Julie Kuchepatov is seeking to fight gender inequality within the seafood industry. She launched the Conch podcast where she interviews women at various levels of the seafood supply chain to tell their stories and show how women can be successful in the seafood industry. 

I chat with Julie to talk about how she started her organization, Seafood and Gender Equality, and launched her podcast. This is an interview you don't want to miss as Julie is such a great storyteller. 

Connect with Julie:

Website: https://www.seafoodandgenderequality.org/
Podcast: https://www.seafoodandgenderequality.org/theconch
Instagram: @seafood_and_gender_equality
Twitter: @sdg5forseafood

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc 

In the last episode, I talked about a citizen science project in the Southern Atlantic Ocean targeted at recreational fishers. I'm sure some of you wanted to join that program because let's face it, it was a fun program that saved sharks.  There are thousands of citizen science projects around the world and there is a good chance that one of those projects is in your area. 

I provide tips on how to choose a citizen science program that is right for you.

Links: 
Citizen Science Association: https://bit.ly/3JDSy82

US Government CitSci Programs: https://bit.ly/3p81tXB

Canadian CitSci Programs: https://bit.ly/3scOwh9

CitSci for Students: https://bit.ly/3t7zcBI

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
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Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc 

Sharks in the southern Atlantic ocean are being protected through a citizen science program with sport fishers who regularly target sharks. Why is this a big deal you ask?

Previous to this program, sport fishers were killing the sharks that they caught due to the sharks' bad reputation. A study quantified the number of sharks killed per year as 18 sharks were caught per trip (on average), which equated to 3000 sharks per year (approximately). One sport fisher finally realized the devastation that was happening to the shark population of different species. So he spoke up. 

After many challenges, the sport fisher started a citizen science program over a decade ago, where sport fishers would tag their shark catches and release them instead of killing them. The program now boasts 150 fishers who tagged over 800 sharks. Those 800 sharks are not dead because of these fishers and the citizen science program that exists to protect them.

Link to article: https://bit.ly/33Ab1Tu

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
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Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc 

The proposed megaproject is a risk to the local coral reefs for which most tourists come to visits and will further restrict beach access to the local people. 

Olivia and German join me on the podcast to discuss the work they have been doing to stop the megaproject from going forward including proposing an injunction on the start of the project until a trial for a lawsuit on the project can be conducted. 

The lawsuit is against the federal government agencies that are responsible for identifying the environmental, social, and economic risks for their citizens if the project moves forward. 

Here is how you can help:

German's Links:
Website: https://www.ccrrp.org
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/www.ccrrp.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coz_coral_reef_restoration/?hl=en

Pier Activism on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/noalcuartomuelle/
Olivia's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/askoliviarose/?hl=en

Petition:
https://www.change.org/p/conanp-no-necesitamos-una-4ta-terminal-homeport-para-cruceros-en-la-isla

The Ocean Clean Up Project recently released a video showing a trawl net releasing plastic pollution that it supposedly hauled from the ocean and released on the deck of a shipping vessel. However, there seemed to be some things that did not add up in the video. 

There was no bycatch from the fishing net used to clean up the plastic. The plastic was intact, which is very different than most of the plastic found at sea (microplastic), and the plastic was clean (almost looking brand new). No biofouling was present on the plastics, which is different than most other plastic items found at sea. 

Some scientists and conservationists are calling the video staged. 

What do you think?

Link to video: https://bit.ly/3JvQNJR

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc 

I saw a video today about how the generation known as Generation Z is battling two different lifestyles. There is the progressive lifestyle that is led by the likes of people like Greta Thunberg and there is the excessive lifestyle that is led by the likes of people such as Kylie Jenner. The former lifestyle is worried about the planer while the latter lifestyle is worried about the shallow parts of life (looks and money). 

We all want to think that we are living the progressive lifestyle, but we fall into the excessive lifestyle more than we think, at least I do more often than not. 

I guess the first step is admitting it. The next is to plan how I am going to change and that is going to require a lot of thought as to what type of lifestyle I would like to lead in the future. 

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc 

I invited Sara Marriott, a PhD candidate at the University of Southern Mississippi, and Emily De Sousa, a fisheries scientist and science communicator, to the show to give us an update on Aquaculture in 2022.

Links:
Sara's Twitter: https://bit.ly/3JjRlCM
Emily's Twitter: https://bit.ly/34pwoHL
Emily's TikTok: https://bit.ly/3GTtWXf

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc 

How do you define success? People often consider success as making a certain amount of money, having a family, and/or accomplishing specific goals in life. However, have you ever considered your sustainability as a measurement of success in your life? 

I saw a post on Facebook recently that posed the same question. I never really thought about how well I prioritized being sustainable in my life. It has always been an afterthought.  If I was hungry when I was out, I would just buy whatever was available at the time without searching for sustainable options. I always went for cheap clothing that I bought every 5 years. I want to be sustainable, but I need to change the way I approach it to consider it a measurement of success. 

How are you prioritizing your sustainability success?

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
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Last week, we saw what really happens at sea with industrialized fishing. 100,000 dead fish were discarded from a net and floating on the ocean taking up 3,000 square meters (32,300 square feet) in size. 

The fish were discarded from the 2nd largest trawling vessel in the world. The FV Margivis can haul in 18,000 tons of fish and process at sea. 

The representatives for the ship explained that a rupture in the trawl net caused the fish to float away. The representatives said they followed EU Law and logged the event as well as reported it to their flag country, Lithuania. 

The Sea Shepherd in France recorded the floating mat of dead fish for the world to see and is pressing the EU to investigate the event to find out if the trawl was actually ruptured. 

Link to articles:
The Guardian: https://bit.ly/335r1Na
BBC: https://bbc.in/3guY4NA

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc 

You just know I had to get the Executive Director, Natasha Tucker, on the podcast to talk about her organization and get the details on the federal government's promise to ban certain single-use plastics in Canada.

Links:
Website: https://bit.ly/35DFOiU
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3AYgj7z
Tweet: https://bit.ly/3B0nE6z
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3HtSY06

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc 

After publishing the episode, an audience member reached out to me on Instagram and shared a website with me that described how a pod of orcas helped whalers in Eden, Australia to hunt large baleen whales such as blue whales in the 19th century.

The whales would herd their blue whale prey into the shallow bay fr the whalers to harpoon them. Once the whale was dead, the whalers would allow a couple of days for the orcas to eat the lips and tongue before the whalers would take the rest of the whale for oil.

Such an amazing story. 

Links to article:
Website: https://bit.ly/3HyctV2

Connect with Speak Up For Blue:
Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc