The Conch podcast

Fishermen in Maine were leaving their jobs because they weren't making enough money to make ends meet. In the newest episode of the Conch Podcast, we hear how one woman started a seafood company to support fishermen in a time of need. Julie is joined by Jen Levin, Founder, President, and CEO of True Fin, a seafood company on a mission to sustain people and livelihoods in the Gulf of Maine.

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro
• 01:16 Looking to escape the big city of DC, Jen moves to rural Maine and starts off her 17 year career working with fishermen and seafood
• 05:30 The genesis story of True Fin, Jen's seafood company: Her journey takes her to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute where she builds markets for Gulf of Maine seafood and supports fishermen who are leaving their jobs en masse due to the high cost of doing business
• 10:51 How a girl from rural Wisconsin became a fish buyer and navigated the trial and error of working with an incredible, yet highly perishable product like seafood
• 14:42 The pandemic hit True Fin hard. Jen and her team managed to navigate this perilous time by keeping one goal in mind–continue to support fishermen by buying their fish no matter what.
• 18:48 Act now, think later. How crises can force you to keep going.
• 22: 27 True Fin is a business on a mission to provide a product that sustains people and fishermen's livelihoods.
• 30:36 True Fin works closely with fishermen to share innovative techniques that guarantee seafood's quality, longer shelf life, and better taste.
• 34:46 Jen is learning from the next generation of women about the power of the language we use in perpetuating assumptions, even her own, about women
• 42:13 Jen's advice for a young woman in seafood: be authentic

• Resources:

1. Episode Transcript
2. Check out @truefinseafood on Instagram and at truefinseafood.com
3. Make sure to recommend this episode to anyone you think who might care about the future of our ocean and women working in the sector.

The Conch Podcast series is a program of Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and made possible by generous funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Audio production, engineering, editing, mixing, and sound design by Crystal Sanders-Alvarado for Seaworthy. Original music provided by Satan's Pilgrims.

In Episode 4 of the Conch Podcast, Julie is joined by Adriana Sanchez, the Responsible Seafood Strategy Director at Iberostar Hotels and founder of Seafood Ninja, a sustainable seafood consultancy. At the end of the day, seafood is about people and Adriana is a tireless advocate for the underdog - be they small-scale fishers and producers or small seafood companies. She is always working to ensure that everyone, no matter their size, has access to sustainable seafood conversations and opportunities and the right tools to engage.

Episode Transcript

Resources:

1. Check out @seafoodninja on Instagram and find tools to support your company's journey in seafood sustainability at seafoodninja.com.
2. Make sure to recommend this episode to anyone you think might care about the future of our ocean and women working in the sector.

The Conch Podcast series is a program of Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and made possible by generous funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Audio production, engineering, editing, mixing, and sound design by Crystal Sanders-Alvarado for Seaworthy. Original music provided by Satan's Pilgrims.

In the newest episode of the Conch Podcast, Julie sits down with Monique Coombs, Director of Community Programs at the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association and fishing lifestyle blogger at AragostaMama.com. The crux of Monique's work centers around humanizing the commercial fishing industry and connecting our favorite seafood items back to the act of fishing and fishermen. Behind every lobster-themed sweater and throw pillow with colorful buoys lies a culture of fishing with fishermen at its core. Fishermen who put their lives and mental health on the line on a daily basis by working in one of the most dangerous civilian occupations in the U.S.

Episode Transcript

Resources

1. Check out the websites AragostaMama.com and Maine Coast Fishermen's Association to learn more about Monique's work to support the health and wellness of Maine's fishermen and communities.

2. Make sure to recommend this episode to anyone you think might care about the future of our ocean and women working in the sector.

The Conch Podcast series is a program of Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and made possible by generous funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Audio production, engineering, editing, mixing, and sound design by Crystal Sanders-Alvarado for Seaworthy. Original music provided by Satan's Pilgrims.

In the newest episode of the Conch Podcast, Julie sits down with Chef Charlotte Langley, a star of the culinary world and a leader in the resurrection of artisanal tinned seafood as the co-founder of Scout Canning. We dig into her journey in the seafood sector, examine the parallels between the restaurant and seafood industries, and hear her personal and poignant story of discrimination as a woman in her field. Excitingly, Chef Charlotte shares a scoop on her latest venture to create more opportunities for women, a first for the Conch! There are plenty of puns, sometimes unavoidable in this business, but we get through them and undoubtedly you will too. At the end of the day, this episode will inspire you to find people who share common goals to create lasting impact and friendships that will last a lifetime.

Resources

Follow @scoutcanning and @seafood_and_gender_equality and all the other incredible seafood brands on Instagram during the 'Tis the Sea-son' campaign until December 25, 2021

Make sure to like, comment, share, and recommend this episode to anyone you think might care about the future of our ocean and women working in the sector.

The Conch Podcast series is a program of Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and made possible by generous funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Audio production, engineering, editing, mixing, and sound design by Crystal Sanders-Alvarado for Seaworthy. Original music provided by Satan's Pilgrims.

Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, with its science-based ratings of global fisheries and fish farms, is the earliest and one of the most influential drivers of responsible seafood in the world. Seafood and Gender Equality, or SAGE, on the other hand, just celebrated its one-year anniversary. In this inaugural episode of The Conch, Julie Kuchepatov, the Founder of SAGE, sits down with Julie Packard, the Founder and Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, to talk about their respective visions for a future full of seafood, and how to achieve it. (Hint: Partnerships are CRITICAL!). Julie Packard turns the tables on the conversation to learn more about SAGE's mission and why women will lead the next evolution of the seafood sector.

Resources:

1. The next time you buy seafood, be sure to consult the Seafood Watch recommendations at seafoodwatch.org/recommendations.
2. Read the newest blog post on the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Ocean's blog, where Julie interviews three women from the EDF field teams and learns what would happen in a world without women working in fisheries (SPOILER: there would be NO fish on our tables!): http://blogs.edf.org/edfish/
3. Check out Seafood and Gender Equality's website and sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest and greatest happenings regarding gender equality and women's empowerment in the seafood industry at https://www.seafoodandgenderequality.org/theconch.
4. Check out this article mentioned in the podcast - https://civileats.com/2021/09/14/can-aquaculture-help-women-secure-a-new-foothold-in-the-seafood-industry/
5. Please make sure to like, comment, share, and recommend this episode to anyone you think might care about the future of our ocean and women working in the sector.
6. Follow us on Twitter at @sdg5forseafood, Instagram @Seafood_And_Gender_Equality, and Facebook @SeafoodAndGenderEquality.

The Conch Podcast series is a program of Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and made possible by generous funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Audio production, engineering, editing, mixing, and sound design by Crystal Sanders-Alvarado for Seaworthy. Original music provided by Satan's Pilgrims.

The Conch Podcast features interviews with the most inspiring women in the world of seafood. Join Julie Kuchepatov, founder of Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE), as she interviews women striving to succeed in the sector and the challenges they face - all while working to improve the environmental and social responsibility of the planet's most incredible food source - seafood!