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.

Colles Stowell, founder and president of the One Fish Foundation, joined the Marine Fish Conservation Network for an online Waterside Chat on May 30, 2024. Colles and host Tom Sadler discussed:

• How our seafood system has changed from mostly local or domestic to mostly imported in a few short decades
• How we've become so dependent on an industrialized food system that we don't know where our food is coming from
• The power of One Fish Foundation's Know Your Fish dinners, which connect seafood consumers with the people who catch their food and start people on the path to owning their relationship with seafood
• How One Fish Foundation goes to schools, including bringing a lobster trap to a kindergarten class
• Why "good, clean and fair" should be a sustainable-seafood mantra
• The important role of chefs in the seafood conversation
• How consolidation in the seafood-distribution industry hurts local fishermen
• And much, much more!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• One Fish Foundation

MORE ABOUT COLLES:

Colles Stowell's love of fish, fishing and food started early. From the Louisiana bayous of his youth, he moved on to New Hampshire's lakes and rivers and trout streams, world-class salmon rivers in Canada, and bonefish flats in the Bahamas. Along the way, he discovered a passion both for local seafood and for writing.

Stowell's journalism career includes writing for The Boston Globe, United Press International and New Hampshire Public Radio. He began covering sustainable fisheries and seafood in 2011, and he now focuses on issues ranging from privatization of our oceans to the devastating impact of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Of the One Fish Foundation, Colles says, "Starting the Foundation is the confluence of my career and personal passions. My deep-seated interest in fisheries and in striking the right balance to support well-managed fisheries, transparent, local seafood systems, and healthy oceans for future generations drives One Fish Foundation."

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 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