How To Protect The Ocean
The ocean’s problems are big. You’re allowed to start small. How to Protect the Ocean is the podcast for anyone who cares about the ocean and wants to do something about it. Each episode, marine biologist and science communicator Andrew Lewin breaks down the latest ocean science and conservation news, shares stories of people and communities making real change, and gives you one simple action you can take. Climate change, plastic pollution, overfishing, coastal development: the news can feel overwhelming. This show helps you turn that worry into action, one episode at a time.
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From Small Towns to a Global Treaty
11/06/2026
From Small Towns to a Global Treaty
"We'll never see that in our lifetime." You've probably heard it about the ocean. Andrew has heard it plenty, and admits he's said it too. For years it was the standard answer about protecting the high seas, the two-thirds of the ocean that lies beyond any country's borders. Then the High Seas Treaty was agreed, entered into force in January 2026, and passed 100 countries in September, Canada included. In this week's wrap-up, Andrew uses that win to show why a global plastics treaty can happen too, and how it gets built from the ground up. He walks through the ladder: a town like Tofino banning plastics one item at a time, the case that takes to the province, Canada's national single-use plastics ban and the court fight over it, and finally the global treaty talks, where more than 100 countries back cutting plastic production while a handful of oil producers and a crowd of industry lobbyists push back. You'll hear why the lobbyists showing up is a sign the treaty is a real threat to business as usual, what high-ambition countries could do if the UN process stalls, why community pride like the kind Andrew saw around Lake Superior is the energy this needs, and the one email you can send before the weekend. Links mentioned in this episode Surfrider Foundation Canada: Take action and email your MP: Start or join a Surfrider Canada chapter or club: High Seas Alliance: High Seas Treaty passes 100 parties (September 2026): Geneva Environment Network: Global Plastics Treaty timeline and INC-5.4: Monday's episode: Lilly Woodbury, Surfrider Foundation Canada: Tuesday's episode: Too Enthusiastic? Finding your place in ocean action: Wednesday's episode: The Beach That Doesn't Need Cleaning Anymore: [ADD LINK] Thursday's episode: The Straw Backlash: Why Guilt Doesn't Work: Takeaways "Not in our lifetime" was the answer on the high seas for years, until the High Seas Treaty became international law in 2026 Big agreements take patient, resilient people willing to compromise, and enough public push Local plastic bans become proof for provinces, provincial rules become proof for countries, and national bans build the case for a global treaty Canada's single-use plastics ban survived a Federal Court of Appeal challenge in January 2026; the Supreme Court will hear industry's appeal next More than 100 countries back a path to cutting plastic production; a handful of oil producers are blocking it Record lobbyist turnout signals that industry sees the treaty as a real threat Your action: email your MP before the weekend and ask Ottawa to be ambitious on plastics Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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The Straw Backlash: Why Guilt Doesn't Work
11/05/2026
The Straw Backlash: Why Guilt Doesn't Work
"You can't care about plastic. Your phone is made of plastic." If you've ever heard that, you know what it's for. It's designed to make you feel like a hypocrite, so you give up. In this episode, Andrew goes back to one of the most famous moments in plastic pollution: the 2015 video of researchers in Costa Rica pulling a plastic straw from an olive ridley sea turtle's nose. A few months later, the same researcher pulled a plastic fork from another turtle. The straw video helped spark a global push against single-use plastics, and then the straw itself became a punchline. Andrew explains why the straw was never the point (it was a gateway to all the single-use plastic we don't need), why the backlash is louder than it is large, and why plastic has grown from a turtle problem into a human health, climate and biodiversity issue. Then he gets to the heart of it: guilt doesn't work. Plastic is a system design problem, not a personal failing, and solutions-first conversations bring people in where blame pushes them away. You'll leave with a simple answer to the next "your phone is plastic" comment. Links mentioned in this episode The 2015 sea turtle straw video (graphic): Oceana Canada and Abacus Data (2024): Canadians' support for the single-use plastics ban: IMCC8, Edinburgh, November 13 to 17, 2026: Takeaways "Your phone is made of plastic" is a guilt trap designed to make you give up The straw video went viral in 2015 and helped launch a global push against single-use plastics The straw was never the point; it was a gateway to all the single-use plastic we don't need Polls show most Canadians support the single-use plastics ban; the backlash is a loud minority Plastic is now a human health, climate, biodiversity and human rights issue, not just a turtle problem Guilt makes people tune out; solutions-first messages bring them in Your action: next time someone says "your phone is plastic," agree, and say that's exactly why the system needs to change
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The Beach That Doesn't Need Cleaning Anymore
11/04/2026
The Beach That Doesn't Need Cleaning Anymore
Picture a beach cleanup. Two hours of hauling bottles, wrappers and foam off the sand. Now picture the same beach ten years later, where you walk the whole length and come home empty-handed. Not because nobody cleaned it, but because there's nothing left to clean. That's a real story, and it happened in Tofino, a surf town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In 2016 its beaches were covered in plastic, and the local Surfrider chapter realized they could clean every weekend for the rest of their lives and it would never stop. So they changed tactics. They went to the businesses handing out single-use plastic, skipped the blame and shame, and spoke to what those businesses cared about: being environmental leaders. Andrew walks through the playbook that followed. Make the early adopters the heroes. Offer real alternatives, reusables first and locally compostable fibre second. Keep straws on hand for people who need them. Then lock it in with policy. Over a decade, Tofino and Ucluelet banned plastic straws, bags, foam takeout containers and cutlery, and this past April Tofino became the first municipality in Canada to ban the sale of single-use plastic water bottles. You'll also hear why a committed minority can be enough to tip a community, and the one conversation you can have this week to start the same thing where you live. Links mentioned in this episode Surfrider Foundation Canada: Start or join a chapter or club: Surfrider Pacific Rim coastal victories: District of Tofino: single-use items bylaw: District of Tofino: Canada's first plastic water bottle ban: Centola et al. (2018), Science: tipping points in social convention: Monday's episode: Lilly Woodbury, Surfrider Foundation Canada: Takeaways Cleanups matter, but the goal is to make them unnecessary by stopping plastic at the source Tofino's volunteers stopped blaming businesses and spoke to what they valued: pride in being environmental leaders Promoting a few early adopters made other businesses want in Real alternatives made change possible: reusables first, locally compostable fibre second, rigid bioplastics skipped Accessibility stays in the plan: straws on hand for anyone who needs one Voluntary change builds support; bans lock it in for everyone Your action: have one friendly conversation with a local business owner about reusables Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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Too Enthusiastic? How to Find Your Place in Ocean Action
11/03/2026
Too Enthusiastic? How to Find Your Place in Ocean Action
Do you ever feel disconnected from ocean action? You sign the petition, you donate, you share the post, and you still don't feel like you're doing the work. Andrew knows the feeling. Fresh out of his undergrad, he emailed organization after organization offering to help for free, and mostly heard nothing back. In this episode he explains why that happens (it usually comes down to trust and how organizations take on volunteers), and how to get past it. He also retells the story of Lilly Woodbury from yesterday's episode: an environmental studies grad who kept hitting the same wall until she showed up to a Surfrider meeting in Tofino. A decade later, she's the campaigns and storytelling director at Surfrider Foundation Canada. You'll hear why following your curiosity beats waiting to find your passion, why you should look for groups that invest in people, why you don't need to be a surfer to join Surfrider, and exactly what it takes to start a chapter or student club where you live. Links mentioned in this episode Surfrider Foundation Canada: Start or join a chapter or club: Surfrider Canada student clubs: Surfrider Atlantic Canada: Surfrider Foundation (US chapters): Yesterday's episode: Lilly Woodbury, Surfrider Foundation Canada: Takeaways Offering to help for free often goes nowhere because organizations need trust and capacity to take on volunteers Big organizations mostly ask you to donate or sign; that can leave you feeling like a spectator You don't need a degree, a scuba ticket or a surfboard to contribute in a real way Follow your curiosity: showing up to one meeting or event can open doors you didn't know existed Look for groups that invest in people and help you build skills, not ones that just need tasks done People come for the impact and stay for the community, and that shared identity is how ocean culture shifts Your action this week: find one local group and go to one event. You don't have to speak; just listen Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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Come for the Impact, Stay for the People: Inside Surfrider Canada
11/02/2026
Come for the Impact, Stay for the People: Inside Surfrider Canada
Do you ever feel like ocean action is happening somewhere else? You sign the petition, maybe donate, but you're not really part of the work. Lilly Woodbury knows that feeling, and she found her way in by walking into a Surfrider meeting in Tofino in 2016. Lilly is the campaigns and storytelling director at Surfrider Foundation Canada. In this episode she tells Andrew how a small volunteer chapter helped Tofino and Ucluelet ban plastic straws, bags, cutlery and foam containers, and how Tofino became the first municipality in Canada to ban single-use plastic water bottles. Ten years in, she says the local beaches are so clean the chapter no longer runs cleanups there. You'll hear why Surfrider works with businesses instead of against them, why blaming and shaming individuals backfires, and why people come for the impact but stay for the community. Lilly also explains how Surfrider Canada became its own international affiliate in 2022, how local bans build pressure for provincial, federal and global action on plastics, and exactly what it takes to start a chapter or student club where you live. No surfboard required. Links mentioned in this episode Surfrider Foundation Canada: Start a chapter or club: Take action and email your MP: Surfrider Pacific Rim victories: District of Tofino: Canada's first plastic water bottle ban: Andrew's episode with Chad Nelsen, Surfrider Foundation CEO: Andrew's episodes on the sea turtle straw video with Nathan Robinson: Surfrider Foundation Canada socials Instagram: X: Takeaways You don't have to watch ocean action from the sidelines; local chapters let you do the work alongside your community Surfrider meets businesses where they are, works with suppliers on alternatives, and promotes early adopters until others want in Reusables come first; where that's not possible, locally compostable fibre beats rigid bioplastics Guilt-based messaging turns people off; solutions and shared identity keep them engaged Local bans prove what works, then become the case for provincial, national and global action The goal of a cleanup is to make cleanups unnecessary Starting a chapter takes a committed group of five to nine people, some seed funding, and a relationship with the local Indigenous nation from day one
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One Promise: How a Postcard Changed Behaviour for a Year
10/31/2026
One Promise: How a Postcard Changed Behaviour for a Year
Picture a kid at an aquarium in Durban, standing in front of the penguins with a pen and a postcard. She writes one sentence, a promise to change one habit for the ocean, and drops it into a little post box. More than a year later, researchers emailed visitors like her to ask if they'd kept their promise. About half could point to a real change they'd made. This week's episodes covered a lot: marine protected areas nobody can name, a reef that rebuilt itself, and why "fishing is bad" pushes people away. If all of that left you feeling heavy, this episode is for you. Andrew talks about eco-anxiety, the freeze that comes from caring about a problem this big, and shares the moment with a family member that pushed him into science communication: most people care, but nobody has handed them a first step that fits their life. Then he takes you to uShaka Sea World, where educator Gabrielle Harris launched Penguin Promises in 2011 for the African penguin, a species now listed as Critically Endangered. You'll hear why one handwritten promise worked when so many campaigns fade at the exit, how Wild Alliance Africa turns MPA Day on the Aliwal Shoal into a day out with friends, and the one action that ties the whole week together. Links mentioned in this episode Penguin Promises (SAAMBR / uShaka Sea World): Mann, Ballantyne & Packer (2018), the Penguin Promises follow-up study: Wild Alliance Africa's MPA Day on the Aliwal Shoal (2025 coverage): Tuesday's episode: why nobody can name a marine protected area: Wednesday's episode: the reef that rebuilt itself: Thursday's episode: why "fishing is bad" backfires: Takeaways Eco-anxiety can freeze you in place: the problem feels so big that every action seems pointless, so you do nothing and feel worse Most people care about the ocean; they're overwhelmed, and nobody has handed them a first step that fits their life Penguin Promises asked aquarium visitors for one written promise instead of money, and collected more than 10,000 by 2015 In a follow-up 12 to 18 months later, about half of respondents could describe a positive change they'd made because of their promise The postcard worked because it was specific, handwritten, small enough to start that day, and tied to something people loved Starting in your own community, and with a group, gives you impact plus people who share your values Your action: write down one specific ocean promise, put it where you'll see it every day, and tell someone Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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Why Saying "Fishing Is Bad" Backfires
10/29/2026
Why Saying "Fishing Is Bad" Backfires
Picture a woman on a beach before sunrise, sorting the night's catch to feed her kids. Now picture a campaign poster that says "Stop eating fish." That poster just reached her. When conservation messages treat every fisher the same, the people with the smallest footprint stop coming to meetings, stop sharing catch data with scientists, and step out of the conversation entirely. Andrew walks through the Illuminating Hidden Harvests study from the FAO, Duke University and WorldFish, which found that small-scale fisheries land at least 40% of the world's wild catch and employ about 60 million people, roughly 90% of everyone who works in fisheries. Then he lays out four principles for a better approach: support the fishers already doing it well, aim pressure at the industrial systems with the biggest impacts, show communities how marine protected areas can feed their fisheries, and make the good choice easy at the moment of purchase. That last principle brings us to Vancouver, where chef Robert Clark and Jason Boyce of the Vancouver Aquarium created Ocean Wise, a simple symbol on the menu that grew into a national sustainable seafood program. You'll leave with one question to ask every time you buy seafood, and a clearer picture of how that question pulls the whole system toward better choices. Links mentioned in this episode Illuminating Hidden Harvests (FAO, Duke University and WorldFish, 2023): Ocean Wise Seafood: Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch: WWF SASSI (South Africa): Takeaways Blanket "fishing is bad" messaging lands hardest on small-scale fishers and pushes them away from science and conservation Small-scale fisheries land at least 40% of global wild catch and employ about 60 million people, around 90% of fisheries workers Nearly 53 million more people fish to feed their own families, and about 4 in 10 small-scale fisheries workers are women Co-management covers only about 20% of small-scale catch, leaving lots of room to bring fishers into decisions Accountability belongs with how large industrial fleets are permitted, monitored and held to the rules Healthy marine protected areas can help fisheries through spillover into fishing grounds Programs like Ocean Wise, Seafood Watch and SASSI make sustainable choices simple at the counter Your action: next time you buy seafood, ask where it came from and how it was caught Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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The Reef That Built Itself Back: Coral Recovery After Bleaching
10/28/2026
The Reef That Built Itself Back: Coral Recovery After Bleaching
In 2023, a marine heat wave settled over Palmyra Atoll, a remote ring of coral islands about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii, and stayed for more than half a year. Some of the reef’s most vibrant corals turned white. Joe Pollock of The Nature Conservancy, who monitors the reef, admitted he didn’t know if it would come back. Three years later, he put his face in the water and found the reef floor covered in baby corals. In this episode, I break down why Palmyra recovered when so many reefs struggle. It comes down to an intact food web: parrotfish that graze algae off the reef, a bubblegum-pink crustose coralline algae that holds space for young corals, and sharks that keep the whole system in balance. Then we travel to Tsitsikamma, Africa’s oldest marine protected area, where Rhodes University researchers found that protected red roman stayed active through an extreme cold spell while fished populations slowed down. Protected areas buy reefs time, and cutting emissions decides how much time they need. I close with one simple action you can take this year: submitting a short comment of support the next time a marine protected area consultation opens in your region. Here’s the template from the episode, ready to copy and paste: “I support protecting this area because intact ecosystems recover faster from heat waves. Please give science-based protections full weight.” Takeaways Bleached coral is starving, not dead, and can recover if the heat breaks in time Palmyra’s reef recovered with a “sea of baby corals” whose parents survived the 2023 bleaching Corals that survive bleaching often tolerate heat better and can pass that tolerance to offspring Parrotfish, crustose coralline algae, and sharks form the “crew of three” that keeps a reef ready to recover Protected red roman in South Africa kept moving through a cold spell that slowed fished populations At 1.5°C of warming, 70 to 90% of coral reefs are projected to decline, so emissions cuts remain the primary fix One two-sentence comment on an MPA consultation counts Important Links and Calls to Action Copy-and-paste comment for your next MPA consultation: “I support protecting this area because intact ecosystems recover faster from heat waves. Please give science-based protections full weight.” NPR: There are still nearly pristine coral reefs. They’re a blueprint for coral restoration: Chasing Coral (Netflix documentary): Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network 2025 Report (living coral down about 10% since 1980): Corals that survive bleaching gain heat tolerance (NPR): Crustose coralline algae, the unsung architects of coral reefs (Smithsonian Ocean): High apex predator biomass on remote Pacific islands (Palmyra predator density): Global decline of oceanic sharks and rays, 71% since 1970 (Nature): Red roman study, Mlotshwa et al., Rhodes University (African Journal of Marine Science): IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C: Super Reefs framework (The Nature Conservancy, WHOI, Stanford): Mote Marine Laboratory releases hatchery-raised Caribbean king crabs: New hope for Puerto Rico’s coral reefs, sea urchin restoration (NOAA Fisheries): Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Marine Protected Areas: Government of Canada, Consulting with Canadians: US federal public comment periods (Regulations.gov, includes NOAA): Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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Why Nobody Can Name a Marine Protected Area
10/27/2026
Why Nobody Can Name a Marine Protected Area
Quick test: name one marine protected area in your country. If you came up blank, you're in good company. When an aquarium in Durban, South Africa surveyed its visitors, fewer than one in five could name a single MPA. Andrew Lewin explains why that silence is one of the biggest threats MPAs face, because a place nobody can name is a place nobody defends when it gets weakened, shrunk or quietly reopened. This episode follows South Africa's long road from protecting 0.4% of its mainland ocean to 5.4%, and the communicators who realized the science and consultations were done but the public was missing. They called MPAs "nature reserves of the sea," talked about what protection does for people, and built a simple map that let visitors find their own town beside a protected area. That idea grew into MPA Day, a celebration that started with a phone call to a handful of friends and now runs every 1 August in more than 25 countries with UN Ocean Decade endorsement. Andrew practices what he preaches by naming one: the Gully, a giant canyon off Nova Scotia where northern bottlenose whales hold their breath for over an hour. Then he hands you a five-minute task. Find the MPA closest to you, learn one species that lives there, and share it with the HTPTO community so we can build a list of places named by listeners around the world. Takeaways Most people can't name a single marine protected area, and that lack of awareness leaves MPAs exposed to quiet rollbacks Ocean protected areas have no gates or signs, so they need communicators to make them visible South Africa's 20 new MPAs took more than a decade of science and consultation, then needed public support to cross the finish line Framing MPAs as "nature reserves of the sea" connects a new idea to one people already know Explaining what MPAs do for people (more fish, tourism jobs, storm protection) builds support faster than biodiversity language alone A map showing protected areas near people's own towns was the most effective exhibit at the aquarium MPA Day grew from a few friends in 2021 to a global event endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade Your task: find your nearest MPA at protectedplanet.net and learn one species that lives there Links: For the call to action: Anywhere in the world: Canada: United States: , which includes an For the stories in the episode MPA Day: South Africa’s MPA network: , run by SANBI and its partners The uShaka survey and how the exhibit came about: The Gully:
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Can You Name One Marine Protected Area? Dr. Judy Mann-Lang on MPA Day
10/26/2026
Can You Name One Marine Protected Area? Dr. Judy Mann-Lang on MPA Day
Most people can't name a single marine protected area in their own country. Dr. Judy Mann-Lang found that out the hard way when she asked aquarium visitors to name one and they named the aquarium. With South Africa's new MPAs stalled on a minister's desk and oil and gas lobbyists in the room, she realized the ocean needed public support that didn't yet exist. That gap became MPA Day. Judy spent 30 years at uShaka Sea World in Durban, moving from education to CEO to conservation strategist, then five years with the Two Oceans Aquarium, earning a PhD on how effectively aquariums communicate conservation along the way. She and Andrew talk about layering messages for visitors who have never seen an aquarium, the Penguin Promises study that tracked whether people kept a conservation pledge a year later, why sustainable seafood is complicated, and the two shifts that made MPA Day work: explaining MPAs as nature reserves in the sea, and showing how they support people as well as biodiversity. You'll leave with a clearer sense of why invisible boundaries are so hard to love, how a single idea grew from one aquarium to celebrations around the world, and what you can do on 1 August next year. Judy also shares how she handles eco-anxiety: start in your own community, and get outside to the places that keep you inspired. Links mentioned in this episode MPA Day: Two Oceans Aquarium: Communication4Nature (African Conservation and Rangers): Mission Blue Hope Spots: ProtectBaltic: Andrew's YouTube video on Palmyra Atoll's coral recovery: Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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What the Sustainable Seafood Label Can’t See
10/23/2026
What the Sustainable Seafood Label Can’t See
You bought the fish with the green check mark. Investigators with The Outlaw Ocean Project then checked the supply chains behind hundreds of seafood companies making sustainability claims, and more than half had a documented crime or concern somewhere upstream. In the final episode of our fish feed series, Andrew Lewin looks at what sustainable seafood labels cover and where their audits stop. Follow fishmeal from Western Sahara to ASC-certified sea bass farms in Türkiye that supply UK supermarkets, and from the Golden Lead plant in Gunjur, The Gambia, to a certified shrimp feed mill in Vietnam whose customers ship to Canadian freezer aisles. Most certification audits focus on the farm, which means the origins of the feed often rest on paperwork. Andrew also explains why crew interviews at sea rarely happen in the conditions that would let workers speak freely. Then hear what happened in 2023, when investigators published trade records linking Uyghur forced labour to seafood sold in North America and Europe. Companies cut ties with named suppliers within a day. Visibility changed behaviour, and that is where you come in: one email to your grocery chain asking whether its seafood policy covers fish feed adds to the pressure that rewrites next year’s supply chain report. Takeaways Seafood certification audits mostly focus on the farm and sometimes the processor, so fishmeal sources further upstream often go unexamined Fishmeal linked to Western Sahara and to a polluting plant in The Gambia has been traced toward certified feed mills and farms supplying major retailers Seafood Watch ratings cover environmental impact; labour risk sits in a separate business tool In 2023, seafood buyers cut ties with suppliers within a day once evidence of forced labour was public Canada (S-211), the UK (modern slavery statements) and Australia require large companies to report on forced labour in supply chains One email asking “Does your seafood policy cover fish feed?” is a simple, effective action Links and Important Notes: Food for Feed investigation (The Outlaw Ocean Project): The main hub for the series you built this week around. Bait to Plate tool: This lets listeners trace companies themselves, which fits the episode’s “you can see the chain” message. Canada: S-211 report catalogue (Public Safety Canada): The government library catalogue holds filed reports under the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, so Canadian listeners can search their grocer directly. UK: Modern Slavery Statement Registry (GOV.UK): The government registry lets you search statements with filters. One caveat worth knowing: submission is still voluntary, and not every organisation has added its statement yet, so UK listeners may need to check the company’s own website. Dr. Judy Mann-Lang / MPA Day: tease next week’s episode with a link once it’s live.
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Ships Without License Plates: The Dark Fleet Behind Fishmeal
10/22/2026
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: 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. 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. Outlaw Ocean, The Gambia story. This covers the 2019 patrol, the blank logbooks and the crew sleeping on the wheelhouse roof. Outlaw Ocean, Russia story. This covers Viktor Boshko and the Kalinovka. Sea Shepherd Global. This is their report on the March 2024 arrest of eight trawlers. ESA summary of the 2024 Nature study. This explains the 75% untracked finding. Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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Whose Dinner Becomes Fish Feed?
10/21/2026
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): Food for Feed investigation (fishmeal series): Gambia reporting: Mauritania reporting: Outlaw Ocean Substack: Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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The Fish That Feed Your Fish: What Farmed Salmon Really Eat
10/20/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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What Your Farmed Salmon Ate: Inside a Five-Year Fishmeal Investigation
10/19/2026
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: Bait to Plate supply chain tool: Food for Feed findings: Methodology, including country-by-country partner groups: Company and certifier responses (Discussion page): The Outlaw Ocean Project: Amnesty International: Greenpeace: Oceana: Sea Shepherd: 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: The Squid You Eat is a Mystery: 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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How to Read the Seafood Counter Like a Marine Biologist
10/16/2026
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 Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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Is Bottom Trawling Always Bad? It Depends Where
10/15/2026
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 Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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The Trapdoor That Saves Sea Turtles From Shrimp Nets
10/14/2026
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
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The Cod Came Back: What a Fishery Collapse Teaches Us About Overfishing
10/13/2026
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 by Dr David Shiffman now Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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How to Choose Sustainable Seafood
10/12/2026
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.
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Slow Down for Whales: How Global Shipping Learned to Share the Ocean
10/11/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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When Whale Food Moves: Climate Change, Crab Traps, and Pop-Up Gear
10/08/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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The Whale Heart That Beats Twice a Minute
10/07/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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The Biggest Mouthful: How Blue Whales Eat and Why Krill Matters
10/06/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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Whales Are Sprinters: What a Blue Whale's Heart Does When It Lunge Feeds
10/05/2026
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: Ashley's website: Goldbogen Lab: and Support Independent Podcasts: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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The Pollution That Breeds: How the Great Lakes Stopped Invaders
10/02/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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How Beach Cleanup Data Helped Canada Ban Plastic
10/01/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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What Happens to Fish When Our Pills Reach the Water?
09/30/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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How Did Humpback Whales End Up in New York Harbour?
09/29/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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Plastic Is Still the Ocean's #1 Villain, with Dr. Judith Weis
09/28/2026
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: Need help with your ocean non-profit, company, or project? Get the help you need with Pisces Oceans Inc.: Connect with Speak Up For Blue Website: Instagram: TikTok: Twitter: YouTube:
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