How To Protect The Ocean

By Andrew LewinScience Nature

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How To Protect The Ocean episodes

November 22, 2021 SUFB 1238: Lobster fishing vs protecting the North Atlantic Right Whale
The North Atlantic Right whale's population dipped from 366 to 336 from 2019 to 2020 making it the lowest it has been in 20 years. Whale entanglement is the leading culprit in the North Atlantic Right Whale's mortality off the coast of Maine. Lobster fishing gear tends to be the gear that entangles the whales.

A court recently ruled on whether the government should implement a 4-month ban on offshore lobster fishing in Maine to protect migrating North Atlantic Right whales that travel through the area. The court ruled against the ban on lobster fishing to protect the $1.4 billion fishing industry citing the data presented by the government was not sufficient enough to show a risk to the whale population in the area. The government is appealing the decision.

Conservationists are calling for more collaborations between conservations and fishers to help make new technologies safer and more affordable gear (such as lineless lobster traps.

Link to article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/12/maine-lobster-fishers-fight-conservationists-entangled-whales?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue
18 min
November 19, 2021 SUFB 1237: Assessing Shark Fisheries in Bangladesh with Alifa Haque
This interview with Alifa Haque is a sample of the second episode of season 2 of the Beyond Jaws podcast about the science and conservation actions for wedgefish and guitarfish.

Alifa is a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford and is studying shark catches in Bangladesh, her home country.

In this episode, Alifa tells the story of how she wanted to learn more about the shark fishery in her country after observing how many sharks the fishers catch. Alifa built relationships with the fishers and formed her own citizen science project that had volunteers work with fishers at various sites along the coastline.

Find out how her data is being used to inform future policy.

Follow the podcast here: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/beyond-jaws/ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3DnGntm Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3FnQ9MB Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3ozRFEC

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue
32 min
November 17, 2021 SUFB 1236: Beyond Jaws Podcast Season 2 Out Now!
My co-host for the Beyond Jaws Jaws podcast, Dr. David Ebert, joins me on the podcast today to discuss the new season of our podcast discussing wedgefish and guitarfish science and conservation. Wedgefish and guitarfish are commonly known as rhino rays or shark rays due to their long rostrum and uniquely shaped bodies.

This season of Beyond Jaws features interviews of shark scientists from all over the world that are studying the life history, ecology, and the conservation of these species.

Follow the podcast here: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/beyond-jaws/ Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3DnGntm Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3FnQ9MB Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3ozRFEC

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue
42 min
November 15, 2021 SUFB 1235: The Mediterranean Sea is full of plastic despite international policies to reduce it
OceanEye, a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting plastic pollution in the Mediterranean Sea to understand the level of pollution, has contributed data and results to international bodies such as the IUCN and UN for their reports. The reports address the plastic pollution problem in the sea that is bordered by 22 countries.

Each country has its own policies to dispose of its trash; however, some of its waste management systems are not up to par to prevent the trash from entering the Meditteranean Sea.

Now that there is more data available, governing bodies and non-profit organizations can work with countries to help assess their plastic pollution problem.

Links: Article: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/despite-deals-plans-and-bans-the-mediterranean-is-awash-in-plastic/ OceanEye: https://www.oceaneye.ch/

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue
19 min
November 12, 2021 SUFB 1234: COP26 National Climate Announcements and Local Climate Action
I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the latest voicemail that came in was from my neighbour Brynn, who lives two doors down the street from me. She responded to my request for people to send a voicemail to discuss their thoughts on the COP26 announcements.
Brynn found more hope in local action and less hope in federal announcements. Cities tend to take a more action-based approach to climate change as their problems affect their citizens faster and at a local level.

I also discuss some criticism I received in an email about a recent episode on the Fore Islands and the dolphin hunt.

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue
23 min
November 10, 2021 SUFB 1233: COP26 - Canadian Pledges and Indigenous and Scientist Reactions
COP26 is all about the big announcements and Canada definitely made a big one. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada will cap emissions on the oil and gas industry, but the cap won't affect the production of oil and gas.

Canadian scientist and environmentalist, Dr. David Suzuki, did not attend COP26 this year because he is tired of empty promises. He is happy that the government made the announcement to cap oil and gas emissions, but would hope to see action soon.

Indigenous groups were divided on the meeting. Some past attendees opted to stay in their communities to implement community action for a better climate while others attended the meeting as they thought it was their duty to represent their communities.

What do you think of the announcement? Have your say by leaving a voicemail here: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/

Links to articles: 1) https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-magazine-for-october-31-2021-1.6229995/why-david-suzuki-skipped-cop26-and-where-he-sees-glimmers-of-hope-in-climate-action-1.6235757

2) https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/what-on-earth-indigenous-climate-action-cop26-1.6237216

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue

26 min
November 08, 2021 SUFB 1232: COP26 Major Announcements within the first week
Good ol' COP26, the Climate Change meeting, is happening again and there were some major announcements made at the meeting by countries such as the US, India, and Canada. I will cover the Canadian announcement in the next episode.

The announcements sounded great, but what do scientists think about the announcements.

Link to article: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03034-z

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue
18 min
November 05, 2021 SUFB 1231: Teamseas - Should Ocean Conservancy be on the same campaign as the Ocean Clean Up?
I received some great questions from some audience members about episode 1230 where I interviewed Dr. Virginia Schutte about the Teamseas campaign and why you might not want to support the campaign, but donate directly to an organization's programs (such as the Ocean Conservancy's Plastic Pollution Program).

Andrew Lester-Coll asked another great question today. He asked whether it was a good idea for the Ocean Conservancy to team up with the Ocean Clean Up for the #Teamseas campaign.

Sousa Kalliovski emailed some questions that wondered what happened to the plastic after it was collected from the ocean. Sousa also asked if there are campaigns that focused on not using plastic in the first place.

Some great questions from our Speak Up For The Ocean Blue podcast community.

Check out the last episode for more details on the Teamseas controversy: https://www.speakupforblue.com/show/speak-up-for-the-ocean-blue/sufb-1230-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-teamseas-fundraiser/

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue
25 min
November 03, 2021 SUFB 1230: What you need to know about the #Teamseas fundraiser
There are many fundraisers that occur throughout the year for the oceans and they are run by various organizations. Most of them have good intentions to help protect the Oceans. Some raise a lot of money and some not so much; however, the organizations to which you donate matter.

There is a large fundraiser that is going on right now to help raise $30 million dollars that promises to take out 30 million lbs of trash from the Ocean. Two organizations will split the money into two equal parts. One of those organizations is called the Ocean Conservancy and they have a great plastic pollution program; however, the other organization is the controversial Ocean Clean Up.

If you don't recall, the Ocean Clean Up is an organization that promised to clean up the Pacific Garbage Patch within 5 years of its operation. It not only failed, but it ignored many scientific criticisms and never made their environmental assessment public, but promised that everything was fine. None of their prototypes have worked even though millions of dollars were invested.

Now the Ocean Clean Up stands to gain a lot of money through a crowdsourcing campaign called Teamseas. The campaign is not talking about the controversy surrounding the Ocean Clean Up Project thereby legitimizing their work in the Ocean.

Dr. Virginia Schutte was asked to help raise funds for the campaign, but refused to participate due to the Ocean Clean Up being involved.

Virginia joins me on the show today to discuss why and what you could do to help protect the Ocean.

Make a donation to the Ocean Conservancy: https://donate.oceanconservancy.org/page/92465/donate/1

Connect with Dr. Virginia Schutte: website: https://www.virginiaschutte.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vgwschutte? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vgwschutte/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/VirginiaSchutte

Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://www.speakupforblue.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue
51 min
November 01, 2021 SUFB 1229: 300 Olive Ridley's Sea Turtles wash up dead along a Pacific Coastline
There was an unfortunate situation along the Pacific Coast when at least 300 Olive Ridley's Sea Turtles washed up dead on the shore.
Experts say that cause of death was most likely drowning after getting caught in fishing gear; however, there was no mention of fishing gear found with the sea turtles.

Link to article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-59077086

10 min

About How To Protect The Ocean

From the publisher's feed

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.