Sari Heidenrich joins guest host Liliana Sierra Castillo to talk about forced labor in seafood. Forced labor is sadly a reality for many people working in imported seafood supply chains. Sari (Greenpeace USA) discusses the conditions that have created and perpetuated this problem, the challenges workers face, and some possible pathways toward solutions. This conversation highlights the importance of knowing who caught our seafood to make ethical choices that nourish our bodies and those of everyone laboring in the seafood system.
Shannon Guillot-Wright, PhD, is working to directly address medical, immigration, and social needs for fishermen and seafood processing workers in precarious, dangerous, and vulnerable jobs at the Texas-Louisiana border.
Follow Shannon's lab at UTHealth on Instagram @PEOPLE_Centered
Amal Bouhabib is the Director of Southern Migrant Legal Services and defender of the Black catfish farmworkers who were paid less than white migrant workers from South Africa doing the same work. Amal is usually defending migrant workers, who also face abuse in this system. We discuss this case and the complexities of labor and immigration laws that lead to vulnerabilities for American and migrant workers alike in our seafood system.
Follow Amal and Southern Migrant Legal Services at:
- Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA) website: https://www.trla.org/
- TRLA Instagram: @texasriograndelegalaid
Read more about this case at AP News
Kirby Page and Radhika Sharma of Studio ATAO join me to discuss food service and hospitality workers. We talk about the hurdles these workers face to decent working conditions and education about the food system and building solidarities across the seafood supply chain.
Follow Studio ATAO:
- At their website: https://www.studioatao.org/
- On Twitter: @StudioATAO
- On Instagram: @StudioATAO
J.J. Bartlett and his organization Fishing Partnership have been supporting the health, safety, and economic security of commercial fishermen since 1997.
- Visit: www.fishingpartnership.org
- Follow:
- Facebook: Fishing Partnership Support Services
- Instagram: @fishingpartnership
- Twitter: @fishing_partner
- On these social media channels, Fishing Partnership posts updated and current information on services available to fishing families.
- Check out their 90-second video: Fishing Partnership Services: "For the Community, From the Community"
Dr. Rachel Donkersloot shares her research findings on how market-based fishing rights have disproportionately harmed rural, Indigenous, and low-income fishermen in Alaska. She discusses the community impacts of the commodification of fishing rights and shares insights on lowering the barriers to entry for the next generation. This conversation is part of our series on the graying of the fleet.
References (linked)
It is my great honor to share the oral history of Mary Hill and her late, beloved mother, Marie Hill. Mary is a 7th generation African-American oyster harvester in Chesapeake Bay, who has worked tirelessly in the struggle for racial, economic, and environmental justice.
To follow and support Mary Hill and Barrett's Neck Seafood:
Joshua Brown is the environmental literacy and workforce development lead at National Sea Grant in D.C. He joins us to talk about the Young Fishermen's Development Act, a piece of legislation that aims to address the graying of the fleet. Joshua shares with us the potential and some of the limitations of this legislation, before getting into "how the sausage is made": who fought to have this legislation passed, how it got funded (and how it didn't), and why constant pressure matters in D.C.
- Funded YFDA projects (2023): https://seagrant.noaa.gov/sea-grant-projects-provide-33m-in-support-of-seafood-industry-workforce-development/
Why aren't young people entering fisheries in the same numbers as generations past? How is this trend impacting coastal communities in New England? Andrea Tomlinson and the New England Young Fishermen's Alliance are out to address the "graying of the fleet" by supporting young people in fisheries and the development of new young fishermen and women. We discuss some of the reasons behind the trend, including catch shares and policies of privatization, as well as the diverse and important roles that women play in the industry.
- Find and give support to the New England Young Fishermen's Alliance: https://www.neyoungfishermen.org/
- Follow the New England Young Fishermen's Alliance on Instagram: @ne_youngfishermensalliance
- Follow Surf & Turf on Instagram: @surfandturfpodcast
- Follow Caroline on Twitter: @ceferguson1
- Visit our website: https://localcatch.org/surf-and-turf-podcast/
Prof. Tony Sutton breaks down the binary between Indigenous and non-Indigenous food, examines the long history of privatization in North America dating back to the Doctrine of Discovery, and shares his research on--as well as his personal experiences with--how damming and contamination of sea run fish impacts food sovereignty for coastal peoples in Maine.
Will Sennott is an investigative reporter at The New Bedford Light and ProPublica. Will's explosive reporting has exposed the troubling extent of private equity and foreign ownership of fishing rights in New Bedford, America's most valuable fishing port, and the negative impact that financialization has had on fishermen and fishing communities.
You may recognize Will's voice from our special mini-series on seafood processing worker justice in New Bedford!
Follow Will's reporting:
- All of Will's articles for The New Bedford Light
- "INVESTIGATION: How foreign private equity hooked New England’s fishing industry"
- Follow Will on Twitter
Follow Surf & Turf:
- Listen to every episode free on the Surf & Turf website
- Follow @surfandturfpodcast on Instagram
- Follow Caroline on Twitter
Brett Tolley is an advocate for community-based fisheries, fighting for the next generation of fishermen as the National Program Coordinator for the North American Marine Alliance (NAMA). Brett shares his personal experience with a privatization policy known as "catch shares" in New England, his observation of the consolidation of fishing rights among a wealthy few, and the impact that this policy has had on the souls of fishing communities.
Support NAMA:
- Follow @NAMA_net on Instagram
- Visit NamaNet.org
- Donate to NAMA
- Follow Block Corporate Salmon
- Follow Don't Cage Our Oceans
Follow Surf & Turf:
In this special bonus episode with guest host Liliana Sierra Castillo, Brynn Comeaux of the New Orleans Food Policy Action Council discusses the complex relationship between local communities and the oil and gas industry, intersectional impacts in the Louisiana Gulf shrimp fishery, the importance of locally-driven solutions, and how she navigates and resists displacement and loss.
This episode provides additional context to understanding the ongoing challenges shrimp fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico are facing to their livelihoods, which are covered in more depth by Civil Eats here.
Follow Brynn:
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Nico is an organizer, scholar, and sometimes fisherman on his home island of Culebra in Puerto Rico. He share his insights on the limitations and possibilities for seafood sovereignty in the context of rapid privatization of public beaches and docks by wealthy Americans new to the island and the skyrocketing prices of local homes converted to Airbnbs. We also talk about colonial policies limiting food sovereignty including PROMESA and the Jones Act, the powerful history Puerto Rican resistance, and the amazing work that the Asociación Pesquera de Culebra (Fishing Association of Culebra) is doing to advance a solidarity-based economy and reclaim seafood sovereignty.
Follow Asociación Pesquera de Culebra:
- Asociación Pesquera de Culebra Facebook
- Asociación Pesquera de Culebra Instagram
- Asociación Pesquera de Culebra Local Catch Network page (English)
Follow the show:
Queen Quet, Chieftess of Gullah/Geechee Nation, celebrates their victories over a would-be developer (as she says, "destructioneer") attempting to privatize beautiful and culturally significant St. Helena Island for a golf course and resort. Gullah/Geechee Nation is the first nation of African descendants to be recognized within the United States. Their fight for sovereignty, safety, and beauty has lessons for us all.
Support Gullah/Geechee's fight:
- https://www.gullahgeecheeland.com/
- Gullah/Geechee Land and Legacy Fund GoFundMe
- Gullah/Geechee Folks Twitter
- Protect St. Helena Instagram
Follow Surf & Turf Podcast:
Danielle Ringer is a commercial fisherman and fisheries anthropologist based in Kodiak, Alaska. She shares her firsthand experience and research on the "graying of the fleet" trend, privatization and commodification of fishing access rights, and a vision for managing fisheries for community well-being.
- Follow Danielle and her husband's commercial fishing boat on Instagram @northstarharvest
- Learn more about Danielle's research
- Email Danielle at djringer@alaska.edu
- Learn more about well-being as a management framework
Follow the show:
- Follow Caroline on Twitter @ceferguson1
- Follow the show on Instagram @surfandturfpodcast
- Visit the Surf & Turf website at www.surfandturfpodcast.com
For this very special bonus episode, I am joined by Jesuit scholastic Bryan Galligan to discuss how his Catholic faith motivates his work in nutritional and social justice, how to move in solidarity while supporting community leadership and avoiding the pitfalls of white saviorism, and what faith traditions have to offer to the fight for seafood justice.
- Follow Bryan on Twitter @galligan_sj
- Follow Caroline on Twitter @ceferguson1
- Follow the show on Instagram @surfandturfpodcast
- Visit our website www.surfandturfpodcast.com
Prof. Joshua Stoll and I reflect on themes that emerged from season one, such as the corporatization of our seafood system, the mismatch in our stated national policy goals and the reality of seafood inaccessibility for local communities, and the values that drive seafood entrepreneurs to advance a more just system for everyone. We also previous Season Two on Privatization.
Adrián Ventura is the Executive Director of the Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores (CCT) in New Bedford and a leading voice for worker justice in the seafood processing sector. Adrián talks about the injustices seafood processing workers are facing, how CCT empowers workers to respond, and how they are building solidarities across sectors. Immigrant women and undocumented workers are particularly vulnerable to abuses and represent a significant percentage of these workers.
This is an English translation of an interview originally conducted and published in Spanish, by Liliana Sierra Castillo and Ryan Irlanda.
Links:
Professor Dave Love shares his research on when, where, and how much seafood is wasted in the U.S. and his tips for how we can each reduce seafood waste in our own homes, as well as systemic changes that are needed. With his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Dave studies the nutritional and environmental cost of seafood waste. After our conversations with fishermen and advocates who honor their catch this season, I also feel an emotional and spiritual loss.
Follow Dave's research:
- Dave's page at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
- Dave's Twitter
- The research paper we discuss in this episode (2015)
Note: If you want to read the research paper but are blocked by a paywall, reach out to me on Twitter @ceferguson1 and I'd be happy to get you access!
Peleke Flores is piecing together the puzzle of ancient Hawaiian fishponds, which were a vital part of the integrated Hawaiian food and cultural system for centuries, before colonization interrupted and threatened to destroy Hawaiian foodways. Peleke is the Field Operations & Cultural Resources Manager at Mālama Hulē'ia, a non-profit in Kaua´i that advocates, educates, and leads community efforts to remove red mangrove along the Hule‘ia river, re-establishes native wetland ecosystems, and creates an environmental stewardship program honoring Hawaiian values.
Will Sennott is an investigative reporter at the New Bedford Light and ProPublica. He joins us for our special mini-series on the recent layoffs and federal investigations into retaliation at seafood processing plants in New Bedford, one of the country's most important fishing ports. Will provides us with the broader context of changes in New Bedford's waterfront and what these layoffs mean for the most vulnerable people who feed us.
Follow Will's reporting:
Alice Howard is the founder and Executive Director of Sunrise Forever, Inc, a non-profit in Providence, Rhode Island serving the Liberian community. This is part two of our two-part series on a seafood donation program in Rhode Island, created following increased food insecurity and disrupted seafood supply chains in the early weeks and months of the pandemic. Indigenous, immigrant, and refugee communities disproportionately face food insecurity. These communities also prefer whole, fresh fish and value the diversity of species caught in local waters, which don't always make it to local stores. Today, Sunrise Forever Inc. serves over 300 families on a weekly basis.
- Donate to Sunrise Forever Inc
- Learn more about the seafood donation program
Adrián Ventura es Director Ejecutivo del Centro Comunidad de Trabajadores. Está luchando por un trabajo decente para los trabajadores de procesamiento de mariscos en New Bedford.
- "Eastern Fisheries cuts temp agency, laying off New Bedford workers amid labor probe" (Will Sennott, New Bedford Light)
- "Undocumented workers boxed out as Eastern Fisheries restructures" (Will Sennott, New Bedford Light)
- GoFundMe to support unjustly fired workers
- Centro Comunidad de Trabajadores website
Kate Masury is the Executive Director of Eating with the Ecosystem, a Rhode Island-based non-profit promoting a place-based approach to sustaining New England's wild seafood. I speak with Kate about their seafood donation program, initiated in response to growing food insecurity and loss of fishermen's access to markets in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. She gives an overview of what's being caught in New England, what's being eaten in New England, and how we can better align the two, starting with Rhode Island's Indigenous, immigrant, and refugee communities.
- Eating with the Ecosystem website: https://www.eatingwiththeecosystem.org/
- Cook a Fish, Give a Fish: https://www.localfish.org/
- 41n article about the seafood donation program: https://41nmagazine.org/2021/06/21/solidarity-through-seafood/
Please rate and subscribe!
- www.surfandtufpodcast.com
- Instagram: @surfandturfpodcast
- Twitter: @ceferguson1
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Sari Heidenreich, forced labor in imported seafood
41:20
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Shannon Guillot-Wright, providing direct services to fishermen and seafood processing workers in the Gulf of Mexico
28:46
Amal Bouhabib, racial and migrant justice on catfish farms
31:00
Kirby Page & Radhika Sharma, food service worker justice
35:02
J.J. Bartlett, health, safety, and economic security for commercial fishermen
35:34
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Dr. Rachel Donkersloot, the costs of market-based fishing rights
38:30
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Mary Hill, oystering as resistance
1:42:45
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Joshua Brown, making policy to address the graying of the fleet
30:39
Andrea Tomlinson, supporting young fishermen and women
38:21
Tony Sutton, Native American food passage and seafood contamination
42:49
Will Sennott, Wall Street & foreign ownership of US fishing rights
26:16
Brett Tolley, catch shares and the souls of fishing communities
36:30
BONUS: Brynn Comeaux, resisting displacement and loss in Louisiana
43:04
Nicolás Gómez Andújar, seafood sovereignty in Culebra, Puerto Rico
51:37
Queen Quet, protecting St. Helena Island from development (destructionment)
30:50
Danielle Ringer, commodification of fishing access rights and managing for well-being in Kodiak, Alaska
42:21
BONUS: Bryan Galligan, SJ on faith, solidarity, white saviorism, and justice
33:12
Season One Recap with Joshua Stoll
28:27
SPECIAL: Adrián Ventura, seafood processing worker justice (English translation)
40:01
Dave Love, seafood waste
26:42
Peleke Flores, restoring an ancient Hawaiian fishpond
29:26
SPECIAL: Will Sennott, investigative reporting on seafood processing in New Bedford
23:06
Alice Howard, seafood for culture & community
23:43
ESPECIAL: Adrián Ventura, defensor de derechos humanos
51:57
Kate Masury, seafood donations
30:29