Waterside Chat

 Chris Moore and Will Poston of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation joined host Tom Sadler and the Marine Fish Conservation Network for a Waterside Chat on September 30, 2026. They focused on the importance of menhaden (a small forage fish) to bay ecosystems and why we need to act now to make sure they — and the whole bay — can thrive. 

Among other topics, they covered:

• Why menhaden (a small forage fish) are so important to Chesapeake Bay ecosystems
• How menhaden have been fished through history, ending with a single large industrial processor in the bay today
• How industrial menhaden boats can scoop up massive numbers of menhaden at a time
• How Virginia’s regulatory scheme for menhaden in the bay complicated management in the past
• Why our measurements of the amount of menhaden in the bay now lag years behind actual condition
• What needs to be done to preserve menhaden and increase the productivity of the entire bay ecosystem, and why it’s so urgent to take action now

And of course, much much more! Watch the video for the whole story. You can also visit the CBF website or read past articles about menhaden from the Network’s blog.

About Waterside Chat

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network’s CEO Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life.

Join the Network’s email list to learn about future Chats. You can also watch past Chats and subscribe to the podcast on the Network’s website. 

Molly Masterton joined the Network and host Tom Sadler for an online Waterside Chat on July 14, 2026. Molly is a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she works to promote sustainable fisheries management and the application of ecosystem-based management tools to ocean resources in the U.S. and abroad.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Molly and Tom talked about:

• Molly’s work as a “senior harried environmental lawyer” working on “the most interesting wildlife ecosystems” in the world: fisheries.
• Why fisheries management is a data-hungry and science-hungry process
• How the Magnuson Stevens Act has evolved from its roots (stopping foreign fishing off U.S. shores) to broadly managing America’s wild fisheries for the long term
• Why working waterfronts and workforce development for small-boat commercial fishermen are conservation issues too

And of course, much much more!

Referenced in the Chat:

• Molly’s recent blog post
• Ken Hinman’s recent post

About Waterside Chats:

Watch more Waterside Chats or subscribe to the podcast.

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network’s CEO Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life.

Join the Network’s email list to learn about future Waterside Chats.

Meredith Moore joined host Tom Sadler for a fascinating MFCN Waterside Chat on May 27, 2026. Meredith is director of the Fish Conservation Program at The Ocean Conservancy, where she combines a science background and a desire to find pragmatic solutions that work for people and for the environment.

Some highlights from the conversation:

• Why the magic of working in fisheries is that instead of saying “no”, it’s “yes, with some boundaries”.
• The tension involved in the relationship between fishermen and scientists, since fishermen are experts in finding exactly where the fish are and catching as many as possible, while science is trying to find exactly how many fish there actually are.
• Why the Magnuson Stevens Act is fundamentally optimistic, since it looks at a wild ecosystem and saying “we can get this right.”
• How if we can get the balance right, the MSA can help us live somewhat gently on top of the ecosystem but still benefit from it. Fisheries are the only large-scale wild ecosystem we have a food source!
• Why the current council system may not be perfect, but it gives a voice to people who are invested in the industry.

And as always, much much more!

About Waterside Chat

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network’s CEO Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life. Join the Network’s email list to learn about future Chats. You can also watch past Chats and subscribe to the podcast on the Network’s website. 

Theresa Labriola of Wild Oceans joined the Network for a Waterside Chat with the Marine Fish Conservation Network on April 6, 2026. 

In a wide-ranging discussion, Theresa and host Tom Sadler talked about:

• How Theresa grew up fishing for striped bass and tuna from her family boat off Rhode Island
• Her new role as president of Wild Oceans, an organization originally founded by recreational fishermen who saw the effects of overfishing in Northeastern U.S. waters
• Why healthy fisheries doin’t exist in isolation — they’re part of a larger ecosystem affected by our actions
• Why we have an obligation to treat this resource with respect and to steward it for future generations
• Why the Magnuson Stevens Act is one of the most important marine resources laws ever put in place, why it drives innovation, and how updates over the years since its passage have made it stronger
• The power of the Marine Fish Conservation Network to bring together diverse stakeholders, from commercial and recreational fishermen to chefs and scientists, and why the decision to create it gets validated over and over

And of course, much more! Watch the video for the full experience. Look for more Waterside Chats in the months to come, and be sure to check out our recent conversation with sustainable fishmonger Lyf Gildersleeve.

About Waterside Chat

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network’s CEO Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life. Join the Network’s email list to learn about future Chats. You can also watch past Chats and subscribe to the podcast on the Network’s website. 

Lyf Gildersleeve joined the Network for an online Waterside Chat with host Tom Sadler on March 10, 2026. Lyf is a second-generation fish monger who actively promotes and protects sustainable use of our seafood resources. He owns Flying Fish Company, a retail fish market, meat market, and oyster bar in Portland, Oregon and its nonprofit arm, Sustainable Fishmonger.

Among many topics, Lyf and Tom talked about:

• How cooking classes help bring people closer to their food so they can make better choices in the future
• Why it’s so important to move beyond the “big four” seafood species that dominate American tables
• How the regulatory framework created by the Magnuson Stevens Act creates an evolving framework that adds stability to coastal communities
• A new Monterrey Bay Aquarium program for restaurants that lets them put a label on menus for specific dishes made only with sustainable and environmentally responsible ingredients — which encourages customers to ask other restaurants about THEIR ingredients
• Why fishmongers feel such a connection to the sea, and why they’re the perfect messengers to educate chefs (and ultimately the public) about sustainable, local seafood options

And of course, much much more! 

About Waterside Chat

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network’s Deputy Director Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life. Join the Network’s email list to learn about future Chats. You can also watch past Chats and subscribe to the podcast on the Network’s website. 

Jamie Workman joined host and Marine Fish Conservation Network Executive Director Tom Sadler for an online Waterside Chat on January 8, 2026. Jamie is an author, advocate and communicator whose work has focused on water and our relationship with it. His books include Heart of Dryness and the new Sea Change: Unlikely Allies and a Success Story of Oceanic Proportions.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Jamie and Tom talked about:

• How Jamie’s reporting helped stop a Disney theme park because there wasn’t enough water available
• How catch-share systems make fishing safer and encourage long-term stewardship
• Why such rights-based approaches to fisheries can build trust and confidence among people who would otherwise be fighting with each other, providing a model that can work in many places where people compete for scarce, depletable resources
• How scientists, advocates and fishermen can move from an adversarial to a symbiotic, collaborative relationship

And of course, much more!

ABOUT WATERSIDE CHATS:

Watch Waterside Chat videos or subscribe to the podcast.

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network’s Deputy Director Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life.

Join the Network's email list to learn about future Waterside Chats.
 

Tim Bristol joined host Tom Sadler and the Marine Fish Conservation Network for an online Waterside Chat on March 4, 2025.

Tim is SalmonState’s executive director, and he has had a long career in environment conservation, having worked for Trout Unlimited in Alaska, the Alaska Coalition, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, and the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition. He is a recipient of the Alaska Conservation Foundation’s Olas Murie Award for outstanding professional contributions to conservation.

Tim and Waterside Chat host Tom Sadler talked about Tim’s conservation journey, his work with SalmonState, the campaigns SalmonState has going on, and what the next few years with a new congress and administration may entail. They covered:

• Why fishing with his father — and a childhood close to infamous Superfund site Love Canal — directed Tim towards conservation
• How recognition of the recreational value of forests helps us move away from logging-first and towards a mix of uses, including tourism, water quality, Native Alaskan subsistence AND logging
• How SalmonState, as a group of communicators, connectors and conveners, brings together abroad swath of communities, salmon markters, indigenous communities, commercial fishermen and more
• The importance of illustrating stories in a way that’s evocative — “The showing rather than telling is critical”
• Why bycatch is a massive threat to Alaska salmon, and why restraining it is not an easy problem to solve
• The importance of the Tongass, America’s “salmon forest”, whose economic value for fishing far outstrips the value that would be realized from logging or road-building
• Updates on mining activity that threatens Alaska salmon runs, including new uncertainty under the current administration

And of course, much much more!

ABOUT WATERSIDE CHATS:

Watch Waterside Chat videos or subscribe to the podcast.

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network’s Deputy Director Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life.

Join the Network's email list to learn about future Waterside Chats.
 

Author, filmmaker and Tight Line Media CEO Kris Millgate joined the Marine Fish Conservation Network and host Tom Sadler for an online Waterside Chat on January 29, 2025.

Kris is an Emmy-winning multimedia journalist who started Tight Line Media in 2006. She hosted Time OUT(an outdoor TV news segment) for seven years, then created East Idaho Outdoors magazine in 2014.

Her first book, My Place Among Men, was published in 2019. The sequel, My Place Among Fish, was published in 2021 alongside the debut of her salmon film Ocean to Idaho. Her third book, My Place Among Beasts, was published with her wildlife film, On Grizzly Ground, in 2023. You can learn more about these and her other projects and order your own copies at: https://www.tightlinemedia.com/

Among many other topics, Kris and Tom talked about:

• How she became an outdoor journalist despite shyness and a childhood fear of people with beards
• How she spent a summer in a camper following salmon from the ocean to their spawning streams in Idaho
• The physical toll migration takes on salmon -- and on a filmmaker following them
• The difference between a situation that makes you uncomfortable and one that's actually unsafe
• The one thing everyone does when they come face to face with a grizzly
• Why it's so important to capture all points of view on a topic as controversial as dam removal in the West
• Why storytellers need to meet people where they are, understanding that they may take in information in different ways via different media
• Her newest project, Sage Wisdom West, which follows sage grouse in the high desert, "a fantastic landscape that sustains perhaps more wildlife than the mountains"

ABOUT WATERSIDE CHATS:

Watch Waterside Chat videos or subscribe to the podcast.

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network’s Deputy Director Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life.

Join the Network's email list to learn about future Waterside Chats. 

The Wild Steelhead Coalition’s Brian Bennett joined host Tom Sadler for an online Waterside Chat on November 14, 2024, making his second appearance on the program. Brian is the Wild Steelhead Coalition‘s communications and social media manager, produces the organization’s podcast, “The Adipose,” and assists with other communication and advocacy efforts.

Among many great topics, Brian and Tom talked about:

• Wild Steelhead as Pacific coast icon and watershed health indicator (the fish spawn in climate zones ranging from from high desert to temperate rainforest)
• The work of the Wild Steelhead Coalition and the Now or Never Campaign
• The need to build a robust army of wild steelhead supporters as devoted to preserving the fish as they are to catching them, particularly as the climate changes around us
• How a wild steelhead is a rainbow trout that goes to sea to feed, and how the fish return not just to the same stream to spawn, but to the same spot in the stream
• How wild steelhead populations are at 3% of historical levels in Washington state, due to warming waters, habitat loss, harvesting and more
• Why a big pink salmon year in the Pacific means fewer wild steelhead in Idaho
• How steelhead have been around for millennia and have been able to adapt to many environmental changes, but they have not been able to adapt to the genetic impacts of hatchery-raised fish
• How rainbow trout start going out to sea as soon as we remove dams and other obstacles, making stream trout a genetic bank for the species
• How the species and the industry need us to create a long-term plan for survival in the face of climate change
• Why if you’re in the fishing space, whether as a consumer, fisherman or brand, you have a responsibility to conserve the species

Also in this episode: The Adipose podcast, with the Linda Mapes interview mentioned in the Chat taking place on October 02, 2024.

The Marine Fish Conservation Network's Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network's Deputy Director Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life. Join the Network's email list to learn about future Chats. You can also watch past Chats and subscribe to the podcast on the Network's website.

Kate Masury, executive director of Eating with the Ecosystem, joined the Marine Fish Conservation Network for a Waterside Chat on October 16, 2024. Among many topics, Kate and host Tom Sadler discussed:

• Eating with the Ecosystem, the work they do, and how they are a nonprofit that started as a food gathering
• Their place-based approach to sustaining wild seafood
• How bribing people with delicious seafood is a good way to get them to the table
• Working with members from all parts of the local seafood supply chain
• Why one of the best things you can do for sustainability is to eat a variety of ocean species
• Why you’re connecting directly with the oceans when you’re eating local seafood, and why it’s better for people to choose seafood from their local area
• Creating a Roadmap for Climate-Resilient Seafood Supply Chains
• And of course, much more

The Marine Fish Conservation Network's Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. Each episode the Network's Deputy Director Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life. Join the Network's email list to learn about future Chats. You can also watch past Chats and subscribe to the podcast on the Network's website.