Surf & Turf: a seafood justice podcast

My guests from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Donella Miller and Elaine Harvey, discuss the many sources of contamination that threaten the health and culture of the Indigenous people of the Columbia River Basin. We also learn about a Tribal vision for energy justice.

• CRITFC website: https://critfc.org/
• Buy fresh fish!: https://critfc.org/harvest/
• Follow CRITFC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/critfc/

Travis Dardar is an Indigenous and commercial fisherman in Cameron, Louisiana who is fighting not just for his heritage but for the very lives of his loved ones. Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) is marketed as a "transition" energy, but in reality it is entrenching the power and pollution of the oil and gas industry, threatening the livelihoods and health of families living nearby, including fishing families. Travis is an inspiring leader and activist, and an unwitting one. 

Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage (F.I.S.H.): 

• https://www.fishermenfightback.org/
• Instagram: @fishermenfightback

Sari Heidenrich joins guest host Liliana Sierra Castillo to talk about forced labor in seafood. Forced labor is sadly a reality for many people working in imported seafood supply chains. Sari (Greenpeace USA) discusses the conditions that have created and perpetuated this problem, the challenges workers face, and some possible pathways toward solutions. This conversation highlights the importance of knowing who caught our seafood to make ethical choices that nourish our bodies and those of everyone laboring in the seafood system.

• Greenpeace USA Global Fisheries website
• Fake My Catch report on canned tuna traceability

Shannon Guillot-Wright, PhD, is working to directly address medical, immigration, and social needs for fishermen and seafood processing workers in precarious, dangerous, and vulnerable jobs at the Texas-Louisiana border.

Follow Shannon's lab at UTHealth on Instagram @PEOPLE_Centered 

Amal Bouhabib is the Director of Southern Migrant Legal Services and defender of the Black catfish farmworkers who were paid less than white migrant workers from South Africa doing the same work. Amal is usually defending migrant workers, who also face abuse in this system. We discuss this case and the complexities of labor and immigration laws that lead to vulnerabilities for American and migrant workers alike in our seafood system.

Follow Amal and Southern Migrant Legal Services at:

• Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA) website: https://www.trla.org/
•  TRLA Instagram: @texasriograndelegalaid

Read more about this case at AP News 

Kirby Page and Radhika Sharma of Studio ATAO join me to discuss food service and hospitality workers. We talk about the hurdles these workers face to decent working conditions and education about the food system and building solidarities across the seafood supply chain.

Follow Studio ATAO:

• At their website: https://www.studioatao.org/ 
• On Twitter: @StudioATAO
• On Instagram: @StudioATAO

J.J. Bartlett and his organization Fishing Partnership have been supporting the health, safety, and economic security of commercial fishermen since 1997. 

• Visit: www.fishingpartnership.org
• Follow:
  • Facebook: Fishing Partnership Support Services
  • Instagram: @fishingpartnership
  • Twitter: @fishing_partner
  • On these social media channels, Fishing Partnership posts updated and current information on services available to fishing families.
• Check out their 90-second video: Fishing Partnership Services: "For the Community, From the Community"

Dr. Rachel Donkersloot shares her research findings on how market-based fishing rights have disproportionately harmed rural, Indigenous, and low-income fishermen in Alaska. She discusses the community impacts of the commodification of fishing rights and shares insights on lowering the barriers to entry for the next generation. This conversation is part of our series on the graying of the fleet.

References (linked)

It is my great honor to share the oral history of Mary Hill and her late, beloved mother, Marie Hill. Mary is a 7th generation African-American oyster harvester in Chesapeake Bay, who has worked tirelessly in the struggle for racial, economic, and environmental justice. 

To follow and support Mary Hill and Barrett's Neck Seafood:

• Email [email protected] 
• Follow Suffolk African American Cultural Society on Facebook
• Follow Queen Marie Hill 100th on Tiktok 

Joshua Brown is the environmental literacy and workforce development lead at National Sea Grant in D.C. He joins us to talk about the Young Fishermen's Development Act, a piece of legislation that aims to address the graying of the fleet. Joshua shares with us the potential and some of the limitations of this legislation, before getting into "how the sausage is made": who fought to have this legislation passed, how it got funded (and how it didn't), and why constant pressure matters in D.C. 

• Funded YFDA projects (2023): https://seagrant.noaa.gov/sea-grant-projects-provide-33m-in-support-of-seafood-industry-workforce-development/