In Hot Water, a Climate and Seafood podcast

Unpack how climate change is reshaping not just ecosystems but our emotional landscapes. This episode connects the rising trauma of a changing climate to the challenges faced by seafood systems in the Great Lakes and around the world. Through systems thinking and trauma-informed design, we examine how climate disruptions ripple through fisheries, communities, and the human psyche, as well as how new approaches can help us respond with care, clarity, and resilience.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• 00:00 Intro to In Hot Water, Great Lakes Edition
• 02:40 Cheryl Dahle, design strategist for systems change, returns in this episode to explain how a systems design approach is a relatively new way to problem solve through an examination of human behavior
• 06:21 Cheryl started her career as a journalist and, disillusioned, left to found a nonprofit, Future of Fish, working empower thriving, resilient ocean communities by driving innovation and investment to small-scale fisheries
• 15:45 Systems change in the seafood sector - how does it happen?
• 18:32 Having returned to journalism, Cheryl focuses on how the media covers climate change with the Solutions Journalism Network
• 29:10 In 2021, the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, Global Climate Change and Trauma released a detailed briefing paper describing the current state of knowledge and gaps on climate change and trauma. We asked Mary Foydor, a transdisciplinary designer about trauma-informed co-design, to tell us more about the links between climate change and trauma
• 30:13 The definition of trauma
• 31:11 Guiding principles to a trauma-informed approach to designing solutions
• 36:54 Climate change is a trauma that we're experiencing collectively
• 38:47 Joy-washing and the decolonization of trauma and trauma-informed design and care
• 41:14 Final words: Our future is uncertain, but open with possibilities. If we can hold open that space of uncertainty and invent into it, we have a really good chance.

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

Explore how environmental justice, food sovereignty, and cultural relevance come together in Chicago. From the legacy of industrial pollution and the "Toxic Doughnut" to the impact of climate change on local growers, we examine how communities are reclaiming power through food. Tune in to hear how land-based farming connects to seafood, and why culturally rooted food systems matter for a more just and sustainable future.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• 00:00 Intro to In Hot Water, Great Lakes Edition
• 02:14 Meet Nick Davis, managing director of communications and engagement at the Community Food Navigator, a community-run organization dedicated to building power amongst small-scale food growers of color in the Chicago Foodshed
• 06:03 We dive into the history of Chicago and the environmental challenges that affect the river systems that lead into Lake Michigan, affecting the surrounding communities
• 09:12 Cheryl Dahle, a design strategist for systems change, shares how telling stories of communities can be a part of driving systems change
• 12:36 Altgeld Gardens, a community of about 7,000 residents on the southside of Chicago, surrounded by the "Toxic Doughnut" - toxic waste dumps and landfills - and, notably, the residence of Hazel Johnson, considered the mother of the environmental justice movement
• 15:27 What do food growers need?
• 18:14 What is culturally relevant food?
• 25:55 Nick details the importance of fish that can be found in Chicago's rivers
• 29:47 Climate change is affecting the region's food growers in a variety of ways
• 34:07 Nick gushes about others working towards food justice in Chicago, like Oscar Villa of Bee-utiful Honey, soil scientist Dr. Ishmael Israel, and Urban Growers Collective
• 38:25 The hosts tie the interviews about food apartheid and culturally appropriate foods grown on land to seafood, emphasizing the connection between land-based farming and seafood production

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

Step into the world of commercial fishing in Lake Michigan, where deep-rooted tradition meets a rapidly changing environment. This episode traces the importance of whitefish, the effects of rising water temperatures, and the challenges facing fishing families as they navigate shifting policies and climate pressures. Hear how the future of a generational industry hangs in the balance and what's at stake for the communities that depend on it.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• 00:00 Intro to In Hot Water, Great Lakes Edition
• 02:14 Karen Murchie, director of freshwater research at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, shares the importance of freshwater ecosystems and the food they produce (but it's a misnomer to call it "seafood!")
• 07:20 A generational Great Lakes fishery steeped in tradition - meet Lakon Williams, operations manager and owner of Bayport Fish Company, a historic fishery on Michigan's Saginaw Bay
• 11:14 Whitefish: a critically important fish in Lake Michigan's commercial fishery
• 16:25 Lakon shares the history of commercial fishing in Lake Michigan and her frustrations about its historical and current management
• 23:23 Recreational fisheries influence the management of fisheries resources
• 28:12 According to the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, the Great Lakes show a trend toward higher water temperatures Lakon shares how that is affecting the fishery
• 34:21 The Department of Natural Resources and their relationship with the commercial fishing companies
• 38:06 The Great Lakes' fishing industry is in "dire straits"
• 41;32 While not great for the native fish of the lakes, the introduced species Asian carp, or copi, represents a market opportunity
• 43:12 Lakon ends the episode sharing that while she hopes to leave a thriving and sustainable business to her family's third generation, she's wary of the future

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

Discover how one entrepreneur is reshaping the future of regional seafood—one tin at a time. This episode takes you to Fishtown, Michigan, for the story behind the first Midwest-based tinned fish company sourcing exclusively from the Great Lakes. Learn how honoring local flavor, rethinking business models, and planning for climate resilience are all part of building a more sustainable seafood system from the inside out.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• 00:00 Intro to In Hot Water, Great Lakes Edition
• 02:07 Introducing Marissa Fellows, the founder and CEO of Great Lakes Tinned Fish,, whom we met in a shanty on the spectacular working waterfront of Fishtown, Michigan
• 03:30 Marissa shares her journey to creating the Great Lakes Tinned Fish company and the people who supported her along the way
• 10:39 Challenges to opening the first Midwest-based tinned fish company sourcing exclusively from the Great Lakes region
• 17:14 Flipping a business model on its head while capturing the taste of the Great Lakes in a tin
• 21:07 Investing in the long run means being part of the conversation around the future of Great Lakes fisheries
• 22:57 Marissa is incorporating resilience into her business that relies on a product that's affected by the effects of climate change
• 25:48 Flipping the script, Marissa asks Crystal what is most important thing for businesses to be sustainable in the fishing sector

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

Journey into the heart of Fishtown, Michigan—a historic commercial fishing village on the shores of Lake Michigan that continues to anchor Great Lakes maritime culture. This episode dives into the deep roots of the region's fishing community, the founding of the Fishtown Preservation Society, and the resilience required to protect a working waterfront threatened by rising waters and time. Hear how history, trauma, and community care intertwine in a place where fishing isn't just a livelihood, it's a living story.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• 00:00 Intro to In Hot Water, Great Lakes Edition
• 02:06 Meet Amanda Holmes, executive director of the Fishtown Preservation Society, which oversees the historic site and working waterfront Fishtown
• 03:54 The history of the region and the fishery, which has been documented since the 1850s
• 05:32 Families settled in Fishtown, establishing a community around fishing the local waters
• 09:25 The birth of Fishtown Preservation Society arose out of point of crisis and its evolution
• 21:48 The rising waters of Lake Michigan, seiches in particular, threaten the historic shanties along Fishtown's iconic waterfront, leading to a massive restoration effort
• 33:50 In episode four of this series, we learned about trauma and trauma-informed solutions design, we relate this to instances of trauma running through Amanda's historical account of Fishtown and the fishing community that sustains it
• 41:33 The importance of true community and supporting the people around you
• 43:44 The importance of meaningful partnerships in preserving the legacy of Fishtown
• 50:58 What can visitors to Fishtown expect to see and experience?
• 41:14 Final words: Our future is uncertain, but open with possibilities. If we can hold open that space of uncertainty and invent into it, we have a really good chance.

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the ocean.

In the first episode of In Hot Water, Maine, we hear from researchers at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the University of Maine, the Island Institute and people working on the water who share the current challenges facing the Gulf of Maine's fisheries and coastal communities such as invasive green crabs, sea level rise, coastal erosion, ocean acidification, increasing 100-year storms, and aging wastewater treatment facilities.

There's no quick fix for seafood harvesters in the Gulf, but climate solutions do exist. From encouraging species diversification to actively involving frontline communities, changemakers are leading a new path for seafood in Maine.

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the "In Hot Water" podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro to In Hot Water, Maine Edition
• 01:50 Meet Kyle Foley, Sustainable Seafood Director at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), who works with businesses to get more regional seafood into the local marketplace
• 06:24 Setting the stage: The Gulf of Maine is warming at a rate three times faster than the global oceans
• 08:32 Meet Hannah Baranes, Coastal Hazards Scientist at GMRI, who is working on understanding the coastal flooding that's becoming more severe as sea levels rise
• 12:34 GMRI has a Climate Center that is an end-to-end service provider for communities grappling with climate change in coastal Maine. Scientists work on the physical drivers of climate change, engaging with communities and municipal leaders to understand their needs and processes and working with them on implementing solutions
• 14:41 Meet Susie Arnold, Senior Ocean Scientist at the Island Institute and the Director of the Center for Climate and Community
• 15:37 The Maine Climate Council produces science translation pieces to summarize the latest research on ocean and terrestrial climate change. They host Fishermen's Climate Roundtables, to hear topics of concern from fishers on the water every day.
• 18:43 Years of policy and research on how the Gulf of Maine is going to be impacted by ocean acidification has lead to some interesting findings
• 20:05 Meet Libby Davis, founder, owner, and operator of Lady Shuckers, a mobile raw bar and event company, who is witnessing firsthand how the future of oysters—a highly valuable protein source—is compromised due to the increased acidity of warming waters
• 21:48 Meet Dr. Tora Johnson, Professor of Environmental Studies and Geography at the University of Maine, Machias who shares the myriad of ways that climate change is impacting both Maine's clam and lobster fisheries
• 23:52 Mudflats - why they are important
• 26:40 The world's worst invasive species, the green crab, is thriving, and wreaking havoc, in a world affected by climate change
• 28:56 Meet Kanae Tokunaga, an economist who studies fisheries, aquaculture, seafood, and anything related to coastal and marine socio-ecological systems at GMRI, looking at fisheries systems, which include the human side of fisheries
• 32:59 How fisheries systems are responding to the challenges created by climate change

Resources

1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the ocean.

In this episode of In Hot Water, Maine, we learn more about the state's iconic lobster fishery, dive deeper into the plight of the endangered right whale, and understand how the present and future of these critically important species are so intertwined.

There's no quick fix for seafood harvesters in the Gulf, but climate solutions do exist. From encouraging species diversification to actively involving frontline communities, changemakers are leading a new path for seafood in Maine.

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the "In Hot Water" podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro to In Hot Water, Maine Edition
• 01:47 Meet Afton Vigue, former communications and outreach manager at the Maine Aquaculture Association, a nonprofit trade association representing commercial aquatic farmers in Maine from shellfish to finfish to seaweed farmers; from land-based to marine-based operations
• 02:38 Lobsters are moving; how climate change is playing a role in Maine's changing lobster fishery
• 06:26 Meet Jesse Baines, the former chief marketing officer at Atlantic Sea Farms, a woman-run, mission-driven seaweed aquaculture company based in Maine
• 08:15 Getting real-time information from fisheries is critical when developing solutions to address climate-related challenges
• 09:54 How is the lobster fishery adapting to climate change and the economic implications
• 15:53 Other effects of climate change? Not only are lobsters moving to colder waters, but it's a huge driver in the distribution and abundance of right whales and copepods, their critical food source
• 22:58 Climate change is at the root of the decline of endangered species
• 24:58 A quick recap of the legal situation surrounding Maine's lobster fishers, regulatory bodies, and next steps to generate better data towards realistic regulations of the fishery
• 27:32 Dr. Tora Johnson, professor of environmental studies and geography at the University of Maine, Machias published a book in 2005 called Entanglements: The Intertwined Fates of Whales and Fishermen. Since she wrote this book, some things have changed, some things haven't, but it's clear that solutions are not lying about and everyone will need to change.
• 46:12 How regulations are set and by whom creates many challenges, including extreme stress for harvesters, fishing families, and communities

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the ocean.

In this episode of In Hot Water, Maine, we learn more about the history of the state's aquaculture sector, kelp farming as a means to diversify income, social license, and the increasing effects of NIMBY or, Not in My Backyard, which is becoming more pervasive across the Vacationland state.

There's no quick fix for seafood harvesters in the Gulf, but climate solutions do exist. From encouraging species diversification to actively involving frontline communities, changemakers are leading a new path for seafood in Maine

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the "In Hot Water" podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro to In Hot Water, Maine Edition
• 01:52 Meet Sam Altznauer, director of Canopy Farms, an aquaponics facility located in downtown Brunswick, Maine
• 03:12 While some lobster harvesters are leaving Maine altogether, some are finding new opportunities to diversify into kelp farming
• 11:50 Social license to operate. What is it?
• 13:25 What the fish? White, older lobstermen have social license to operate in Maine's coastal communities, which seems exclusionary. We dive deeper on why this is problematic.
• 20:58 Meet Jaclyn Robidoux with Maine Sea Grant and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, a university-based program under NOAA that does research extension and education, who also has a program to support lobster harvesters diversify their income
• 26:23 A brief history of aquaculture in Maine
• 29:17 Opposition to the growth of aquaculture in Maine
• 33:50 Overcoming the NIMBY mindset around aquaculture in Maine
• 38:36 Gentrification of Maine's coastal communities
• 44:06 Meet Seraphina Erhart, manager of Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, which sells wild-harvested seaweed products. Between NIMBY and gentrification, access to these wild seaweeds is becoming tenuous.

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the ocean.

In this episode of In Hot Water, Maine, we learn about working waterfronts, the importance of their preservation for the future of the state's fisheries, the gentrification of Maine's coastal communities, and how climate change is endangering the physical and mental health of harvesters and their families.

There's no quick fix for seafood harvesters in the Gulf, but climate solutions do exist. From encouraging species diversification to actively involving frontline communities, changemakers are leading a new path for seafood in Maine

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the "In Hot Water" podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro to In Hot Water, Maine Edition
• 02:01 If fisheries decline, what can be done to keep working waterfronts working?
• 06:21 Covid exacerbated the lack of affordable property in Maine
• 07:00 What the fish? Many of the people we spoke to in this podcast use "gentrification" to describe what is happening with land, housing, and waterfronts. However, the term is frequently used when describing communities of color pushed out by wealthier, generally white, people. We dive deeper into gentrification, colonialism, and the Indigenous context.
• 17:45 Fisheries and working waterfronts have cultural values that can, and should, be measured
• 22:29 The increasing lack of access to the water and waterfronts is affecting the physical and mental health of harvesters, often snowballing into a life, and death, of pain and addiction
• 37:28 Removing barriers to health care will go a long way to support harvesters experiencing mental and physical health crises and substance addiction
• 44:34 What the fish? Everyone deserves access to health care, especially mental health care. We dive deeper into addiction, lack of culturally literate healthcare, and toxic masculinity.

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the ocean.

In this episode of In Hot Water, Maine, we learn about the growth of the seaweed sector in Maine, which includes both wild and farmed seaweeds, while asking, "is seaweed a climate solution?"

There's no quick fix for seafood harvesters in the Gulf, but climate solutions do exist. From encouraging species diversification to actively involving frontline communities, changemakers are leading a new path for seafood in Maine

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the "In Hot Water" podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro to In Hot Water, Maine Edition
• 02:03 The farmed seaweed industry in Maine is growing rapidly while the wild seaweed industry has been around for about 50 years
• 05:45 All seaweed farmed in Maine's waters comes from a parent species found in Maine
• 06:44 How macrobiotic eating led to the founding of one of Maine's most enduring wild seaweed brands
• 17:34 While regulations around harvesting wild seaweeds in Maine exist, they are minimal
• 23:32 The climate in crisis affects wild seaweed production in a myriad of ways
• 26:40 While there are opportunities for aquaculture to enhance wild seaweed production, there are challenges
• 33:06 A recent study found that 1 in 4 people in the U.S. have never heard of seaweed farming. How do you educate the public about the benefits of seaweed?
• 34:46 Are seaweeds a climate solution?

Resources

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.