Age of Giants series, Andrew breaks down how rorqual whales feed, then follows the krill. In 2025, the Antarctic krill fishery hit its 620,000 tonne precautionary limit for the first time and closed months early, with catches concentrated in the same Antarctic Peninsula waters where whales feed. Andrew also explains the "krill paradox": scientists now know whales eat about three times more than older estimates, and their iron-rich poop fertilizes the plankton that krill depend on. Whales help grow the very swarms they eat. The episode closes on South Georgia, where whalers killed 42,698 blue whales and surveys recorded one sighting in twenty years. In 2020, researchers counted 58 blue whale sightings in three weeks. Andrew shares one simple action you can take today to keep more krill in the ocean for whales. Takeaways Rorqual whales (blue, fin, humpback) feed by lunging, expanding pleated throats to engulf huge volumes of water and prey. A single blue whale lunge costs roughly 3,000 to 8,000 kilojoules, so lunge feeding only works on dense krill swarms. A feeding blue whale in the eastern North Pacific can eat about 16 tonnes of krill a day. The Antarctic krill fishery reached its 620,000 tonne trigger level for the first time in 2025 and closed early. Whales recycle iron that fuels plankton growth; Southern Ocean whales recycle about one tenth of the iron they did before whaling. Blue whales are returning to South Georgia after being hunted out locally, about 50 years after whaling ended there. Action: skip krill oil and choose an algae-based omega-3 supplement. Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2037
October 5 · 50 min
Whales Are Sprinters: What a Blue Whale's Heart Does When It Lunge Feeds
What happens to the heart of the largest animal on Earth when it charges into a swarm of krill? Dr. Ashley Blawas, a postdoctoral scholar in Jeremy Goldbogen's lab at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station, joins Andrew to unpack new research published in PNAS that measured the heart rates of lunge-feeding blue whales and humpback whales using suction-cup ECG tags. Ashley explains the three phases of lunge feeding (accelerate, engulf, filter) and why these giants behave a lot like human sprinters. Their heart rates stay high after each lunge, then gradually recover while they glide and filter, refuelling muscles for the next burst. She also shares how body size gives big whales a heart rate range of roughly sevenfold, compared with about threefold in humans, which may be one of the keys to life at the largest scale. Along the way, Ashley tells the story of how beach vacations in North Carolina and a biomedical engineering degree at Duke led her to whale physiology, how COVID pushed her PhD into molecular research, and where this work is heading next. Think minke whales, North Atlantic right whales, and one day a "smartwatch" that could help track whale health over time. Takeaways Lunge feeding has three phases: acceleration (about 4 m/s), engulfment (a few seconds), and filtering (up to 1 to 1.5 minutes in the largest blue whales). Blue and humpback whale heart rates mimic human sprinters, staying elevated after a lunge and recovering gradually. That elevated heart rate likely helps oxygenated blood restore energy stores between lunges. Big whales access a heart rate scope of roughly 5 to 35 bpm, about sevenfold, versus about threefold in humans. Data came from nine tag records on blue and humpback whales across multiple field seasons. Tags attach with suction cups from a roughly 6 m carbon fibre pole and record for about 12 to 36 hours. Lunge feeding only pays off when prey patches are dense, which makes finding those patches a survival issue. Future work targets minke whales, ram-feeding right whales, and long-term health indicators like heart rate variability. Links for Ashley's Work: The PNAS paper discussed in the episode: Sprint-like cardiac dynamics support repeated acrobatic lunges in foraging rorqual whales Ashley's website: ashleyblawas.com Goldbogen Lab: goldbogen.stanford.edu and whales.stanford.edu Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2036
October 2 · 19 min
The Pollution That Breeds: How the Great Lakes Stopped Invaders
In 1988, someone found a striped mussel the size of a fingernail in Lake St. Clair. Within a few years, zebra mussels coated pipes, boats, and the bottom of the Great Lakes, and they became the poster child for "it's too late." Andrew closes Marine Pollution week with the pollutant that breaks every rule: a living one that reproduces instead of diluting. He follows two invaders. Zebra mussels rode in on ship ballast water, clogged power plant intakes, and stripped plankton from the base of the food web. Lionfish, likely released from home aquariums, spread from Florida across the Caribbean and cut the number of young native fish settling on reefs by about 79% in one experiment. Then comes the fight back. Ballast water rules tightened between 1993 and 2008, and new invasions in the Great Lakes fell 85%, to the lowest rate in two centuries. In the Bahamas, keeping lionfish low on small patches of reef let native fish rebound by 50 to 70%. Andrew wraps with the role every boater and paddler plays: clean, drain, and dry, every time. Takeaways: Invasive species are biological pollution, and they multiply over time. Zebra mussels arrived in ballast water and were found in Lake St. Clair in 1988. Densities at one Michigan power plant topped 700,000 mussels per square metre within a year. Lionfish likely reached the Atlantic through aquarium releases and now range from North Carolina to the Caribbean. Lionfish cut the number of young native fish settling on test reefs by about 79% in five weeks. Stricter ballast rules dropped new Great Lakes invasions from 26 to 4 per 13-year period. Keeping lionfish numbers low on targeted reefs let native prey fish rebound by 50 to 70%. Florida divers removed 31,773 lionfish in the 2024 Lionfish Challenge. Ontario has required boaters to drain water and remove plants and animals before moving a boat overland since 2022. Clean, drain, and dry every boat, canoe, kayak, or paddleboard between waterways. Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2035
October 1 · 14 min
How Beach Cleanup Data Helped Canada Ban Plastic
You rinse the yogurt tub, check the number on the bottom, and drop it in the blue bin. In Canada, only about 9% of plastic waste actually gets recycled, and the global rate is the same. Andrew breaks down why plastic is so hard to recycle, why microplastics are so hard to study, and what the controversy over plastic-in-the-brain headlines does and doesn't tell us. Then the story moves to a beach in Stanley Park in 1994, where Vancouver Aquarium staff and volunteers started picking up trash and writing down what they found. That cleanup grew into a national program, and its data fed into the federal science assessment that led Canada to list plastic manufactured items as toxic and ban six single-use items. Industry groups took Ottawa to court and won the first round in 2023. On January 30, 2026, the Federal Court of Appeal reversed that ruling. Andrew walks through what that win delivers: a ban projected to keep more than 22,000 tonnes of plastic pollution out of the environment over ten years, and a Federal Plastics Registry that tracks plastic from the producer to its end of life. He's honest about the setbacks too, then closes with the simplest action in the series: join a shoreline cleanup and record what you find. Takeaways: Canada recycled only about 9% of its plastic waste in 2016, and 86% went to landfill. Globally, plastic waste doubled from 2000 to 2019, and 22% was mismanaged. Plastic is many materials, which is a big reason recycling struggles. Microplastics are everywhere, and that makes clean lab controls hard to find. Some high-profile studies on plastic in the human body now face methodological challenges. Volunteer shoreline cleanup data informed Canada's science assessment of plastic pollution. Canada listed plastic manufactured items as toxic in 2021 and banned six single-use items. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld that listing on January 30, 2026. The Federal Plastics Registry now requires companies to report the plastic they put on the market. Join a shoreline cleanup that records its data, and your tally counts. Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2034
September 30 · 18 min
What Happens to Fish When Our Pills Reach the Water?
In 2001, government scientists started adding a tiny amount of the synthetic estrogen found in birth control pills to a remote lake in northwestern Ontario, at levels already measured in city wastewater. Within seven weeks, male fish were making egg-yolk protein. After two summers, some had eggs growing in their testes, and the fathead minnow population collapsed to about 1% of normal. Andrew explains how the same chemistry leaves our bodies every day, passes through treatment plants built for sewage and bacteria, and flows into rivers, lakes, and the coast. Hormones are only part of it. In Sweden, researchers at Umeå University found that perch exposed to the anti-anxiety drug oxazepam, at levels matching wild fish, became bolder, fed faster, and drifted away from their schools, all behaviours that make a small fish easier to eat. Andrew then goes back to DDT, when bald eagles fell to 417 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states before the 1972 US ban let them climb past 71,000 breeding pairs. The recovery story continues at Lake 260. Once the hormone additions stopped, the minnows came back to pre-experiment levels within three years. Switzerland is now upgrading about 120 treatment plants with ozone or activated carbon to remove more than 80% of these micropollutants, paid for by a small annual fee per person. Andrew closes with the part you control today: take your leftover and expired medications back to a pharmacy. Takeaways: Your body doesn't use every bit of a pill, and what's left leaves in urine. Most treatment plants remove solids and bacteria, and many drug compounds pass straight through. At Lake 260, synthetic estrogen at about 5 to 6 nanograms per litre collapsed the fathead minnow population to about 1%. Lake trout that ate those minnows declined too. Oxazepam made perch bolder, faster feeders, and loners, raising their risk from predators. Bald eagles went from 417 nesting pairs in 1963 to more than 71,000 breeding pairs after DDT was banned. Lake 260's minnows recovered within three years once the hormone additions stopped. Switzerland is adding ozone and activated carbon treatment to about 120 plants to remove more than 80% of micropollutants. Ontario's free pharmacy return program collected more than 330,000 kg of medications in 2024. Keep taking what your doctor prescribes, and return the leftovers to a pharmacy instead of flushing or trashing them. Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2033
September 29 · 16 min
How Did Humpback Whales End Up in New York Harbour?
This summer, people are boarding whale watching boats and seeing humpbacks feeding in sight of the Manhattan skyline. Fifty years ago, that same water was an open sewer, and every toilet on Manhattan's West Side flushed straight into the Hudson River, untreated. Andrew tells the story of how the whales got here, and why it took most of a century. He starts with the cause: sewers built to empty into the rivers, roughly 590 million gallons of raw sewage a day by the early 1900s, and floating screens at Coney Island to keep it away from swimmers. Then the turn. The city began testing the harbor in 1909 because people demanded it. In 1966, Hudson River fishermen met in an American Legion hall in Crotonville and used an 1899 bounty law against polluters, founding what became Riverkeeper. The Clean Water Act followed in 1972. The North River treatment plant, first proposed in 1938, finally opened in 1986 and ended daily raw sewage discharges into the Hudson, with the West Harlem community carrying the cost of its siting and sparking the environmental justice group WE ACT. The results are hard to argue with: bacteria below dry-weather swimming standards since 1992, record oxygen levels, and 500 individual humpbacks identified in New York waters by Gotham Whale, helped by menhaden catch limits that let their food rebound. The work isn't finished, since heavy rain still pushes sewage through roughly 700 overflow outfalls. Andrew closes with one action: find your local Waterkeeper and follow your own water. Takeaways: New York's sewers were designed to empty straight into the Hudson, the East River, and the harbor. By the early 1900s, roughly 590 million gallons of raw sewage a day flowed into the harbor. The city's Harbor Survey began in 1909 because of public outcry, and it still runs today. In 1966, Hudson River fishermen used an 1899 bounty law against polluters and founded what became Riverkeeper, now a model for more than 300 Waterkeeper groups. The 1972 Clean Water Act required real treatment and funded it. The North River plant took nearly 50 years from proposal (1938) to opening (1986). The plant's siting in West Harlem led to the founding of WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Bacteria have stayed below dry-weather swimming standards since 1992. Humpback sightings in the harbor estuary jumped from 1 (2011 to 2013) to 45 (2014 to 2016); 500 individuals have now been identified. Cleaner water and 2012 menhaden catch limits worked together to bring the whales back. Combined sewer overflows during heavy rain are the unfinished business. Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2028
September 28 · 40 min
Plastic Is Still the Ocean's #1 Villain, with Dr. Judith Weis
Plastic keeps getting made, it never goes away, and almost none of it gets recycled. Dr. Judith Weis, Professor Emerita at Rutgers University Newark and Andrew's very first guest on this podcast more than 2,000 episodes ago, returns for her fourth appearance to talk about the second edition of her book, Marine Pollution: What Everyone Needs to Know. Judith walks through every major category of marine pollution: nutrients, metals, oil, pesticides, marine debris, pharmaceuticals, ocean acidification, and one category that surprises most people, biological pollution. She explains why microplastics earned a brand new chapter, why they're so hard to study when they're in every lab and every body, and what Canada's legal fight over listing plastic as toxic means for regulation. There's good news too. Judith grew up near a Hudson River full of raw sewage. After the Clean Water Act and new treatment plants, New Yorkers now walk the waterfront, the water is swimmable in dry weather, and humpback whales feed in New York Harbor. Andrew and Judith ask what that comeback can and can't teach us about plastic, and what you can do today. Takeaways: Every major type of marine pollution comes down to three questions: where it comes from, what it does, and what we can do about it. Judith calls plastic the number one villain in marine pollution today because production keeps rising and recycling doesn't work at scale. Microplastics are 5 mm or smaller, mostly invisible, and carry chemicals both inside them and stuck to their surfaces. They're so widespread that researchers struggle to find microplastic-free controls for experiments. Canada listed plastic manufactured items as toxic under CEPA, banned six single-use categories, and saw that listing upheld on appeal. Large tanker spills have become far less common, with double hulls part of the reason. Sewage treatment after the Clean Water Act transformed the Hudson River and New York Harbor, and whales are back. Pharmaceuticals and hormones pass through treatment plants and change fish behavior and biology. Invasive species count as biological pollution, and unlike chemicals, they reproduce. Beach cleanups, local environmental chapters, and cutting your own plastic use are practical places to start. Buy the book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/marine-pollution-9780197753811?cc=ca&lang=en& Join the newsletter Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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S1 · E2031
September 25 · 13 min
You Left a Public Comment. Now What?
All week, Andrew has asked listeners to comment on and show up for California's marine protected area review. Today he answers the question that comes after: once the meeting ends and the news coverage stops, how do you find out if anything actually changed? He works through four practical questions every ocean advocate should know how to answer. First, where to find the current rules for any of the 124 MPAs in California's network (the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's own MPA pages). Second, why a Fish and Game Commission vote isn't the finish line, since approved changes still go through the state's formal rulemaking process before they're enforceable, which can take months. Third, how the rules get enforced on the ground, including MPA Watch, a statewide community science program where trained volunteers record how people use the coast inside and outside MPAs. Fourth, what happens to a petition that doesn't get adopted, and why the 10-year adaptive management cycle means it can come back. Andrew closes with the bigger picture from this week: MPA design brings together natural science, social science, and the voices of everyone who uses the coast, and everyone deserves to feel safe speaking. He wants to hear from California listeners about MPA Watch and this week's episodes. Next week, Dr. Judith Weis joins the show to talk marine pollution. Takeaways: CDFW's MPA pages are the authoritative, current source for maps and rules at every MPA in California. A Commission vote starts the formal rulemaking process; a change only becomes enforceable once that process is complete. The gap between approval and enforcement can take months, and that time is spent making sure a rule holds up in law. MPA Watch trains volunteers to record human activity inside and outside MPAs, and CDFW and research partners use that data. About 2,000 volunteers had joined MPA Watch by 2019. California reviews its MPA network every 10 years, so a petition that doesn't pass this cycle can be revisited with new science and data. MPA design draws on natural science, social science, and community input together. You can take part by checking the rules, joining MPA Watch, or simply attending a Commission meeting to observe. Website: https://californiampas.org/about-mpas/california-state-mpas Support Independent Podcasts: https://www.speakupforblue.com/patreon Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: https://www.piscesoceans.ca Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@speakupforblue Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc YouTube: www.speakupforblue.com/youtube
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