In this episode, we meet social scientist Sarah Coulthard, and fishermen George Lamplough and Bally Phipps who discuss issues facing small-scale fishers.

Over 30% of global marine catch comes from small-scale fisheries, contributing to global food security, livelihoods, and resilient communities, and yet the UK's highly valued inshore fishing fleet is in decline.

Is this "the last chance saloon for the small-scale fishing industry" ?

Sarah, Bally, and George explore the reasons for the decline, discuss fishers' lived experiences, fisheries management and public perceptions. They also discuss the priorities for actions to help ensure a viable future for the fleet.

The podcast follows on from the special edition of The Marine Biologist magazine which focuses on inshore and small-scale fisheries.

Our guests are involved in the Inshore and Small-Scale Fisheries consortium (ISSF), a group which aims to identify the drivers of decline in the UK fleet, identify what can be done to support fishing lives, and support fishers to be active partners in decision-making.

Find out about the work of the ISSF Consortium here. 

See the press release which details the national symposium for inshore and small scale fisheries, held in February 2026 in Newcastle. ISSF_Symposium_Press_Release.pdf - Google Drive

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

A new report on the 2025 octopus bloom has just been published. Here, Dr Bryce Stewart, Senior Research Fellow at the MBA and and Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth, talks about the causes and consequences (particularly for the fishing industry) of the octopus bloom, and what the future might hold.

The report was funded by Defra, Plymouth City Council, Devon County Council. It is led by the Marine Biological Association with partners at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, University of Plymouth and independent consultant Dr Simon Thomas.

The new report is available here.

Stewart, B.D., Thomas, S., Smyth, T.J., James, M.K., Sullivan, E., Hall, A.E., Osmond, T. and Sheehan, E.V. 2026. Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) blooms off the Southwest of the UK: History, trends, causes and consequences. Report on Work Package 1: History, causes and consequences of octopus blooms. Marine Biological Association, 104pp.

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

Join us for a fascinating journey through marine science with experimental ecologist Professor Stephen Hawkins.

The seashore is most people’s window on the ocean. In this episode, Professor Hawkins reviews the main threats to coastal seas, and asks, how do predictions of impacts on rocky shores hold up a quarter century on?

The Marine Biologist podcast goes deeper into topics covered in The Marine Biologist magazine. This episode expands on the article, Looking back looking shoreward, which appeared in the October 2025 edition.

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

Podcast Summary (100 words):
Join us for Six Decades of Rocky Shore Ecology, a fascinating journey through marine science with experimental ecologist Professor Stephen Hawkins. From his first limpet studies on the Isle of Man to pioneering work on climate change, biodiversity, and eco-engineering, Prof. Hawkins reflects on the evolving story of our coasts. As former Director of the Marine Biological Association, he shares insights into keystone grazers, shifting species, and the power of long-term research. With humour, history, and a deep love for rocky shores, this episode celebrates a lifetime uncovering the hidden dynamics of the intertidal world.

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

In this episode, we’re talking with Dr Bryce Stewart about the power of community-driven marine conservation. Bryce is a Senior Research Fellow at the MBA and Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth. His work on marine protected areas (MPAs) has contributed to world-renowned examples of participatory marine conservation and management, notably around the Isle of Man and the Isle Arran.

A productive ocean benefits everyone. Listen in to find out how we can not only have our marine biodiversity but eat it too.

For more information about Bryce’s research, visit the MBA website. 

Become a member of the Marine Biological Association and be part of a global community advocating for the ocean. You'll receive four copies a year of our beautifully produced magazine, The Marine Biologist, and a host of other benefits.

For a limited period, you can save 25% on MBA membership. To join, visit www.mba.ac.uk/our-membership/ 

This offer is valid until the 31st of May, 2025 and applies to the monthly payment option only. 

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

In this episode we are glad to bring you the warmth of West Africa!

For his achievements in turtle conservation and with the coastal communities of Sierra Leone, Edward Aruna has won the 2024 Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa. This is a stunning achievement and we are delighted to bring this conversation to you.

Edward outlines the many environmental challenges facing Sierra Leone but this small, West African country inhabited by "lovely, welcoming, and peaceful people" is full of promise.

By listening to the needs of local people and encouraging them to listen to conservation law, Edward has achieved turtle conservation wins and brought real benefits to numerous coastal communities.

His message is: "The environment doesn't need us, but we need the environment", and Edward invites NGOs and volunteers to help in his beautiful country.

Listen in: there is much to learn from Edward's patient and sincere approach to his work.

Edward Aruna was the 2024 recipient of the The Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa, sponsored by Defender. Established in 2013 in partnership with Ninety One and in conjunction with H.R.H The Prince of Wales, the awards recognise cutting-edge conservation leaders and their positive impacts on wildlife conservation and local communities across Africa. For over a decade, The Tusk Conservation Awards have served as a springboard for these guardians of biodiversity, who have risen to the top of their fields, scaling their work and amplifying conservation impact across the continent.

[goog_892001139]

www.tuskawards.com
@Tusk_org

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

We are delighted to welcome Raghda Ezzeldin, record breaking freediver, maths teacher, and ocean activist with OceanLove, a global non-profit ocean conservation initiative.

Raghda tells us about her intimate connection with the ocean and putting her passion into action for change.

We also cover philosophy, marine life encounters in remote parts of the Red Sea and the OceanLove Innovation awards.

We interviewed Raghda and OceanLove founder, Ilco van der Linde, in the April 2024 edition of The Marine Biologist magazine.
 
You can find out more about @Ocean Love @oceanlovenews or on www.oceanlove.news 

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

We are joined in this episode by Noelle Helder, marine ecologist, and member of the four-woman Salty Science rowing team that crossed the Atlantic to make a positive contribution to inclusivity in marine science. 
 
Representing three generations of marine scientists, Isabelle Côté, Chantale Begin, Lauren Shea, and Noelle rowed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic in an 8.5 m boat. Noelle describes how she and the team prepared for this epic of endurance, kept their morale high, and worked as a team under the most extreme conditions. They not only won the women's division and came 7th out of 37 boats that finished the race. 
 
On the way they endured days of 20-foot waves, encountered sharks, tuna, and flying fish, and tried not to think about the consequences of a marlin strike. 

Noelle’s description of the sometimes hair-raising journey is refreshingly deadpan – perhaps unsurprising for a self-confessed lover of ‘type II fun’. But beyond testing themselves in the open ocean, the reason the team took on the challenge was to raise support for marine conservation education, and support access for less privileged people to enter careers in marine science. 

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as Lize and I did.

https://saltyscience.org/
https://www.worldstoughestrow.com/the-atlantic/

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

What is so special about the deep sea? What are the impacts of human activities there and which areas are particularly important?

In this episode, we are joined by deep-sea ecologist Dr Amelia Bridges. Following on from an article that Amelia wrote for the October edition of The Marine Biologist magazine, we will be discussing the pros and cons of exploration and exploitation in the deep sea. 

Dr Amelia Bridges is a Research Fellow at the School of Biological and Marine Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering), University of Plymouth. She specializes in spatial ecology in the deep sea and how science can help policy-makers make informed decisions. 
@Amelia_Bridges
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/amelia-bridges

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social

A shoal of sardines comes under attack from all sides as some of the ocean's most spectacular predators converge to take their fill.
But which species do best and how do they interact with their competitors? How can scientists even study such a dynamic and ephemeral event? Alicia Burns joins us to talk about the challenges and rewards of getting up close and personal with feeding aggregations in the clear waters off Baja California, Mexico.
The purpose of this exciting research is to understand the hunting success of individuals, specifically, of blue marlin and sea lions and other predators in open ocean multi-predator aggregations. Learning how resources are shared helps understand this extremely productive ecosystem and the threats it faces through exploitation and climate change.
Alicia is a behavioural biologist whose research interests include the mechanisms driving animals' social organization. She is part of an international and multi-disciplinary collaboration with scientsist from Departamento de Pesquerías y Biología Marina, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN), La Paz, Baja California Sur, 23096, Mexico led by Jens Krause, Head of the department of Fish Biology, Fisheries and Aquaculture at Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and
Inland Fisheries (IGB).

Text us your comments and feedback

Thanks for listening!

If you have any questions you can contact us at the Marine Biological Association here.

Join the Marine Biological Association and receive four copies a year of The Marine Biologist, our prestigious and beautifully curated magazine. MBA membership comes with a host of other benefits.

Follow us on social:

www.facebook.com/thembauk

www.instagram.com/thembauk

@thembauk.bsky.social