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Why Your Seafood Depends on NOAA More Than You Think · How To Protect The Ocean

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  What if the seafood on your plate depended on the science you never see, rules
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  you've never heard about and an agency that many people barely know exists?
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  That is exactly what happens each and every day.
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  This is the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast,
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  your weekly Ocean Conservation Podcast.
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  Follow the show right now if you want clear stories about what
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  really keeps the Ocean healthy.
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  Today we're gonna be talking about seafood, jobs and the hidden NOAA
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  system, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
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  system behind sustainable fisheries.
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  Listen.
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  NOAA is under attack by the Trump administration.
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  We've saw cuts over the last year that have devastated a lot of the
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  programs and weakened a lot of the programs, and we're gonna talk about
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  some of the services this week.
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  If you didn't get yesterday's episode on weather patterns and
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  how it provides information that helps save people's lives,
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  you can go check that out after this episode, but today we're talking about
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  sustainable fisheries and the NOAA system that will be behind that, and it helps
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  manage those sustainable fisheries.
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  So here we go.
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  Millions of people eat seafood each and every day.
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  Millions more depend on fishing for their livelihoods, but fish are not unlimited.
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  Without the proper management, fisheries can collapse.
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  We have seen that happen in many parts of the world, including
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  my home country in Canada.
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  This is where NOAA comes in, not just in Canada, but it comes
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  in in other places, of course.
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  NOAA scientists assess fish populations, estimate abundance,
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  study reproduction, monitor catches and help set harvest limits designed
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  to keep stocks healthy over time.
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  That means the goal is not just fish today.
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  It is fish next year and 10 years from now.
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  Now look, responsible fishing and sustainable fisheries management is
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  something that we need to talk about each and every day because there
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  are a lot of times where that fails.
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  And a lot of times it's the system that we put together.
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  The science is usually on par.
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  And it's just a matter of whether the funding and whether the politicians will
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  allow that to happen on a regular basis.
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  In Canada, we've seen Oceana Canada come on this podcast and talk about how a
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  lot of the fishery stock assessments that are supposed to be done each and every
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  year are not done each and every year.
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  We only see some of the popular ones that we see and eat every day, but
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  there are a lot of other fisheries that are supposed to be done.
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  The stock concession are supposed to be done and they're not done
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  every, even though it's part of law.
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  That's what we have nGOs and nonprofit organizations like Oceana
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  Canada to make sure that their report that comes out every year holds the
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  government of Canada accountable.
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  And Oceana does that all over the world, including the US.
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  And the US has seen major recoveries in fisheries, under a science-based
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  management frameworks like the Magnuson Stevens Act, which this year
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  celebrated its 50 years in existence.
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  A huge, huge thing that has happened.
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  The stocks that were once under pressure have been rebuilt in
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  multiple regions through catch limits, monitoring, and adaptive management.
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  A well-known example is Alaska Pollock, one of the largest
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  managed fisheries in the world.
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  Strong oversight has helped keep the stock productive while avoiding the chaos
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  seen in poorly managed systems elsewhere.
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  So along the Gulf Coast, Red Snapper Management has been controversial,
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  but the larger point remains.
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  Management matters because people care deeply when a fishery supports
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  jobs, recreation, and culture.
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  On all West Coast, salmon seasons are adjusted based on changing environmental
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  conditions and population trends.
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  These decisions are difficult, but they exist to prevent deeper long-term damage.
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  And look, we are in a system.
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  We are in a planet that changes each and every day.
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  And every year stocks will change based on what happens, not just the weather
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  fishing pressure has increased or decreased, but it's also climate change,
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  Ocean patterns, below the sea surface temperature, that's increasing as well.
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  We've seen differences in an Ocean chemistry that is causing the pH to
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  lower, which is changing systems as well.
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  Looking at, I think I mentioned, but currents, which is changing where animals
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  end up settling, looking managed on Marine protected areas or Marine sanctuaries.
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  Making sure that spawning sites and nursery areas are also protected.
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  All these things change each and every year 'cause the world is
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  changing, the Ocean is changing.
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  Whether you think climate change is real or not, things change all the time.
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  It's a fluid area.
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  The Ocean is fluid.
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  It is a water system that changes
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  all the time and scientists there are there to detect those changes and they're
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  there to say, Hey, you know what, this salmon population that came back this
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  year is not as high as it was last year.
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  So we're gonna implement catch limits that were lower than they were last year
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  because the population has just lowered.
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  And sometimes we know, and sometimes we don't know.
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  We may not know right away.
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  We may find out later that has to do with something that happened out at sea
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  or when they came back there was new dam that really affected more than we thought
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  the population of salmon coming back.
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  'cause they come back in rivers to spawn.
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  So there's a lot of things that go on in that.
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  Making sure that these catch limits, making sure that everything is being
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  assessed properly and is a representative of what is happening out there, that's
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  an important aspect that NOAA provides.
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  And a lot of times, unfortunately, stock assessments and that type of
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  science, fishery science is cut.
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  And people think we don't use it, but we're gonna be talking
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  about jobs, we're gonna be talking about the work that it provides.
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  It helps sustain for a lot of people.
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  We're not talking about just the fishermen that go and catch the boat.
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  We're talking about the fish processors, the delivery trucks that bring the
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  fish to from one place to another.
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  The restaurants that depend on seafood, the grocery stores that depend on seafood.
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  All this helps maintain jobs, maintains a part of the economy that
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  is big, especially in coastal areas on fisheries, and that is something
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  that we need to continue to support.
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  NOAA also works on bycatch reduction, which is another part of fisheries
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  that we have to be careful.
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  Bycatch is anything that is caught, basically that is accidental
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  capture of like sea turtles, Marine mammals, sharks, seabirds, and of
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  course the non-target fish species.
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  So if you're going after Alaskan Pollock, but you're catching a lot of arctic char,
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  that's not what you wanna be catching,
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  you wanna make sure that you're reducing that bycatch because
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  one people may not buy it.
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  Or you're decreasing a population that you do not want to decrease because it could
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  be sensitive to, as I mentioned, a lot of changes that are happening in the Ocean.
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  Okay?
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  Gear improvements, closures, observer programs, and better data can
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  reduce waste and ecological harm.
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  So you're probably wondering, well, Andrew, why is this
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  actually mattering to people?
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  How does this affect people?
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  As I mentioned before, we're gonna be talking about seafood
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  markets need predictability.
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  Fish communities need stability.
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  These fishing communities have been fishing for generations and generations.
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  And we're not talking about the industrial complex of fisheries.
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  We're talking about the artisanal fishers that depend on this to get
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  their kids to school, making sure that their families are stable and living
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  a life that you and I live as well.
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  And of course, like consumers want confidence that seafood
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  was harvested responsibly.
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  We don't wanna have to know that we're buying something that isn't great.
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  We may not ask the right questions at times, but we just trust that
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  the system is proper and that it's being managed properly.
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  NOAA helps create that confidence.
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  Without management, you often get a boom and bust type of cycle.
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  So overfishing collapses, job losses, conflict, and long recoveries
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  for a lot of these fisheries.
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  And so that's what it matters to the people.
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  Now, why this all matters to the oceans essentially is healthy
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  fisheries are conservation.
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  When fish populations remain abundant, ecosystems function better,
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  predators have food and habitats face less pressure from desperate over exploitation.
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  And so when we have a diverse area, we have more stability within the system.
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  And so that diversity stays, everything stays the same.
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  We get a better economy, we get better fisheries, we get better seafood.
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  And so if you enjoy seafood, there is a chance that science
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  and management help put it there.
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  And that's why we need to continue to help NOAA stay with the programs it does
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  and get funded with the programs it does.
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  And not just taking a cut across the board like we saw last year.
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  It may not be perfect, it never will be, but unmanaged decline is worse
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  in fisheries than anytime we think.
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  So, when you talk about taking cuts or making cuts with NOAA, obviously
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  there are some programs that could run a little bit more efficient, for sure.
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  I'm not saying that it's not, but cutting programs that
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  affect the economy is not great.
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  We don't talk a lot about the seafood economy.
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  It provides a lot of money to the economy, and it may not be as big as tech or
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  as big as fossil fuel or anything like that, but properly managed fisheries
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  not only stabilize the country and the economy, but also stabilizes the
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  ecosystems and the waters that surround the US, North America and elsewhere.
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  When we look at seafood, it's not just along the coastal lines of the US.
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  It's also worldwide too.
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  NOAA helps a lot of worldwide because those populations
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  don't always see borders.
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  And having reports on shark species, Marine mammals, fisheries, all
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  these things to make sure that the Ocean is in good shape and stable,
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  that is something that is extremely important for us here in Canada,
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  in the US, around the world, for every country to look at.
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  And NOAA has been a leader in a lot of the research that people
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  have taken and moved around.
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  So, having them in the right frame of mind, in the right funding
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  agency, with the right amount of funds to do these studies and to
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  continue to lead is really important.
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  The US has been a leader in fisheries management for a long time.
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  I'd like to keep it that way.
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  To be honest, because we all benefit from it, the world benefit from it,
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  from the methods, from the sharing.
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  The scientists are fantastic and I'd love to see that continue.
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  So, that's it for today's episode.
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  If you have any questions or comments, you can hit me up online.
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  You can go to our socials.
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  There'll be in the show notes.
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  You can also hit me up at speak up for blue.com/feedback.
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  Let me know if you wanna leave a voicemail or text.
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  You can do that anytime you want.
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  DM me on Instagram at How to Protect the Ocean.
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  And, yeah, that's it for today's episode.
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  Follow How to Protect the Ocean for more real stories behind
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  Ocean Policy and Conservation.
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  And thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of the How
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  to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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  I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.
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  Have a great day.
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  We'll talk to you tomorrow and happy conservation.