Everyone in the Tent: How Ocean Treaties Actually Get Made
Holly Koehler has spent almost thirty years in rooms most people never think about: windowless UN offices in New York, the FAO in Rome, and what she calls "oftentimes very boring hotel ballrooms around the world," where countries hash out how the ocean actually gets managed. She's the Vice President of Policy and Outreach at the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), and before that she spent thirteen years at the U.S. State Department's Office of Marine Conservation, chairing international fisheries negotiations. In this episode, she walks Andrew through how a grad-school internship on sea turtles turned into a career built entirely around one question: how do you manage a species that ignores every border humans have drawn?
Andrew and Holly cover what a Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) actually is and why nearly the entire ocean is already covered by one, why she says listening, not legal expertise, is the most important skill she's ever used at the negotiating table, and the story behind an all-night Thanksgiving session that produced a landmark UN resolution protecting deep-sea corals and seamounts from bottom trawling. Holly also explains why ISSF treats governance as being just as important as fishing practices, drawing a direct line from her anthropology background to her belief that governance is what civilization itself is built on, and breaks down exactly how ISSF's audits and public compliance data connect to the eco-labels shoppers see on a can of tuna.
This is the episode the whole week has been building toward. If you've been following along with Monday through Thursday's solo episodes, you've already heard the RFMO explainer, the bottom-trawling story, and the High Seas Treaty history. Here, Holly connects all of it, in her own words, including a memorable detail that resolves a question left open earlier in the week: which UN resolution she was actually in the room for.
Takeaways:
- International fisheries governance runs through treaty-based RFMOs that nearly every country with a stake in a fishery has legally bound itself to join and follow.
- The negotiating skill Holly says matters most isn't legal expertise, it's listening for what a country means behind what it says, since "where you stand depends on where you sit."
- The all-night Thanksgiving session that produced UN Resolution 61/105, the landmark bottom-trawling and seamount protections covered in this show's Tuesday companion episode, was chaired by Holly herself.
- Holly measures negotiating success by getting an agreement strong enough to matter while keeping every country that needs to ratify or implement it "inside the tent."
- ISSF doesn't certify fisheries itself. It builds the audited evidence trail, through annual company audits and public vessel compliance data, that feeds into the Marine Stewardship Council certification a shopper actually sees on a label.
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Tuna conservation would be nowhere without
the right tools to make sure that
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we are fishing them sustainably.
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today on the podcast, we have Holly
Koehler,
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who is a policy expert For the
International Seafood Sustainability
Foundation,
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ISSF, she is here to talk about how policy
plays a critical role in.
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creating protections for not only Tuna but
other fish as well.
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She has been involved in policy for quite
some time,
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and she's gonna tell us a little bit about
the history of how she got into policy,
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how she had like a science degree and got
into this,
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and then how it kind of like some of the
stories of all this policy work that she's
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been able to do. It's pretty exciting.
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Like I have to admit, I'm not a I'm not a
policy like crazy guy,
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like I don't just love it.
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but it's kind of cool, like it's really
interesting all the stories that she has.
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She's a great speaker. It was great to
have her on.
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I could have talked to her for a number of
hours on it,
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and I can't wait to have her back on one
day to be able to talk more about
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her work because she's just been involved
in so much,
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and you'll hear it in the interview.
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And that's what we're gonna be talking
about on this episode of the
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How to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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This is the podcast where you find out all
about ocean news,
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whether it's tuna or fisheries or marine
mammal conservation or anything science
and
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ocean conservation related, this is where
you are going to find out what
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is up and what is the mainstream and what
you need to know Monday
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to Friday every week. usually an interview
on the Friday and then solo episodes
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on the Monday to Thursday to prepare you
for that interview.
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~ but yeah if you like this kind of stuff,
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why don't you just hit subscribe or follow
whatever podcast app you're listening
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to this on and you don't miss the next
episode.
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So that'll be that'll be great for me
because it helps me,
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you know,
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get more exposed to other people ~ who
might not get it,
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whether it be your contacts or anything.
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it's the podcast algorithm. It's
complicated,
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but it allows me to get in front of more
people,
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the more people that subscribe or that
follow,
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whichever one you're on, whatever podcast
app you have.
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I think most of them are follows now.
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I think I don't think they're subscribes
anymore,
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but most of them are follows. So follow if
you like and we'll get right into it.
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So Holly ~ came to us through the
International Seafood Sustainability
Foundation.
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they're always great. I always love the
information.
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They've done so much work tuna,
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especially, but it's not just like the in
the field stuff.
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It's not just with fishers, it's with the
entire supply chain.
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they've advanced tuna conservation and
fisheries conservation and management so
far,
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just by working with the entire supply
chain.
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So not just fishers, as we like to blame
all these fishers.
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They're working with fishers. Fishers are
working with them.
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They're working with processors and
fishhmongers and supermarkets
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and all these other places that sell tuna
so that they can look at every part
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of the process and make sure that it's
done properly so that
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we have sustainable tuna fisheries all
over the world.
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And we had Susan Jackson on earlier this
year.
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She talked about how, you know,
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the the last year we saw such great
numbers in terms of like 99%.
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of the tuna that were caught were from
sustainable fisheries last year.
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Today we're gonna be talking about policy
with Holly.
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Holly is the policy expert for tuna.
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She's been in policy as I mentioned before
so long and she talks about
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her history with the ISSF and and policy
and how that has helped bring us forward.
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especially with the way that ISSF works
with the entire supply chain,
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how it's helped in tuna conservation.
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And I just thought it was wonderful to be
able to have her on and to bring
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you this information. Here's the interview
with Holly Koehler talking about tuna
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policy over the last few decades.
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Enjoy the interview and I'll talk to you
after.
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Hey Holly, welcome to the How to Protect
the Ocean podcast.
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Are you ready to talk about the exciting
topic of tuna policy?
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Well,
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I'm very excited. I'm very pleased to be
here and looking forward to having
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a fun conversation with you about tuna
today.
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Absolutely. I'm looking forward to this
because I feel like we have
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hit the jackpot in terms of tuna.
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I feel Holly, you're like the OG of tuna
and management and I think we're
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in very good company here to really get a
sense of you know how tuna
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was managed previously and how tuna is
managed now and how that policy
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has changed and just really going into the
stories around policy in general
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for tuna and I think
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it's kind of a stuff things a topic that
we don't talk about often enough,
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but it's such an important part of
conservation that I think today's
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Hm.
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gonna be a lot of fun to talk about that.
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But before we get into all of that,
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Holly, why don't you just let the audience
know who you are and what you do?
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Okay, yeah, well let's see. I've been
working in tuna for almost thirty years.
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~ I started as a ~
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intern in Washington DC first at an NGO
and then with the State Department.
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And then I went on to work at the State
Department in their Office
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of Marine Conservation doing international
negotiations for tuna management
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and some other species until 2012 and then
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I moved on to ~ ISSF and back into the NGO
world.
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So I started working with an NGO ~
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that's ISSF ~ works with ~
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companies and you know, the supply chain
and so we also work across
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all of the different spheres, whether it's
vessels,
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flag states, other NGOs or ~ processing
companies.
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And I started working for them in t 2014
doing policy and outreach.
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So I kind of started the NGO world,
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went into the government world for a while
and now I'm back out into the NGO world.
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But the common thread has always been
international fisheries management and
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primarily focusing on tuna.
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Now what first drew you to international
fisheries policy?
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Because I'm sure I can ask you this and
you'll probably say it's a surprise,
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but like that's not when we think of
getting into science and marine
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and ocean science, we don't think about
policy when we're younger,
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you know, like doing our courses and
everything like that.
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What first drew you into international
fisheries policy?
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Well it was really kind of serendipitous.
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I mean I'm in from the Midwest.
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I grew up in Michigan and I went to school
in Ohio and then Indiana and then
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in my graduate program I was doing ~
public policy and one of the things
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I could do was either write another paper
or do an internship and so
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I ended up deciding to do the internship
route and ~ I
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was doing comparative international policy
as a coursework and
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That was I thought that was very
interesting because
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you know, this not something that,
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you know, most people don't have a lot of
experience with how intern you know,
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when you think about the international
realm,
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especially a farm girl from Michigan,
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I didn't have any experience in that and I
didn't even really know what does that
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mean. And so I found that that coursework
really interesting,
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but I really wanted to understand more
practically how did it how does it happen?
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What do you do? What does that mean?
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~ how is it accomplished? And so I ended
up going to Washington DC and
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I worked with a NGO
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at
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that was
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called the Center for Marine Conservation
at the time,
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but now it's called the Ocean Foundation.
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And in that
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internship that summer I worked on sea
turtles and sea turtles was my first sort
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of understanding of resources that are
shared.
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So
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Mm.
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they don't read maps, they don't respect
boundaries,
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they move around and they migrate long
distances and as a result they run into
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a lot of different types of gear.
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They run into a lot of different vessels
that are flagged to different countries.
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And so how do you manage them?
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How do you protect them? And you do that
through international cooperation.
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And through that internship I met people
at the State Department and it sort
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of just kind of canniballed from there.
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So you know, it started in coursework but
was really
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you know, really built on and really ~
activated through having some practical
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experience and really trying to understand
how do you in practice accomplish these
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things. And it's not so simple as just you
know saying we should do X
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or we should do Y. You have to work with
other
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countries and you have to collaborate and
you have to compromise to ensure
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or do your best to conserve these
resources that are moving throughout
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our world's oceans.
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Yeah, for
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sure. And I think it's really important
that you kind of brought that
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up because like when people think about
ocean conservation,
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they often think of like scientists or
fishers or even like advocates,
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people speaking out on certain policies
that have been put in place
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by governments or maybe outdated or maybe
new ones that they don't agree with
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and so forth. They probably don't picture
international negotiations,
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you know. So like why are these like those
meetings so important?
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Okay. Yeah, no, you're absolutely right.
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I mean, you know, there's a lot of you
know when people think of
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it fisheries or marine science,
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they you know, think of big vessels and
people in scuba gear and things like that
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and ~ cool pictures of sharks and whales,
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~ all which all is great, but ~ if you're
these international negotiations,
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these meetings that are taking place and
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oftentimes very boring hotel ballrooms
around the world are
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Yeah.
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~ you know or windowless rooms in the UN
in New York where I spend a lot
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of time or in the FAO ~ in Rome.
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~ is that's where the agreements happen.
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I mean that's where the countries get
together.
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The countries that have decided that they
want to work together,
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~ and in cases of ~
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the different regional fisheries
management organizations,
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as I know we'll talk about a bit more
later,
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or legally bound themselves to cooperate,
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~
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that's where they get together and they
sit down and they work out how
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do we do this? And they agree that they
will do it.
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~ you know, whether that means they agree
to stop fishing at a certain time
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or they agree to use a certain type of
gear that is less damaging
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or catches less bycatch species like sea
turtles or sharks.
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that's where the rubber hits the road for
lack of a better term.
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~ and without that
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all the individual countries would be
operating in their own.
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And so it's without that cooperation,
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without that getting together and sitting
across the table from
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one another and really hashing it out.
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we wouldn't be able to accomplish what we
are accomplishing internationally
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for highly migratory species, for those
species that roam around and don't read
maps
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and occur across thousands and thousands
of miles in many different jurisdictions.
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Now, you know, you've probably accrued a
number of different skill sets throughout
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your time and doing different
negotiations,
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different countries using potentially
different tactics to ~ you know,
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get the best agreement for fisheries,
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for the ocean, for conservation,
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and of course for the State Department and
so forth.
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What would you say for in this audience
there's a lot of early career
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scientists and potential, you know,
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international negotiators and fishery
policy analysts in the future.
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What would you say is it was like the
biggest skill that you use pretty much
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all the time that you acquired over that
time that people could work on now?
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I think it's it would be listening.
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~
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Yeah.
208
00:11:55,461 --> 00:11:57,903
you know, I mean and I you know,
209
00:11:57,903 --> 00:12:00,845
they always you know, you read these like
books on,
210
00:12:00,845 --> 00:12:03,286
you know, getting to yes or getting past
no and all this sort of stuff
211
00:12:03,286 --> 00:12:07,890
and it's like ~ you know, your EQ or your
emotional intelligence.
212
00:12:07,890 --> 00:12:14,855
~ I think being able to listen to what
they're what they
213
00:12:14,855 --> 00:12:18,057
mean behind what they say. Right?
214
00:12:15,652 --> 00:12:17,355
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
215
00:12:18,157 --> 00:12:19,157
So,
216
00:12:19,832 --> 00:12:24,487
you know, one of the things that we would
say was where you stand depends
217
00:12:24,487 --> 00:12:31,375
on where you sit. So it's like you know
you have like you have some countries
218
00:12:31,375 --> 00:12:37,111
will they'll start out saying X but if
you've been around enough
219
00:12:37,111 --> 00:12:40,284
and you pay attention enough and you
listen to the other word choice,
220
00:12:40,284 --> 00:12:41,366
you know that
221
00:12:42,264 --> 00:12:48,487
what they might really mean behind that X
is they're signaling their flexibility
222
00:12:48,487 --> 00:12:55,190
or they're offering you something or
they're tying it to something else.
223
00:12:55,190 --> 00:12:58,961
And so you have to listen and pay
attention to those connections and
224
00:12:59,482 --> 00:13:06,375
be willing to also sometimes you have to
pick your moment also
225
00:13:06,375 --> 00:13:08,386
when you say like okay
226
00:13:09,580 --> 00:13:11,291
I'm willing, you know, who's gonna blink
first?
227
00:13:11,291 --> 00:13:14,994
I'm like, okay, well, what if we offered
this or what if I think I'm hearing this
228
00:13:14,994 --> 00:13:19,638
of in what you're saying? And ~ I also
chaired a lot of negotiations in
229
00:13:19,638 --> 00:13:25,102
my time and as a chair, that's a huge
skill to have is really hearing
230
00:13:25,102 --> 00:13:30,736
the interests behind the words and knowing
when you
231
00:13:30,736 --> 00:13:34,589
can offer us a compromise or a solution
and when
232
00:13:35,413 --> 00:13:41,736
how that's gonna land and is it the right
moment to do so and when to kind
233
00:13:41,736 --> 00:13:45,318
of press the room on something and when to
hold back and wait.
234
00:13:45,318 --> 00:13:50,320
And a lot of that is learned through
experience.
235
00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,962
It's not necessarily, I mean I'm sure
there are you know classes and things that
236
00:13:53,962 --> 00:14:00,005
can teach people that, but I was very
fortunate in my career ~ to work with some
237
00:14:00,005 --> 00:14:05,307
really incredibly gifted and ~ experienced
negotiators at the State Department.
238
00:14:06,248 --> 00:14:11,070
I was able to sort of learn at their knee
for many years ~ before I was
239
00:14:11,070 --> 00:14:16,053
the one in the front row. And so I was
able to pick up a lot on
240
00:14:16,674 --> 00:14:20,976
how they were successful and how they
accomplished what we needed to
241
00:14:20,976 --> 00:14:26,980
do and what they were hearing versus what
I was hearing and filing that away
242
00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:28,360
for the future.
243
00:14:29,370 --> 00:14:33,932
Awesome. One of the things that I think is
also a great skill to have
244
00:14:33,992 --> 00:14:38,573
is to hear acronyms and really understand
what they
245
00:14:38,633 --> 00:14:39,633
are in
246
00:14:38,775 --> 00:14:39,775
Ha ha.
247
00:14:39,333 --> 00:14:41,594
a lot of places. And, you know,
248
00:14:41,594 --> 00:14:44,745
with TUNA and and TUNA Fisheries policies
and looking at that,
249
00:14:44,745 --> 00:14:47,936
there are quite a number of acronyms that
you and I use all
250
00:14:47,608 --> 00:14:48,608
Hm.
251
00:14:47,936 --> 00:14:49,247
the time. And sometimes like, you know,
252
00:14:49,247 --> 00:14:50,897
when I do this podcast, I'll say,
253
00:14:50,897 --> 00:14:52,430
you know, say RFMO.
254
00:14:52,750 --> 00:14:53,750
Right. Like that's a
255
00:14:53,325 --> 00:14:54,325
Mm-hmm.
256
00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,372
common acronym that a lot of people in our
in the industry understand.
257
00:14:57,372 --> 00:15:01,853
But, you know, if I'm speaking to a
general audience who are not familiar with
that,
258
00:15:01,853 --> 00:15:03,184
it can get a little complicated.
259
00:15:03,184 --> 00:15:06,345
So I just have to ask, since we're getting
into tuna policy,
260
00:15:06,345 --> 00:15:08,743
~ can you like when we hear, you know,
261
00:15:08,743 --> 00:15:11,227
things like RFMO ~ all the time,
262
00:15:11,227 --> 00:15:14,949
like what exactly is an RFMO and why
should anyone outside
263
00:15:14,949 --> 00:15:17,269
the seafood industry actually care about
this?
264
00:15:17,269 --> 00:15:19,580
'Cause when I mention it to family and
friends,
265
00:15:19,580 --> 00:15:20,851
they're just like, I don't even know
266
00:15:21,367 --> 00:15:23,556
what that is and like how is that
important?
267
00:15:21,806 --> 00:15:24,447
Yeah. Yeah
268
00:15:23,556 --> 00:15:24,556
You know what I mean?
269
00:15:24,847 --> 00:15:27,608
sure. Absolutely. No, and it happens to me
too.
270
00:15:27,543 --> 00:15:28,543
Ha ha ha.
271
00:15:28,628 --> 00:15:34,800
still. So an RFMO a regional fisheries
management organization.
272
00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:41,292
So it is and then ~ the reason for those
to exist in the world
273
00:15:44,661 --> 00:15:50,964
is because of a framework treaty that was
negotiated and it was there's UNCLOS
274
00:15:51,244 --> 00:15:53,925
and then part of sorry UN Convention on
the Law of the Sea.
275
00:15:53,644 --> 00:15:54,644
Yeah.
276
00:15:53,925 --> 00:15:54,925
And
277
00:15:54,416 --> 00:15:59,568
then as a part of that there was an
implementing agreement that implemented
certain
278
00:15:59,568 --> 00:16:02,910
provisions of that treaty that dealt with
highly margatory species
279
00:16:03,190 --> 00:16:08,102
and straddling stocks. So again those are
the stocks this fish and stuff that swim
280
00:16:08,102 --> 00:16:14,535
with fish ~ that either exist throughout
many jurisdictions
281
00:16:14,565 --> 00:16:15,565
It's highly
282
00:16:14,851 --> 00:16:15,851
Mm-hmm.
283
00:16:15,398 --> 00:16:18,510
migratory or straddling,
284
00:16:18,510 --> 00:16:19,510
which are like
285
00:16:20,299 --> 00:16:23,631
you know, Cod and some other ones which
were on either side of
286
00:16:24,351 --> 00:16:28,372
one or two boundaries, the high seas and
then say like Iceland or,
287
00:16:28,372 --> 00:16:32,074
you know, the EU or Canada. ~ so,
288
00:16:32,074 --> 00:16:34,556
you know, UN Conventional Of the Sea,
289
00:16:34,556 --> 00:16:40,478
you pulled out of that the management of
those kinds of fisheries.
290
00:16:40,478 --> 00:16:44,250
And then there was a new treaty that was
adopted called the
291
00:16:44,250 --> 00:16:49,012
UN Fish Stocks Agreement. And that
agreement,
292
00:16:49,012 --> 00:16:50,183
~
293
00:16:51,628 --> 00:16:56,682
Provided the normative framework for
cooperation internationally.
294
00:16:57,548 --> 00:17:01,619
And the duties of flag states and the
duties in these international
295
00:17:01,619 --> 00:17:03,789
or you know international organizations.
296
00:17:03,789 --> 00:17:06,470
So how do you give effect to that
cooperation internationally?
297
00:17:06,470 --> 00:17:11,341
What does one do? And that give rise to
this idea of these organizations,
298
00:17:11,341 --> 00:17:14,502
these regional fisheries organizations
that would be treaty-based.
299
00:17:14,502 --> 00:17:19,523
And so what that means is that countries
that become party to them,
300
00:17:19,523 --> 00:17:24,474
like ICAT in the Atlantic or the Western
and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
301
00:17:24,474 --> 00:17:26,625
in the Western and Central Pacific.
302
00:17:27,817 --> 00:17:32,239
they have legally bound themselves to the
provisions of that treaty
303
00:17:32,559 --> 00:17:37,301
and those treaties lay out you know a
whole set of things ~
304
00:17:37,602 --> 00:17:43,204
how they're structured you know what their
geographic scope
305
00:17:43,204 --> 00:17:48,066
is ~ what they cover? ~ what kind of
decisions they can make?
306
00:17:48,066 --> 00:17:50,127
how they're gonna arrange themselves?
307
00:17:50,127 --> 00:17:51,538
are they gonna have subcommittees?
308
00:17:51,538 --> 00:17:53,249
are they gonna have a science committee?
309
00:17:53,249 --> 00:17:54,943
are they gonna have an in-house science
committee?
310
00:17:54,943 --> 00:17:57,691
how are they going to monitor the
effectiveness
311
00:17:57,751 --> 00:18:02,066
Of the measures they adopt? How are they
going to slice up the pie?
312
00:18:02,066 --> 00:18:03,837
They have allocation structures.
313
00:18:03,837 --> 00:18:07,451
~ and who can join? They have provisions
on who can join,
314
00:18:07,451 --> 00:18:09,143
and if you want to join, how you have to
go about it.
315
00:18:09,143 --> 00:18:12,947
And there's a whole many other things.
316
00:18:12,947 --> 00:18:17,171
And those treaties ~ cover,
317
00:18:17,573 --> 00:18:21,155
nearly all of our oceans when it comes for
tuna anyway.
318
00:18:21,155 --> 00:18:24,596
And then there's a whole bunch of other
ones that cover non-tuna species.
319
00:18:24,596 --> 00:18:31,079
And there's like one small there's one
little small area in the South west
Atlantic
320
00:18:31,079 --> 00:18:32,980
that isn't covered by an RFMO.
321
00:18:32,980 --> 00:18:36,412
But almost all the entirety of the ocean
is covered by these organizations.
322
00:18:36,412 --> 00:18:41,804
~ even in the Southern Ocean you have ~
one that covers the krill fisheries
323
00:18:41,804 --> 00:18:44,576
and other types of fisheries in the far
southern ocean,
324
00:18:44,576 --> 00:18:46,226
you have one in the Arctic Ocean,
325
00:18:46,226 --> 00:18:47,226
and then you have
326
00:18:47,477 --> 00:18:52,359
these others that some of them kind of
overlap a little bit but they cover
different
327
00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:54,810
species so they don't have that's not a
problem.
328
00:18:54,810 --> 00:19:00,812
~ and, you know, all the major countries
that either border these
329
00:19:01,312 --> 00:19:06,734
RFMOs ~ or are fishing there from far
away.
330
00:19:06,734 --> 00:19:09,185
so you have distant water fishing nations,
331
00:19:09,185 --> 00:19:10,185
so say like
332
00:19:10,310 --> 00:19:11,310
Japan
333
00:19:11,726 --> 00:19:15,410
fishing over in the Atlantic. That's way
far away from their coastline,
334
00:19:15,410 --> 00:19:16,431
but they're considered
335
00:19:15,823 --> 00:19:16,823
Mm.
336
00:19:16,431 --> 00:19:18,012
a distant water fishing nation.
337
00:19:19,730 --> 00:19:24,052
And whereas the countries like the Pacific
Island countries that are coastal states,
338
00:19:24,052 --> 00:19:27,593
they're coastal states and they border
these RFMOs.
339
00:19:27,593 --> 00:19:32,476
They are all of the ones everyone who has
an interest in that fishery
340
00:19:32,956 --> 00:19:35,767
is encouraged to become party to it.
341
00:19:35,767 --> 00:19:37,938
And then once they're party to it,
342
00:19:37,938 --> 00:19:40,199
that's when we have these international
meetings,
343
00:19:40,199 --> 00:19:46,141
that's when these decisions are made on
how to manage the resource and manage the,
344
00:19:46,141 --> 00:19:49,423
you know, bycatch species or other things
that are
345
00:19:49,613 --> 00:19:50,613
found in that region.
346
00:19:51,279 --> 00:19:52,279
Interesting.
347
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:53,221
Yeah, that's really interesting.
348
00:19:53,221 --> 00:19:58,598
And it's such a structured area and it
covers so much area that it's really nice
349
00:19:58,598 --> 00:20:01,802
and a lot of different nations like so
there could be like multiple countries
350
00:20:01,802 --> 00:20:03,895
who are part of one RFMO.
351
00:20:04,727 --> 00:20:07,059
Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. Yeah, exactly.
352
00:20:07,059 --> 00:20:12,265
So some of the RFMOs have like forty five
countries that are party to it.
353
00:20:12,265 --> 00:20:16,760
And yeah. And so some and some have and
some,
354
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:18,011
like in the Indian Ocean,
355
00:20:19,833 --> 00:20:23,035
the number of developing countries in that
that are party to that
356
00:20:23,055 --> 00:20:25,756
far exceeds the number of developed
countries.
357
00:20:25,756 --> 00:20:26,756
And so
358
00:20:25,991 --> 00:20:26,991
Interesting.
359
00:20:26,377 --> 00:20:29,235
that also creates other aspects of,
360
00:20:29,235 --> 00:20:33,080
you know, conditions in how those
resources is managed and the need
361
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:37,062
for capacity building and the need to help
support countries who may
362
00:20:37,062 --> 00:20:41,705
not have the same capacity to collect data
or monitor their fleets in the same way.
363
00:20:41,705 --> 00:20:46,467
And so they need some and so there's
elements of of support that come that flow
364
00:20:46,467 --> 00:20:48,388
through these bodies as well.
365
00:20:48,904 --> 00:20:53,896
So like the overall mission of each of of
all the RFMOs is to protect fisheries
366
00:20:53,896 --> 00:20:55,667
and to make sure that it's it's managed
properly.
367
00:20:55,667 --> 00:21:00,709
But even within each RFMO, there's unique
aspects
368
00:21:00,709 --> 00:21:06,251
to the organization that are catered more
geographically and like you said,
369
00:21:06,251 --> 00:21:11,138
like the looking at developed versus
developing ~ countries and so forth
370
00:21:11,138 --> 00:21:12,883
and what species overlap with what.
371
00:21:12,883 --> 00:21:14,774
So who like if there's two RFMOs,
372
00:21:14,774 --> 00:21:17,375
there are different species that are
managed by
373
00:21:17,659 --> 00:21:20,484
the RFMO and so just to make sure that
everybody is clear
374
00:21:20,885 --> 00:21:21,885
on the goals,
375
00:21:21,135 --> 00:21:22,135
Mm-hmm.
376
00:21:21,645 --> 00:21:24,611
but it could be unique at times depending
on the geographic region
377
00:21:24,611 --> 00:21:26,454
and what's unique in that area,
378
00:21:26,454 --> 00:21:27,454
correct?
379
00:21:27,725 --> 00:21:30,036
Yeah, yeah. I mean I think ~ you know,
380
00:21:30,036 --> 00:21:31,906
they all have their own culture and the I
mean
381
00:21:31,750 --> 00:21:32,750
Yeah.
382
00:21:32,791 --> 00:21:37,843
and their own, you know, and that and how
they operate and when they have their
383
00:21:37,843 --> 00:21:42,325
meetings and but the overall goals are the
same in the sense that at least from
384
00:21:42,325 --> 00:21:46,968
a tuna standpoint it's to conserve and
manage these highly migratory species
385
00:21:47,348 --> 00:21:52,320
and they have ~ you know sort of different
objectives sometimes like sometimes it's
386
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:57,192
like you know maintaining the populations
between maximum sustainable yield
387
00:21:57,393 --> 00:21:59,834
and sometimes they're not as quite as that
specific.
388
00:21:59,834 --> 00:22:02,598
Some of the older ~
389
00:22:02,915 --> 00:22:05,267
RFMO treaties have been updated over time,
390
00:22:05,267 --> 00:22:07,618
so like in the Eastern Pacific and
Atlantic,
391
00:22:07,618 --> 00:22:14,093
when they were first negotiated the
treaties were very lean and they didn't
cover
392
00:22:14,093 --> 00:22:18,996
some of the more modern provisions like
dealing with what we call non-target
393
00:22:18,996 --> 00:22:21,528
and associated species. So you know your
sea turtles,
394
00:22:21,528 --> 00:22:25,070
your seabirds, they were really just
focused on managing the fish.
395
00:22:25,070 --> 00:22:26,070
But as
396
00:22:25,446 --> 00:22:26,446
Right.
397
00:22:25,831 --> 00:22:29,373
time went on, it became clear that that
wasn't enough,
398
00:22:29,373 --> 00:22:31,804
that it really had to manage the
ecosystem.
399
00:22:31,804 --> 00:22:32,804
So they
400
00:22:31,889 --> 00:22:32,889
Mm.
401
00:22:32,195 --> 00:22:33,195
updated
402
00:22:32,815 --> 00:22:39,599
their treaties to include provisions that
gave them that mandate.
403
00:22:39,616 --> 00:22:42,956
and some of the RFMOs continue to refine
themselves over time.
404
00:22:42,956 --> 00:22:45,559
You know, they look at their provisions
and,
405
00:22:45,559 --> 00:22:50,181
you know, look at ways to improve their
effectiveness.
406
00:22:50,181 --> 00:22:54,063
And a lot of RFMOs have gone through sort
of performance reviews where they look
407
00:22:54,063 --> 00:22:58,174
at themselves and say, Okay, well these
are some things or have outside
independent
408
00:22:58,174 --> 00:22:59,235
people look at them and say, Okay,
409
00:22:59,235 --> 00:23:00,846
we could do better in these different
areas.
410
00:23:00,846 --> 00:23:05,928
~ But you're right, I mean the main goal
of all of them,
411
00:23:05,928 --> 00:23:07,899
whether ~ any of these are
412
00:23:07,912 --> 00:23:12,305
whether they're tunas or non-tunas is
international cooperation
413
00:23:12,305 --> 00:23:16,789
to ensure the sustainability of the
fisheries under their jurisdiction
414
00:23:17,890 --> 00:23:20,762
and also the ecosystem in most cases.
415
00:23:20,762 --> 00:23:24,174
So the things that are caught up in those
fisheries.
416
00:23:24,783 --> 00:23:25,783
Well see, I
417
00:23:25,113 --> 00:23:27,976
think that's a really important point
because I think a lot of times
418
00:23:27,976 --> 00:23:30,118
and may have bit used to been this way,
419
00:23:30,118 --> 00:23:33,941
where people assume that fisheries
management is all about catch limits
420
00:23:33,981 --> 00:23:36,013
and like so quotas and things like that.
421
00:23:36,013 --> 00:23:38,015
We a lot of times we hear, you know,
422
00:23:38,015 --> 00:23:40,976
in the public, these are the quotas and
these are the catch limits,
423
00:23:40,976 --> 00:23:43,549
and you can't catch more than this because
this makes sense based on
424
00:23:43,730 --> 00:23:45,551
all this other data and this other
science.
425
00:23:45,551 --> 00:23:47,373
But there's a broader
426
00:23:48,217 --> 00:23:50,267
goal too, as you kind of mentioned,
427
00:23:50,267 --> 00:23:53,559
it's not just about catch limits for one
species or multiple species,
428
00:23:53,559 --> 00:23:59,342
it's the broader ecosystem. Why do you
think that gets ~ confusing
429
00:23:59,342 --> 00:24:04,104
to people and the messaging out to I'm
gonna say general citizens,
430
00:24:04,104 --> 00:24:05,265
like they think that
431
00:24:04,898 --> 00:24:05,898
Mm.
432
00:24:05,265 --> 00:24:07,456
catch limits are one of the only ways.
433
00:24:07,456 --> 00:24:11,598
Like why do you think that there's a bit
of a confusion in that aspect?
434
00:24:11,598 --> 00:24:14,589
Or is it just because that's what used to
be talked about and it's changed since
435
00:24:14,589 --> 00:24:15,589
then?
436
00:24:16,301 --> 00:24:21,483
I think it's probably in part just because
there's just not as much knowledge about
437
00:24:22,043 --> 00:24:26,714
how the complexity of managing the
multi-species fisheries,
438
00:24:26,714 --> 00:24:31,286
like particularly again tuna, you rarely
catch just one kind
439
00:24:31,286 --> 00:24:34,226
of tuna depending unless you're very you
know,
440
00:24:34,226 --> 00:24:38,308
in very specific places and using a very
specific type of gear.
441
00:24:38,308 --> 00:24:40,987
~ and I also think that like a lot of your
442
00:24:41,201 --> 00:24:42,762
your average person, you know,
443
00:24:42,762 --> 00:24:45,442
is probably more familiar with things like
their rod and reel and,
444
00:24:45,442 --> 00:24:48,645
you know, what goes on in recreational
fisheries or something that's local,
445
00:24:46,583 --> 00:24:48,146
True. Right.
446
00:24:48,825 --> 00:24:52,327
right? You get a license and I can have a
bag limit and you know,
447
00:24:52,327 --> 00:24:54,198
I gotta be this long, you know,
448
00:24:54,198 --> 00:24:58,791
that kind of thing. ~ and so I don't think
there's anything really wrong with that.
449
00:24:58,791 --> 00:25:01,462
You know,
450
00:25:02,643 --> 00:25:04,644
that's what the great thing about like
podcasts like this are,
451
00:25:04,644 --> 00:25:06,416
like getting out that information,
452
00:25:06,416 --> 00:25:10,019
that the complexity and the diversity of
the tools and also
453
00:25:10,019 --> 00:25:13,431
the applicability of these organizations,
454
00:25:13,431 --> 00:25:14,882
they're not just about
455
00:25:15,046 --> 00:25:18,636
how much you can catch. They're also about
456
00:25:18,832 --> 00:25:24,396
what is the impact of the catching on
other things and can we mitigate
457
00:25:24,527 --> 00:25:27,239
those negative impacts, you know,
458
00:25:27,239 --> 00:25:29,331
on whether it's seabirds or, you know,
459
00:25:29,331 --> 00:25:30,331
some other
460
00:25:30,146 --> 00:25:33,149
part of the ecosystem. One of the other
things I worked on in the State Department
461
00:25:33,169 --> 00:25:34,169
~ was
462
00:25:34,267 --> 00:25:36,228
what we called high seas discrete stocks.
463
00:25:36,228 --> 00:25:42,947
So bottom fishing, bottom trawling type of
fishing but very damaging
464
00:25:42,947 --> 00:25:45,310
to certain things. And one of the
465
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,113
things I worked on at the UN when I was
chairing the fisheries
466
00:25:48,113 --> 00:25:50,465
~ negotiations there was
467
00:25:50,559 --> 00:25:51,559
kind of a landmark
468
00:25:51,909 --> 00:25:57,361
agreement on how to mitigate the impacts
469
00:25:57,661 --> 00:26:02,862
of bottom fishing or bottom trawling on
vulnerable seabeds.
470
00:26:02,862 --> 00:26:06,091
And because what was being damaged there,
471
00:26:06,091 --> 00:26:10,194
the fisheries were fine, but it what was
being damaged was the seafloor
472
00:26:10,194 --> 00:26:12,605
or the corals. And some of these corals
473
00:26:12,737 --> 00:26:17,967
are older than the pyramids. I mean that's
how long they live and
474
00:26:17,967 --> 00:26:19,258
how slow they grow.
475
00:26:20,020 --> 00:26:24,586
So this idea that you can't just smash
through this stuff.
476
00:26:24,586 --> 00:26:27,080
You have to be careful. You have to have
rules.
477
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,595
And so that was a you know that was a step
function change
478
00:26:30,595 --> 00:26:35,071
in international management of that
particular type of seamount fishery.
479
00:26:35,071 --> 00:26:37,234
~
480
00:26:37,429 --> 00:26:40,941
And we're seeing that evolution in these
tuna RFMOs as well.
481
00:26:40,941 --> 00:26:44,402
I mean, as I said, there were some
treaties that just really focused just
482
00:26:44,402 --> 00:26:46,303
on the fish. That was all they did for
years.
483
00:26:46,303 --> 00:26:51,205
And now there's a whether it's through
evolved
484
00:26:51,336 --> 00:26:53,947
recognition of the importance of the
ecosystem,
485
00:26:53,947 --> 00:26:55,527
or whether it's public pressure,
486
00:26:55,527 --> 00:26:56,848
whether it's all of these things,
487
00:26:56,848 --> 00:27:00,159
market pressure, there's a realization,
488
00:27:00,159 --> 00:27:05,662
understanding and now action to do more to
protect these other species that are
489
00:27:06,906 --> 00:27:08,713
associated with these fisheries.
490
00:27:10,693 --> 00:27:14,485
Now, ~ one thing in my mind that I will
never forget,
491
00:27:14,485 --> 00:27:17,617
okay, that I will always picture and I'll
always have it in my head,
492
00:27:17,617 --> 00:27:19,739
~ and it has to do with policy,
493
00:27:19,739 --> 00:27:24,752
~ was when the high seas treaty was
finally agreed upon.
494
00:27:24,752 --> 00:27:30,676
And there's a video online and it made the
news and unfortunately
495
00:27:30,676 --> 00:27:35,038
I forget the woman's name, but she was
chair of the committee.
496
00:27:35,038 --> 00:27:36,038
She
497
00:27:35,943 --> 00:27:40,464
put her gavel down in the final sort of
agreement that everybody was
498
00:27:41,024 --> 00:27:44,104
you know agreed upon. They had a number of
countries that agreed to it.
499
00:27:44,104 --> 00:27:46,446
And tears kind of flowed down,
500
00:27:46,446 --> 00:27:50,367
you know, as like it was a very emotional
time for many of the people,
501
00:27:50,367 --> 00:27:53,328
the negotiators from various countries.
502
00:27:53,328 --> 00:27:57,349
And it was so emotional as you know,
503
00:27:57,349 --> 00:28:00,640
because it took so long to put together.
504
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:05,381
And this was a huge treaty. It will
eventually change the game in terms of
505
00:28:05,785 --> 00:28:07,936
a lot of different things around the
ocean.
506
00:28:07,936 --> 00:28:11,138
And it kind of tells us that, you know,
507
00:28:11,138 --> 00:28:15,710
international negotiations is can be
frustrating and a slow process.
508
00:28:15,710 --> 00:28:20,062
Like a slow, frustrating process as shown
in in that video,
509
00:28:20,062 --> 00:28:26,535
where to achieve something as huge as that
is monumental in the future.
510
00:28:26,535 --> 00:28:29,987
And to be a part of something like that is
absolutely phenomenal.
511
00:28:30,331 --> 00:28:32,952
And there have been a lot of big policies
over that time,
512
00:28:32,952 --> 00:28:35,202
whether they're national or international.
513
00:28:35,202 --> 00:28:38,113
The Magnuson Stevenses Act in the US has
been huge,
514
00:28:38,113 --> 00:28:40,814
Marine Mammal Protection Act in the
States,
515
00:28:40,814 --> 00:28:43,375
the Fisheries Act in Canada, where I'm
from,
516
00:28:43,375 --> 00:28:46,715
has been monumental. ~ and I just want to
know,
517
00:28:46,715 --> 00:28:50,356
like, you know, it can be but when
progress happens,
518
00:28:50,356 --> 00:28:54,067
you know, what does that actually look
like in this world?
519
00:28:54,067 --> 00:28:56,278
Like when a policy comes into place,
520
00:28:56,278 --> 00:28:59,579
and even though like the high seas is
probably early on in telling
521
00:29:00,209 --> 00:29:04,124
how that's going to be successful or even
non-successful in the future.
522
00:29:04,124 --> 00:29:08,569
But when you've been part of a negotiation
that has been slow and frustrating,
523
00:29:08,569 --> 00:29:11,432
what does progress look like, you know,
524
00:29:11,432 --> 00:29:14,116
after it's been agreed upon? Like how do
we judge that?
525
00:29:14,116 --> 00:29:16,659
How do we evaluate that? Especially in the
early years.
526
00:29:17,656 --> 00:29:18,656
Mm.
527
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,285
let's see, that's an interesting question.
528
00:29:21,285 --> 00:29:22,285
Like I mean
529
00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:27,981
'Cause I've been involved in both the
adoption of policy instruments like a
measure,
530
00:29:27,981 --> 00:29:28,981
~ you
531
00:29:28,464 --> 00:29:29,464
Mm-hmm.
532
00:29:28,912 --> 00:29:34,943
know, and I've also been involved in the
adoption of treaties,
533
00:29:34,943 --> 00:29:39,685
~ like the and so when you actually like
what you described for
534
00:29:39,685 --> 00:29:41,185
the high seas biodiversity treaty,
535
00:29:41,185 --> 00:29:42,960
I've been involved in, you know,
536
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:48,467
where you've spent years and years working
on little bits of text and having
537
00:29:48,467 --> 00:29:49,657
it all knit
538
00:29:49,209 --> 00:29:50,209
Yeah.
539
00:29:49,657 --> 00:29:51,968
together in the end and have
540
00:29:53,396 --> 00:29:58,229
everyone that's been involved in that
sitting around the room agree and
541
00:29:58,229 --> 00:30:02,081
no one says no or I decide I don't want to
do it anymore.
542
00:30:02,081 --> 00:30:08,664
~ so I mean I think what success looks
like ~ in both
543
00:30:08,664 --> 00:30:13,487
of the theme in both of those two
experiences that I've had is where,
544
00:30:13,677 --> 00:30:16,999
It can be very difficult and slow and you
have to make compromises,
545
00:30:16,999 --> 00:30:23,454
but the goal is to get something that is
strong on the one hand,
546
00:30:23,454 --> 00:30:24,454
and
547
00:30:24,642 --> 00:30:27,644
everyone who really needs to be inside the
tent is inside the tent.
548
00:30:27,644 --> 00:30:28,644
They
549
00:30:27,797 --> 00:30:28,797
Mm.
550
00:30:28,544 --> 00:30:32,868
agree to it and will implement it and
ratify it in case of a treaty
551
00:30:32,908 --> 00:30:37,651
or ~ implement the measure for conserving,
552
00:30:37,651 --> 00:30:40,113
you know, sharks or sea turtles or
whatever it is.
553
00:30:42,114 --> 00:30:45,381
And there are some delicate balances
there.
554
00:30:45,381 --> 00:30:46,381
Like you don't wanna
555
00:30:47,004 --> 00:30:50,425
push so hard that everyone's in the tent
that you end up with something that
doesn't
556
00:30:50,425 --> 00:30:52,156
really accomplish what you need to
accomplish.
557
00:30:52,156 --> 00:30:57,849
And it's finding that and that's where
those really delicate negotiations come
down.
558
00:30:57,849 --> 00:31:01,880
I mean in some of the ones there were some
things that I was involved in with
559
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:07,283
~ this other treaty that I it was for for
non-tuna's ~
560
00:31:07,423 --> 00:31:13,526
the South Pacific RFMO ~ where we had a
set of countries that ~
561
00:31:13,526 --> 00:31:16,850
had very different interests and also had
562
00:31:17,568 --> 00:31:23,192
there was ~ a lot of kind of baggage to
put it back a letter of
563
00:31:23,192 --> 00:31:27,235
a better word behind some of the positions
that these countries were taking.
564
00:31:27,235 --> 00:31:30,697
So finding the trade-offs seems like
getting something that would work
565
00:31:30,697 --> 00:31:34,510
for one set of countries but then maintain
some of the stronger positions that
566
00:31:34,510 --> 00:31:39,043
you needed in order for the entirety of
the treaty to be a strong one
567
00:31:39,324 --> 00:31:41,745
in a certain couple of particular areas.
568
00:31:41,745 --> 00:31:45,888
And it takes time. You can't just
569
00:31:46,701 --> 00:31:50,633
arrived there overnight. It took years of
building relationships
570
00:31:50,633 --> 00:31:55,686
and sitting in rooms and playing around
with forms of words and sometimes just
571
00:31:55,746 --> 00:31:59,028
the order of paragraphs just enough to
572
00:31:57,481 --> 00:31:58,951
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
573
00:31:59,328 --> 00:32:04,301
you know, I mean, it seems crazy to people
that haven't been in it,
574
00:32:04,301 --> 00:32:07,853
but it can be it can be that ~ way.
575
00:32:07,926 --> 00:32:09,707
and so that I think when, you know,
576
00:32:09,707 --> 00:32:11,668
kind of what success looks like to me is
like
577
00:32:12,791 --> 00:32:18,242
if you're able to find that sweet spot
where you whether it's a measure
578
00:32:18,503 --> 00:32:24,044
or whether it's an entire new instrument
where you accomplish something that's
579
00:32:24,410 --> 00:32:30,112
meets most of the objectives of being
strong and effective and moving forward
580
00:32:30,292 --> 00:32:36,834
a little bit more in terms of how to
ensure you know science is implemented,
581
00:32:36,834 --> 00:32:40,665
the fisheries are well-monitored and there
are consequences
582
00:32:41,758 --> 00:32:45,460
for breaking the rules, which are sort of
the three pillars of setting
583
00:32:45,460 --> 00:32:48,852
up these kinds of measures, and you get
everybody in the tent.
584
00:32:48,852 --> 00:32:50,633
Then I think
585
00:32:49,281 --> 00:32:50,865
Yeah. Then just
586
00:32:50,923 --> 00:32:54,114
you could be pretty pretty good feel
pretty good about that as a success.
587
00:32:55,073 --> 00:32:56,073
I
588
00:32:55,353 --> 00:32:57,473
think that's a good measure. I think
there's a lot that goes into it
589
00:32:57,473 --> 00:33:00,896
and it's not obviously not as easy as it
sounds to make that's
590
00:33:00,896 --> 00:33:03,988
why you're mentioning all these things and
especially making sure everybody's
591
00:33:03,988 --> 00:33:07,750
in the same tent. That I think that's a
really good point.
592
00:33:07,750 --> 00:33:13,373
Now one of ISF's recurring messages is
that governance matters just as much
593
00:33:13,373 --> 00:33:17,215
as the fisheries practices. And I think ~
some people will ignore
594
00:33:17,215 --> 00:33:20,267
the governance as they don't know a lot
about the governance.
595
00:33:20,267 --> 00:33:23,979
So why like what does ISSF mean by that
that
596
00:33:24,363 --> 00:33:27,010
governments is just as important as the
fishing practices.
597
00:33:27,643 --> 00:33:32,667
Well what ISSF means or what I would mean
say I that we mean ~ is that
598
00:33:32,667 --> 00:33:38,752
you know governance is essentially the
structure that we all you know that
599
00:33:38,752 --> 00:33:41,995
you operate under under. It's like you
know,
600
00:33:41,995 --> 00:33:45,218
I mean I have a background in anthropology
and it's like governance
601
00:33:45,218 --> 00:33:48,510
is like what civilization is based on,
602
00:33:48,510 --> 00:33:49,510
right?
603
00:33:48,691 --> 00:33:49,691
Right.
604
00:33:49,051 --> 00:33:52,974
I mean if you don't have rules and laws
and
605
00:33:53,103 --> 00:33:54,544
you know, as a set of
606
00:33:55,184 --> 00:33:59,507
principles that we all agreed that we're
gonna live by and if something goes wrong
607
00:33:59,567 --> 00:34:00,567
you have a place
608
00:33:59,723 --> 00:34:00,723
Mm-hmm.
609
00:34:00,267 --> 00:34:04,727
to go and you have someone who will help
you redress that issue or
610
00:34:04,018 --> 00:34:05,018
Mm-hmm.
611
00:34:04,727 --> 00:34:10,735
you have a process that you can ~ rely on
that this is something this
612
00:34:10,735 --> 00:34:12,236
is how things will unfold.
613
00:34:12,866 --> 00:34:16,198
That what governance is. And if you don't
have that,
614
00:34:16,198 --> 00:34:19,721
then you know, it kind of goes back to
what I was saying before about
615
00:34:19,901 --> 00:34:22,743
why we need RFMOs, because otherwise it's
just sort of a free-for-all.
616
00:34:22,743 --> 00:34:23,743
Like
617
00:34:22,802 --> 00:34:23,802
Yeah. Yeah.
618
00:34:23,984 --> 00:34:27,437
you could how would you manage a fishing
practice?
619
00:34:27,437 --> 00:34:30,009
Every different country would manage it
individually,
620
00:34:30,009 --> 00:34:33,431
but those vessels are not just staying in
that country,
621
00:34:33,431 --> 00:34:34,516
they're going out and
622
00:34:34,989 --> 00:34:39,251
beyond their country or they're going and
they're fishing in someone else's country
623
00:34:39,251 --> 00:34:43,269
zone because they're allowed to or maybe
they shouldn't be allowed to ~
624
00:34:43,413 --> 00:34:45,414
or no one know they were there.
625
00:34:45,414 --> 00:34:48,105
So it's like you need that governance.
626
00:34:48,105 --> 00:34:51,356
You need to have rules,
627
00:34:51,356 --> 00:34:52,857
you need to have certainty, you need to
628
00:34:52,446 --> 00:34:53,446
Mm-hmm.
629
00:34:52,857 --> 00:34:57,269
have a process, you need to have a way of
saying okay this is how
630
00:34:57,269 --> 00:35:01,160
we will develop our policy. This is how we
will get together and talk about
631
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,862
our policy. This is how we will adopt the
policy and this is how
632
00:35:04,902 --> 00:35:07,345
we will know that the policy is working.
633
00:35:07,345 --> 00:35:13,333
You need to have that structure in order
to have that an effective means
634
00:35:13,894 --> 00:35:18,459
by which to manage a fishery and the
fishing practices themselves.
635
00:35:18,994 --> 00:35:24,017
Yeah, I completely agree. Having that
almost that central area where the
636
00:35:24,017 --> 00:35:28,870
way I think of it too, it's like when one
area does really well at something,
637
00:35:28,870 --> 00:35:30,281
they can share it with others.
638
00:35:30,281 --> 00:35:32,493
It gets transposed because everything's
connected,
639
00:35:32,493 --> 00:35:35,214
which is nice and it's not just being
independently run.
640
00:35:35,214 --> 00:35:36,996
And I think that's really great.
641
00:35:36,996 --> 00:35:38,937
And plus I feel like a lot of those RFMOs,
642
00:35:38,937 --> 00:35:41,618
if a country has a conflict in that
fishery,
643
00:35:41,618 --> 00:35:43,860
they can come together
644
00:35:44,678 --> 00:35:47,500
and help negotiate those conflicts,
645
00:35:47,500 --> 00:35:48,940
right? And help get over those conflicts,
646
00:35:48,940 --> 00:35:51,111
which I think I really like. And I think,
647
00:35:51,111 --> 00:35:52,111
you know,
648
00:35:51,278 --> 00:35:52,278
Yeah.
649
00:35:52,231 --> 00:35:54,083
there's a lot of stuff when we talk about
fishers,
650
00:35:54,083 --> 00:35:57,214
'cause a lot of people will focus on the
actual fishing practices.
651
00:35:57,214 --> 00:35:58,214
And, you know,
652
00:35:57,624 --> 00:35:58,624
Mm-hmm.
653
00:35:58,015 --> 00:36:00,515
there's all these different gears that
come out.
654
00:36:00,515 --> 00:36:02,707
We've heard obviously not for tuna,
655
00:36:02,707 --> 00:36:05,438
but like of trawling and the damage that
can done.
656
00:36:05,438 --> 00:36:08,300
And then with tuna like long lining and
then pull and
657
00:36:09,012 --> 00:36:12,263
~ fishing and then FADs and like fish
aggregation
658
00:36:11,738 --> 00:36:12,738
Mm-hmm.
659
00:36:12,263 --> 00:36:16,965
devices and so forth. So like people often
focus on the gear being used
660
00:36:16,965 --> 00:36:18,175
and how that needs to
661
00:36:17,776 --> 00:36:18,776
Mm-hmm.
662
00:36:18,175 --> 00:36:21,937
change. But that's not just the only thing
that needs to happen.
663
00:36:21,937 --> 00:36:27,389
So like why isn't gear alone, like
changing gear alone ~ help why doesn't
664
00:36:27,389 --> 00:36:29,029
it just help improve sustainability?
665
00:36:29,029 --> 00:36:31,110
Like why do we need more than just
changing gear?
666
00:36:31,742 --> 00:36:34,805
Well, I mean, I guess so yeah,
667
00:36:34,805 --> 00:36:41,362
so ~ because you can change your gear but
you might still catch
668
00:36:41,682 --> 00:36:43,264
so I guess it depends on what you're
trying to accomplish,
669
00:36:43,264 --> 00:36:44,264
right? Like
670
00:36:43,574 --> 00:36:44,574
Right.
671
00:36:44,025 --> 00:36:46,767
if gear changes are to address
672
00:36:47,686 --> 00:36:52,159
An issue with that gear, like it's lost or
it entangles things or
673
00:36:52,679 --> 00:36:54,420
it catches things it shouldn't catch,
674
00:36:54,420 --> 00:36:59,003
or ~ you know, something of along those
lines,
675
00:36:59,003 --> 00:37:04,326
then those are kind of gear modifications
address one set of problems or issues.
676
00:37:04,326 --> 00:37:07,007
And then you have other like sets of
issues.
677
00:37:07,007 --> 00:37:10,549
If you want to control how much fish is
being removed from the ocean,
678
00:37:10,549 --> 00:37:15,132
then there are other tools in the toolbox
like management.
679
00:37:15,332 --> 00:37:22,329
areas or closures or ~ limits on the use
of certain gear because
680
00:37:22,329 --> 00:37:23,329
that gear
681
00:37:23,900 --> 00:37:26,661
can result in large catches all at once.
682
00:37:26,661 --> 00:37:31,862
And so, you know, there really are a suite
of things that are necessary
683
00:37:32,122 --> 00:37:34,003
to ensure comprehensive management,
684
00:37:34,003 --> 00:37:39,624
addressing potential negative impacts to
the ecosystem or to specific species
685
00:37:39,964 --> 00:37:43,606
or marine pollution. And then the
fisheries management itself,
686
00:37:43,606 --> 00:37:47,527
controlling the actual removals
687
00:37:47,527 --> 00:37:52,028
~ to maintain a healthy stock.
688
00:37:52,530 --> 00:37:57,132
And so you need multiple pieces of
management tools to accomplish that.
689
00:37:57,132 --> 00:37:59,211
And there isn't really a one size fits
all,
690
00:37:59,211 --> 00:38:01,534
and there's not really a silver bullet in
doing that.
691
00:38:01,534 --> 00:38:03,985
And that's why you see different RFMOs,
692
00:38:03,985 --> 00:38:08,007
different regions using different mixes of
management tools.
693
00:38:08,007 --> 00:38:10,118
Like in Eastern Pacific, for example,
694
00:38:10,118 --> 00:38:13,010
they have a full closure for a certain
period of time.
695
00:38:13,010 --> 00:38:17,111
And that's to reduce the amount of fish
that's being taken out of the ocean
696
00:38:17,312 --> 00:38:20,913
to keep it within sustainable
science-based limits.
697
00:38:20,913 --> 00:38:22,454
But in the Western Pacific,
698
00:38:22,544 --> 00:38:26,216
they have limits on the use of fats
certain prime times of the year.
699
00:38:26,216 --> 00:38:28,618
And so they don't have a full closure.
700
00:38:28,618 --> 00:38:32,280
~ So there's just different tools based on
the regions
701
00:38:32,541 --> 00:38:37,044
and the objectives that they're trying to
accomplish.
702
00:38:37,991 --> 00:38:41,212
Interesting. Now, one thing I fell in love
with,
703
00:38:41,212 --> 00:38:44,593
one of the reasons why I fell in love with
the ISSF is the fact that they focus
704
00:38:44,593 --> 00:38:48,164
a lot on ~ transparency and
accountability,
705
00:38:48,164 --> 00:38:49,164
which I think
706
00:38:48,743 --> 00:38:49,743
Mm-hmm.
707
00:38:49,014 --> 00:38:50,014
in
708
00:38:49,214 --> 00:38:51,375
any kind of fishery, especially dealing
with tuna,
709
00:38:51,375 --> 00:38:52,756
it's such an important aspect,
710
00:38:52,756 --> 00:38:55,366
right? We need to know what goes behind
all the science,
711
00:38:55,366 --> 00:38:57,377
what goes behind all the policy and
everything like that.
712
00:38:57,377 --> 00:39:00,858
For ISSF, like what does that actually
look like focusing
713
00:39:00,858 --> 00:39:02,568
on transparency and accountability?
714
00:39:02,568 --> 00:39:04,079
Like, what does it look like in practice?
715
00:39:04,503 --> 00:39:06,694
Well, we have a lot of things,
716
00:39:06,694 --> 00:39:13,025
tools that we have put in place and have
created to support transparency
717
00:39:13,025 --> 00:39:16,616
and accountability. And the transparency
and accountability at their basic,
718
00:39:16,616 --> 00:39:21,598
you know, essence are you know being open
about what you're doing,
719
00:39:21,598 --> 00:39:25,099
what you've committed to, what you said
you're going to do,
720
00:39:25,099 --> 00:39:30,660
that's transparency. And then
accountability is showing that you've done
it.
721
00:39:30,660 --> 00:39:33,641
And if you haven't done it, what you're
gonna do about it.
722
00:39:34,617 --> 00:39:38,200
And ~ in that ISSF's world,
723
00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:43,825
you know, we have a number of we have the
participating companies that we work with,
724
00:39:43,825 --> 00:39:46,792
the processing companies, they are audited
annually.
725
00:39:46,792 --> 00:39:51,777
We have public compliance reports of their
implementation of
726
00:39:52,737 --> 00:39:54,198
The ISSF conservation measures.
727
00:39:54,198 --> 00:39:57,319
So you have transparency, public
accountability,
728
00:39:57,319 --> 00:40:01,661
all in one. You have they're audited and
those reports are public.
729
00:40:01,661 --> 00:40:03,822
We have similar for the vessels.
730
00:40:03,822 --> 00:40:05,283
We have these two different lists,
731
00:40:05,283 --> 00:40:08,744
and vessels that are on those lists are
audited for each of
732
00:40:08,744 --> 00:40:11,046
the different columns that you know,
733
00:40:11,046 --> 00:40:12,626
different sustainability commitments,
734
00:40:12,626 --> 00:40:17,609
and that their grades,
735
00:40:17,609 --> 00:40:22,574
their scores are then public. And this
these are tools for the public.
736
00:40:22,951 --> 00:40:29,334
for market actors, for NGOs to see if you
know these companies
737
00:40:29,334 --> 00:40:33,851
or these vessels are implementing what
they say they're going to be implementing.
738
00:40:33,851 --> 00:40:37,484
It's the transparency and the
accountability together in one package.
739
00:40:38,257 --> 00:40:39,580
Yeah, that's really interesting.
740
00:40:39,580 --> 00:40:44,410
Now, how does better data and transparency
actually change like behavior
741
00:40:44,410 --> 00:40:47,537
on the seas or even from a supply chain?
742
00:40:48,026 --> 00:40:50,427
Well, the more you know about what a
vessel is doing,
743
00:40:50,427 --> 00:40:52,488
the more you can
744
00:40:52,908 --> 00:40:57,910
see if it's implementing the kinds of
things whether it's because it's required
745
00:40:57,910 --> 00:41:00,471
under an RFMO or a national government,
746
00:41:00,471 --> 00:41:03,603
or it's something that the supply chain is
asking for.
747
00:41:03,603 --> 00:41:06,154
I mean, there are a lot of retailers and,
748
00:41:06,154 --> 00:41:10,906
you know, big companies like Costco and
Walmart that have specific things that
they
749
00:41:10,906 --> 00:41:11,906
want to see
750
00:41:13,979 --> 00:41:19,122
in their supply, they don't want to
purchase and put on a shelf something that
does
751
00:41:19,122 --> 00:41:23,094
not meet a set of sustainability
commitments that they have made as a
company.
752
00:41:23,094 --> 00:41:28,387
And so the more you have transparency and
better data at that vessel level
753
00:41:28,387 --> 00:41:32,340
or the harvesting level that flows through
that supply chain,
754
00:41:32,340 --> 00:41:36,802
the more that companies and others that
have made those commitments
755
00:41:36,802 --> 00:41:39,363
can actually say, Okay, I feel confident
756
00:41:39,463 --> 00:41:41,008
that this is
757
00:41:41,737 --> 00:41:42,737
I'm able to
758
00:41:42,736 --> 00:41:45,387
stand behind this product because it does
meet my
759
00:41:45,387 --> 00:41:47,817
own sustainability commitments that I've
made.
760
00:41:47,817 --> 00:41:50,798
And more and more companies that are doing
that those kinds of things that have
761
00:41:50,798 --> 00:41:55,840
public ~ seafood sustainability
commitments beyond tuna the you know
shrimp
762
00:41:55,976 --> 00:41:58,940
or whitefish or ~ other things.
763
00:41:58,940 --> 00:42:04,682
~ and then but in order to ensure that
they're accountable
764
00:42:04,682 --> 00:42:06,763
to their own sustainability commitments,
765
00:42:06,763 --> 00:42:11,304
they need data and they need better
visibility into their supply chain.
766
00:42:11,781 --> 00:42:14,505
Yeah, no doubt. I think that's really
interesting.
767
00:42:14,505 --> 00:42:17,870
Now with that said, ~ you've worked on
tuna for quite some time.
768
00:42:17,870 --> 00:42:21,956
What have you like where have you seen the
biggest improvements
769
00:42:22,457 --> 00:42:24,841
in tuna fisheries over your career so far?
770
00:42:25,416 --> 00:42:31,922
Well, I guess I would say that a greater
focus
771
00:42:32,022 --> 00:42:36,666
on and actually action in addressing
ecosystem impacts.
772
00:42:36,666 --> 00:42:40,369
~ when I first started in the tumor world
many,
773
00:42:40,369 --> 00:42:46,665
many years ago, most of the conversations
in not exclusively,
774
00:42:46,665 --> 00:42:50,458
but most of the conversations in these
international meetings are really focused
on
775
00:42:51,387 --> 00:42:56,190
you know, conservation of the tunas or how
much tuna can we catch and
776
00:42:56,190 --> 00:43:01,644
who can catch them and what gears can
catch how many and ~ there wasn't
777
00:43:01,644 --> 00:43:06,798
as much focus on the potential impact of
certain gears like fads
778
00:43:07,457 --> 00:43:12,682
or the impact of longline caught tuna on
other species.
779
00:43:14,661 --> 00:43:20,224
And as the science has evolved and shown
that there are certain mitigation measures
780
00:43:20,224 --> 00:43:24,256
that would really reduce the impact of
certain gears on
781
00:43:24,540 --> 00:43:29,222
these species, or that you could design
the gears differently so they
782
00:43:29,542 --> 00:43:34,004
are less likely to entangle things or less
likely to pollute the environment.
783
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:39,311
And those have been adopted. And those
have you know,
784
00:43:39,311 --> 00:43:42,613
there actually has been progress in
changing those measures or adopting
785
00:43:42,613 --> 00:43:47,116
new measures to address that wider set of
~ impacts.
786
00:43:47,116 --> 00:43:49,757
And I think the other thing that I've seen
is
787
00:43:50,048 --> 00:43:54,051
there's a lot more interest in what's
going on in those meetings outside
788
00:43:54,051 --> 00:43:56,382
of the typical original sort of actors.
789
00:43:56,382 --> 00:43:58,043
When I was first starting on this,
790
00:43:58,043 --> 00:44:02,886
it was always, you know, governments and
industry and a few NGOs that were
involved.
791
00:44:03,886 --> 00:44:06,347
And you could probably name them all on
one hand.
792
00:44:05,482 --> 00:44:06,482
Yeah.
793
00:44:06,347 --> 00:44:08,087
And
794
00:44:09,229 --> 00:44:12,281
you know, it was always the same sort of
you know,
795
00:44:12,281 --> 00:44:17,574
we had this a lot of the same ~
individuals or ~ personalities and groups.
796
00:44:17,574 --> 00:44:20,706
And ~ but now, you know,
797
00:44:20,706 --> 00:44:24,038
there's a lot more interest in
798
00:44:25,154 --> 00:44:29,988
what these international governance bodies
are doing and there's
799
00:44:29,988 --> 00:44:33,711
an interest from big companies like
retailers like I mentioned.
800
00:44:33,711 --> 00:44:40,626
There's interest by ~ other types of
organizations like social and labor or
801
00:44:41,428 --> 00:44:45,331
crew safety ~ organizations.
802
00:44:45,331 --> 00:44:49,825
there's a lot more focus from the world,
803
00:44:49,825 --> 00:44:51,274
the community on
804
00:44:51,962 --> 00:44:56,117
these organizations and I think that's in
some ways driving some of
805
00:44:56,117 --> 00:45:00,091
the progress in some areas, like because
it's no longer kind of an echo chamber
806
00:45:00,091 --> 00:45:02,804
of just the same folks working
807
00:45:03,216 --> 00:45:06,748
to adopt focus on the tuna and the
catching of the tuna.
808
00:45:06,748 --> 00:45:11,140
There's a lot more interest from the wider
world to say,
809
00:45:11,140 --> 00:45:14,201
I demand more. I want you to do more.
810
00:45:14,201 --> 00:45:18,303
And I'm going to ask for it and I'm gonna
watch you and see if you're doing it.
811
00:45:18,303 --> 00:45:21,775
And I'm gonna turn up at these meetings or
I'm gonna send you a letter
812
00:45:21,775 --> 00:45:24,726
or I'm going to and the other thing I
think was is the rise of some
813
00:45:24,726 --> 00:45:26,187
of these certifications out there,
814
00:45:26,187 --> 00:45:28,128
these eco-labels, ~
815
00:45:27,390 --> 00:45:28,390
Yeah.
816
00:45:28,128 --> 00:45:32,410
that have put pressure on these
organizations to accomplish specific
things.
817
00:45:32,850 --> 00:45:37,007
because those eco-labels can be lost and
those eco-labels
818
00:45:36,167 --> 00:45:37,167
Mhm.
819
00:45:37,007 --> 00:45:38,007
have value.
820
00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:41,711
Yes. Yeah, we saw that ~ not too long ago,
821
00:45:41,711 --> 00:45:45,610
I think it was a year ago, when some of
those ecolabels pulled out
822
00:45:45,650 --> 00:45:47,142
of the lobster fishery in Maine,
823
00:45:47,142 --> 00:45:48,273
~ because
824
00:45:47,354 --> 00:45:48,354
Mm-hmm.
825
00:45:49,055 --> 00:45:50,226
of the entanglements
826
00:45:51,319 --> 00:45:54,970
in their gear with ~ North Atlantic right
whales ~ th which
827
00:45:54,970 --> 00:45:56,390
are critically endangered. So yeah,
828
00:45:56,390 --> 00:46:00,711
and it definitely, you know, the fisheries
union were worried at that point,
829
00:46:00,711 --> 00:46:01,711
being like, well, hold on
830
00:46:01,369 --> 00:46:02,369
Yeah.
831
00:46:01,702 --> 00:46:05,142
a second. You know, so it definitely makes
action take place.
832
00:46:05,142 --> 00:46:06,393
Whether people agree with it or not,
833
00:46:06,393 --> 00:46:08,073
you know, it does it makes, you know,
834
00:46:08,073 --> 00:46:09,073
people
835
00:46:08,314 --> 00:46:09,314
Mm-hmm.
836
00:46:08,793 --> 00:46:12,224
were looking for these ecolabels to make
sure that they see these ecolabels
837
00:46:12,224 --> 00:46:13,864
on their product so that they're
838
00:46:13,509 --> 00:46:14,509
Yeah.
839
00:46:13,864 --> 00:46:15,149
buying. So it's really interesting.
840
00:46:15,149 --> 00:46:18,886
There's been a lot of improvements which
is great to hear and great
841
00:46:18,886 --> 00:46:20,416
to see that they're affecting
842
00:46:20,818 --> 00:46:23,884
you know, how some of these organizations
and companies function,
843
00:46:23,884 --> 00:46:24,884
which
844
00:46:24,475 --> 00:46:25,475
is great.
845
00:46:24,506 --> 00:46:25,506
For sure.
846
00:46:25,397 --> 00:46:29,996
Now looking ahead, like what are the
biggest governance challenges that still
need
847
00:46:29,996 --> 00:46:31,038
attention today?
848
00:46:31,558 --> 00:46:33,358
I think there are some gears
849
00:46:33,847 --> 00:46:36,406
that have gotten a lot of attention and
continue to get a lot of you know,
850
00:46:36,406 --> 00:46:40,309
you talked about fads and certainly can
always be in improvements there.
851
00:46:40,309 --> 00:46:41,309
~
852
00:46:41,166 --> 00:46:44,327
but I think there are other gears that
have not gotten as much of attention.
853
00:46:44,327 --> 00:46:49,849
I mean I think there's still ~ a much
there's definitely in a need to improve
854
00:46:50,571 --> 00:46:54,963
the monitoring equally across fleets.
855
00:46:54,963 --> 00:46:57,244
For example, for the large scale Persane
fleet,
856
00:46:57,244 --> 00:46:59,735
which is type of ~ tuna fishing vessel,
857
00:46:59,735 --> 00:47:04,748
there's a hundred percent observer
coverage in three of the four RFMOs.
858
00:47:04,748 --> 00:47:09,461
Those vessels have to have a person on
board a hundred percent of the time.
859
00:47:10,415 --> 00:47:14,683
monitoring, you know, they fill out forms
and they keep track and their reports
860
00:47:14,683 --> 00:47:17,779
are then used for compliance purposes and
science purposes,
861
00:47:18,741 --> 00:47:22,062
~ but then, you know, you have long line
gears which have only
862
00:47:22,062 --> 00:47:26,093
a five percent coverage. And that's
something that a lot of us NGOs have been
863
00:47:26,093 --> 00:47:28,434
working on over the last few years.
864
00:47:28,434 --> 00:47:31,715
We have a ~ it's an area that really needs
to be improved.
865
00:47:31,715 --> 00:47:34,206
And there's some challenges with doing
that.
866
00:47:34,206 --> 00:47:36,406
I mean, these vessels are often out to sea
for a long time.
867
00:47:36,406 --> 00:47:39,227
And then and but with the rise of
technology,
868
00:47:39,227 --> 00:47:43,328
which is another one of those things which
it's changed a lot in my lifetime
869
00:47:43,328 --> 00:47:45,209
in this world, is the
870
00:47:47,780 --> 00:47:50,882
increase in technology and the
availability of technology to solve some
871
00:47:50,882 --> 00:47:55,024
of these problems you like electronic
monitoring putting cameras on boats
instead
872
00:47:55,024 --> 00:47:59,946
of humans you can use these cameras and ~
that's really gonna that's
873
00:48:00,146 --> 00:48:03,878
can really move the needle forward in
terms of increasing monitoring because
874
00:48:03,878 --> 00:48:08,189
if you have more ~ equal monitoring you're
gonna have better data from
875
00:48:08,189 --> 00:48:12,341
all these other fleets you're gonna have
better ~ confidence that measures
876
00:48:12,341 --> 00:48:13,522
are being implemented
877
00:48:14,162 --> 00:48:16,003
it'll improve not only the
878
00:48:16,043 --> 00:48:19,967
science, but it'll also improve the
implementation and effectiveness
879
00:48:20,006 --> 00:48:22,710
of some of these bycatch measures that
I've mentioned.
880
00:48:22,710 --> 00:48:26,193
I think that that still continues to be a
big challenge.
881
00:48:26,193 --> 00:48:29,347
~ ensure getting some getting rising the
tide,
882
00:48:29,347 --> 00:48:31,759
you know, lifting all boats to have a
similar kind of
883
00:48:31,245 --> 00:48:32,245
For sure.
884
00:48:32,340 --> 00:48:36,424
monitoring level. ~ And I think the other
thing I think that is
885
00:48:37,703 --> 00:48:40,525
a governance challenge, which isn't really
I guess it's not really
886
00:48:40,525 --> 00:48:41,799
a governance governance challenge.
887
00:48:41,799 --> 00:48:46,846
I think more could be done to explain ~
the value in
888
00:48:49,142 --> 00:48:52,006
those fisheries that are doing the right
things,
889
00:48:52,006 --> 00:48:56,283
right? Like that's something like
transmitting that beyond the world of
890
00:48:56,283 --> 00:48:58,286
us who live and breathe this stuff,
891
00:48:58,286 --> 00:49:01,912
but getting it out into the public and
getting it out into people understanding
892
00:49:01,912 --> 00:49:03,304
the value of
893
00:49:05,062 --> 00:49:09,704
sustainable fisheries. ~ you see a lot of
~ a growth of a lot of
894
00:49:09,797 --> 00:49:12,639
labeling and different ways of marketing
things and I think
895
00:49:12,961 --> 00:49:15,282
I can tell you I you know like at a
cocktail party,
896
00:49:15,282 --> 00:49:16,282
you know, and someone will ask me,
897
00:49:16,242 --> 00:49:18,533
Can I eat this? Is this fishery okay?
898
00:49:17,303 --> 00:49:20,736
Yeah. Yeah. I've had that.
899
00:49:18,533 --> 00:49:20,814
You know, can I have this?
900
00:49:21,074 --> 00:49:23,456
You know, I saw an article or I saw,
901
00:49:23,456 --> 00:49:29,288
you know, whatever about little kids
living in Indonesia and they're peeling
shrimp
902
00:49:29,288 --> 00:49:30,369
and that's horrible and
903
00:49:30,999 --> 00:49:32,060
I don't wanna be involved in that.
904
00:49:32,060 --> 00:49:35,081
How would I know? How would I know that
this shrimp is okay?
905
00:49:33,465 --> 00:49:34,680
Right. Yeah.
906
00:49:35,081 --> 00:49:37,132
~ and I think it's that kind of stuff.
907
00:49:37,132 --> 00:49:39,401
People there is definitely an
908
00:49:39,713 --> 00:49:40,834
increase in interest
909
00:49:41,222 --> 00:49:42,222
it seems
910
00:49:41,323 --> 00:49:42,323
Mm.
911
00:49:41,632 --> 00:49:44,484
to me more than it was used to be when I
first started,
912
00:49:44,484 --> 00:49:51,047
for consumers wanting to know more about
what it is and it's not just environment,
913
00:49:51,047 --> 00:49:54,489
it's also people. It's like how are people
being treated and is it fair,
914
00:49:52,405 --> 00:49:56,361
Yeah. ~ for sure. Yeah.
915
00:49:54,489 --> 00:49:56,490
wages, you know, all that sort of stuff.
916
00:49:57,111 --> 00:50:01,583
And ~ I think getting those messages out
more is another area that could
917
00:50:01,583 --> 00:50:02,583
be improved on.
918
00:50:02,751 --> 00:50:07,324
Yeah, I love that. Now, ~ there's a lot of
stuff going on in the ocean right now.
919
00:50:07,324 --> 00:50:10,396
And sometimes a lot of the times the news
isn't that
920
00:50:10,917 --> 00:50:12,388
great. but each
921
00:50:11,825 --> 00:50:12,825
Mm.
922
00:50:12,388 --> 00:50:15,360
and every one of us who l work within
ocean conservation,
923
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:17,631
whether it be international fisheries
policy,
924
00:50:17,631 --> 00:50:19,313
whether it be me in communications,
925
00:50:19,313 --> 00:50:22,205
we always find a little bit of optimism.
926
00:50:22,205 --> 00:50:26,358
So like I'm gonna ask you, what gives you
optimism about the future
927
00:50:26,498 --> 00:50:28,989
of international fisheries policy?
928
00:50:28,989 --> 00:50:31,141
Like something that you are an expert in.
929
00:50:31,615 --> 00:50:34,558
Well, I mean, I think there's some of the
things I've already mentioned.
930
00:50:34,558 --> 00:50:37,430
if I look back even five years ago,
931
00:50:37,430 --> 00:50:39,412
you know, five, six years ago,
932
00:50:39,412 --> 00:50:42,944
none of these big treaty organizations
that we've been talking about,
933
00:50:42,944 --> 00:50:46,136
the RFMOs, had adopted restrictions on
934
00:50:46,981 --> 00:50:50,962
fat FADs, fish aggregating devices that
entangle.
935
00:50:50,962 --> 00:50:53,104
they had these long tails of netting
936
00:50:52,546 --> 00:50:53,546
Yeah.
937
00:50:53,104 --> 00:50:54,965
that would hang belong them, you know,
938
00:50:54,965 --> 00:50:56,655
fifty feet or something. And
939
00:50:56,326 --> 00:50:57,326
Right.
940
00:50:56,655 --> 00:50:58,116
they're all floating out there in the
ocean.
941
00:50:58,116 --> 00:51:02,337
And there was science that showed that
this was actually a huge form
942
00:51:02,337 --> 00:51:06,368
of mortality for certain types of sharks
and other species.
943
00:51:06,630 --> 00:51:10,711
now all of those organizations have all
banned netting.
944
00:51:11,235 --> 00:51:12,235
Hmm.
945
00:51:11,283 --> 00:51:12,283
they no
946
00:51:11,673 --> 00:51:13,445
longer can use those that netting.
947
00:51:13,445 --> 00:51:17,039
they have to use canvas panels or they
have to,
948
00:51:17,039 --> 00:51:19,221
you know, secure things in certain ways.
949
00:51:19,221 --> 00:51:21,953
So so you've gone in that relatively in
the you know,
950
00:51:21,953 --> 00:51:26,576
in the glacial pace that can be it can be
of international negotiations.
951
00:51:26,576 --> 00:51:29,378
That's a pretty big win to go from,
952
00:51:28,350 --> 00:51:29,350
Huge. Yeah.
953
00:51:29,618 --> 00:51:30,618
you know
954
00:51:30,722 --> 00:51:33,877
Now, of course, you know, there can be
arguments like are they doing it,
955
00:51:33,877 --> 00:51:34,877
and are they being implemented,
956
00:51:34,267 --> 00:51:35,824
Right. Of course.
957
00:51:34,858 --> 00:51:35,858
you know, there's always going
958
00:51:35,830 --> 00:51:37,442
to be that piece of it, of course.
959
00:51:37,442 --> 00:51:41,709
But the fact that those were agreements
were made by consensus
960
00:51:41,709 --> 00:51:44,012
in these organizations, and all of them,
961
00:51:44,012 --> 00:51:45,815
is a pretty big deal.
962
00:51:46,676 --> 00:51:48,377
~ and so it gives you optimism that,
963
00:51:48,377 --> 00:51:52,941
you know, when presented with science and
data
964
00:51:53,021 --> 00:51:56,604
and facts that this is bad,
965
00:51:56,604 --> 00:51:58,416
that we this should not be allowed.
966
00:51:58,416 --> 00:52:00,808
This is not something that should be this
is not responsible.
967
00:52:01,057 --> 00:52:02,118
Change can happen.
968
00:52:02,237 --> 00:52:04,128
the other thing that fills me the
optimism,
969
00:52:04,128 --> 00:52:09,271
more optimism is that I mentioned that
there's more eyeballs
970
00:52:09,271 --> 00:52:12,483
on these organizations than their headb
the past from a variety
971
00:52:12,483 --> 00:52:15,525
of different parts of the supply chain.
972
00:52:15,525 --> 00:52:17,336
There's, you know, the markets,
973
00:52:17,336 --> 00:52:19,618
the retailers, those that are putting
stuff on their shelves,
974
00:52:19,618 --> 00:52:21,079
to the processors that are
975
00:52:21,204 --> 00:52:23,145
buying the fish and putting it in cans and
976
00:52:23,675 --> 00:52:26,326
to, you know, just the average person,
977
00:52:26,326 --> 00:52:28,687
the public. I mean, there's a lot more
articles and,
978
00:52:28,687 --> 00:52:33,329
you know, documentaries and things out
there really bringing people's attention
979
00:52:33,329 --> 00:52:36,151
to the oceans and to some of the
challenges.
980
00:52:36,151 --> 00:52:40,713
And that's giving rise to new generations
of people that are demanding more.
981
00:52:40,713 --> 00:52:45,465
Whether it's more information or like I'm
not gonna buy this unless you
982
00:52:45,465 --> 00:52:50,638
can give me some confidence that it has
not had an impact on a person that's
983
00:52:50,638 --> 00:52:53,599
a negative or a sea turtle or whatever
their thing is.
984
00:52:53,619 --> 00:53:00,113
is. And I think that the more global our
world is,
985
00:53:00,113 --> 00:53:02,005
the more interconnected we all are,
986
00:53:02,005 --> 00:53:04,646
that is that and that through technology,
987
00:53:04,646 --> 00:53:11,081
that's really it blows apart these silos
and some of these insular sort
988
00:53:11,081 --> 00:53:15,413
of smoke-filled rooms where things are
being decided without any of that,
989
00:53:15,413 --> 00:53:17,795
no one really knowing what was going on in
there.
990
00:53:17,795 --> 00:53:19,976
And that's not really the case anymore.
991
00:53:20,769 --> 00:53:23,380
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. That's really
interesting.
992
00:53:23,380 --> 00:53:27,301
Like I said, there's always ways to find
optimism and there's always changes that
993
00:53:27,301 --> 00:53:29,611
are happening and yes, sometimes they're a
little slow,
994
00:53:29,611 --> 00:53:34,582
but they do end up going. One thing I
always love when we first roll out a
policy,
995
00:53:34,582 --> 00:53:36,423
I mentioned like the high seas,
996
00:53:36,423 --> 00:53:39,424
but I'm sure with a lot of other policies
you can use as an example.
997
00:53:39,424 --> 00:53:44,095
It may not look great at the beginning or
it may have some loops or some holes
998
00:53:44,095 --> 00:53:47,025
in it right at the beginning. But as we
use it more and more,
999
00:53:47,025 --> 00:53:49,056
the big thing is that getting it there.
1000
00:53:49,714 --> 00:53:53,366
and getting it passed and then being able
to build on it as we get in
1001
00:53:53,366 --> 00:53:55,797
the future and as we do a little adaptive
management.
1002
00:53:55,797 --> 00:53:57,708
You know, you see a problem arise,
1003
00:53:57,708 --> 00:53:59,759
you okay, okay, there's a bit of a
loophole,
1004
00:53:59,759 --> 00:54:01,849
so we can close that loophole or you know,
1005
00:54:01,849 --> 00:54:03,300
something we didn't foresee in the future.
1006
00:54:03,300 --> 00:54:07,652
So I think that's what gives me optimism
around these types of policies.
1007
00:54:07,652 --> 00:54:08,903
Same with like marine protected
1008
00:54:08,285 --> 00:54:09,285
Mm-hmm.
1009
00:54:08,903 --> 00:54:11,424
areas, it may not be perfect right at the
beginning,
1010
00:54:11,207 --> 00:54:12,207
Right.
1011
00:54:11,424 --> 00:54:12,424
but
1012
00:54:11,644 --> 00:54:15,235
at least it's designated and then we can
build on it for implementation,
1013
00:54:15,235 --> 00:54:16,606
funding, enforcement and
1014
00:54:16,987 --> 00:54:19,158
Right. Exactly.
1015
00:54:17,012 --> 00:54:18,683
And so forth. So I really love that.
1016
00:54:18,683 --> 00:54:19,683
Now look,
1017
00:54:20,103 --> 00:54:23,784
Holly, we have a little time. I'd like to
do something with you.
1018
00:54:23,784 --> 00:54:26,485
Do a little bit of a lightening round in
terms
1019
00:54:26,160 --> 00:54:27,160
Okay.
1020
00:54:26,606 --> 00:54:31,857
of some of the stuff that's happened in
your career or what people may think
1021
00:54:31,857 --> 00:54:34,338
of ~ international fisheries management.
1022
00:54:34,338 --> 00:54:36,019
So the first one is like, what's one
1023
00:54:35,421 --> 00:54:36,421
Mm-hmm.
1024
00:54:36,019 --> 00:54:38,790
misconception of international fisheries
management?
1025
00:54:39,257 --> 00:54:44,078
I think the misconception is that the high
seas are unregulated.
1026
00:54:44,612 --> 00:54:48,716
Mm. okay. I like that. That's interesting.
1027
00:54:48,047 --> 00:54:50,923
Yeah. Yeah. I mean you can't have internet
1028
00:54:48,716 --> 00:54:51,039
How so? Like 'cause I
1029
00:54:51,199 --> 00:54:53,541
'cause I think there's like there's a lot
for like enforcement stuff.
1030
00:54:53,541 --> 00:54:55,043
It's really difficult. So
1031
00:54:54,959 --> 00:54:55,959
Right.
1032
00:54:55,333 --> 00:54:56,333
what do you mean by that?
1033
00:54:56,742 --> 00:54:58,071
Well you still even see it now.
1034
00:54:58,071 --> 00:55:00,126
You see sometimes you see articles or
1035
00:55:00,441 --> 00:55:03,542
people speaking about like the lawlessness
of the high seas.
1036
00:55:03,542 --> 00:55:04,542
There's no like
1037
00:55:03,807 --> 00:55:04,807
Yeah.
1038
00:55:04,233 --> 00:55:06,734
there's nothing out there and it and
that's just that's not true.
1039
00:55:06,734 --> 00:55:10,266
I mean, yes, some of these organizations
could be improved on.
1040
00:55:10,266 --> 00:55:11,746
Absolutely. And as you said, you know,
1041
00:55:11,746 --> 00:55:16,348
enforcement and ~ compliance and these are
all things that can be improved
1042
00:55:16,348 --> 00:55:21,791
and but it isn't that I think that's a big
huge misconception is that that that
1043
00:55:22,011 --> 00:55:27,143
there's a lot of kind of rampant activity
that's unregulated going on.
1044
00:55:27,143 --> 00:55:30,095
I mean there are certainly is can be some
illegal things,
1045
00:55:30,095 --> 00:55:31,095
but that
1046
00:55:30,327 --> 00:55:31,327
That's
1047
00:55:30,507 --> 00:55:33,229
because they're illegal because they're
not in line with the
1048
00:55:33,229 --> 00:55:35,891
r adopted frameworks and regulations that
are there.
1049
00:55:35,891 --> 00:55:41,264
So that would be that would be one that I
I continue to see periodically
1050
00:55:41,264 --> 00:55:44,736
and I'm just like, it's just not true.
1051
00:55:41,521 --> 00:55:43,314
Yeah. And you're like, wait a minute.
1052
00:55:43,314 --> 00:55:46,429
That's not true. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
1053
00:55:44,736 --> 00:55:48,709
Are they perfect? No, but they exist.
1054
00:55:46,429 --> 00:55:49,594
No. They exist.
1055
00:55:48,709 --> 00:55:50,550
So ~ you know.
1056
00:55:49,594 --> 00:55:50,676
Yeah. I
1057
00:55:50,676 --> 00:55:52,158
like that. I like, I like hearing that.
1058
00:55:52,158 --> 00:55:56,495
~ what's one development in the last five
years you're most encouraged by?
1059
00:55:57,355 --> 00:56:00,437
~ I guess I I mean again I'm it's all
repeating myself unfortunately,
1060
00:56:00,437 --> 00:56:06,150
but I you know, s some of the developments
around gear modifications
1061
00:56:06,310 --> 00:56:10,273
to address ~ known demonstrated
1062
00:56:11,821 --> 00:56:16,424
environmental impacts. I mean whether it's
from ~ the f the fads
1063
00:56:16,424 --> 00:56:19,084
and that I mentioned with the
nonentangling fads and g moving
1064
00:56:18,656 --> 00:56:19,656
Mm-hmm.
1065
00:56:19,084 --> 00:56:23,887
to that and now they're even moving to
biodegradable fads so so that they'll
break
1066
00:56:23,887 --> 00:56:26,188
down and and and not pollute the
environment.
1067
00:56:26,188 --> 00:56:28,589
I think that's a big one. And the other
one is,
1068
00:56:28,589 --> 00:56:33,011
you know, some of the ~ bycatch mitigation
techniques
1069
00:56:33,011 --> 00:56:38,394
to ~ safely release ~ animals from either
the deck
1070
00:56:38,974 --> 00:56:40,515
or n you know
1071
00:56:41,015 --> 00:56:44,027
when they're hooked or when they be not
even letting them get on board
1072
00:56:44,027 --> 00:56:45,427
in the first place, keeping them in the
water,
1073
00:56:45,427 --> 00:56:46,958
bringing them back. And
1074
00:56:45,438 --> 00:56:46,619
Yeah. Yeah.
1075
00:56:47,058 --> 00:56:51,281
things like, you know, there's there's
some critically endangered seabirds
1076
00:56:51,721 --> 00:56:55,473
and some of the RFMOs have adopted some
much stricter measures to
1077
00:56:55,473 --> 00:57:01,326
try to address some of that, the impact of
those of of certain gear types
1078
00:57:02,027 --> 00:57:03,497
on those seabirds. And you know,
1079
00:57:03,497 --> 00:57:05,108
this is like a situation where
1080
00:57:05,385 --> 00:57:09,487
The solution is there to reverse the
extinction of these seabirds and some
1081
00:57:09,487 --> 00:57:11,488
of the RFMOs are taking they can do more,
1082
00:57:11,488 --> 00:57:13,449
but they're taking steps in the right
direction.
1083
00:57:11,767 --> 00:57:13,962
Yeah. Right.
1084
00:57:13,449 --> 00:57:14,449
And that's
1085
00:57:14,329 --> 00:57:17,140
that's a huge deal for me. Like ~ you
know,
1086
00:57:17,140 --> 00:57:19,481
when when we know what we can do and
1087
00:57:18,946 --> 00:57:19,946
Yeah.
1088
00:57:19,481 --> 00:57:20,481
if you don't do it
1089
00:57:20,663 --> 00:57:23,072
Agreed. Agreed.
1090
00:57:21,064 --> 00:57:23,097
that's pretty discouraging. But they
1091
00:57:23,097 --> 00:57:25,661
are starting to move in that direction and
and that direction of travel
1092
00:57:25,661 --> 00:57:28,455
is there and that and so that's you know,
1093
00:57:28,455 --> 00:57:34,244
that's a f s a a source of optimism for me
and and and ~ encourage something that
1094
00:57:34,244 --> 00:57:35,244
I'm encouraged by.
1095
00:57:35,554 --> 00:57:40,020
Love it, love it. ~ what's one thing you
wish more people understood about tuna
1096
00:57:40,020 --> 00:57:41,122
fishery sustainability?
1097
00:57:41,657 --> 00:57:44,022
that it's a process and it takes time.
1098
00:57:43,166 --> 00:57:46,602
Hmm. Yeah. I think people get impatient.
1099
00:57:44,022 --> 00:57:46,548
I mean, these are
1100
00:57:46,602 --> 00:57:47,602
They hear about it and they're like,
1101
00:57:47,514 --> 00:57:48,676
no, no, we just gotta stop it.
1102
00:57:48,676 --> 00:57:50,089
Just gotta stop it all over it.
1103
00:57:49,411 --> 00:57:51,602
Right. Gotta ban it, gotta stop it.
1104
00:57:50,089 --> 00:57:51,902
That's not gonna happen. Yeah.
1105
00:57:51,602 --> 00:57:53,521
Or why is it taking so long? Well,
1106
00:57:51,902 --> 00:57:53,916
Yeah. Right.
1107
00:57:53,521 --> 00:57:54,521
you know,
1108
00:57:53,932 --> 00:57:55,933
like I mentioned, like you have four
forty,
1109
00:57:55,933 --> 00:57:58,104
forty five countries sitting in a room
once a year.
1110
00:57:57,469 --> 00:57:58,469
Mm-hmm.
1111
00:57:58,641 --> 00:58:03,265
The fact that they can adopt up to a dozen
measures is is in one one meeting
1112
00:58:01,652 --> 00:58:04,791
That's crazy. Yeah.
1113
00:58:03,265 --> 00:58:04,986
is is a lot. That's pretty good.
1114
00:58:04,791 --> 00:58:05,791
Yeah.
1115
00:58:04,986 --> 00:58:05,986
But
1116
00:58:06,026 --> 00:58:10,668
~ I think there's the sense that it it
takes time and it takes a i it is a
process.
1117
00:58:10,668 --> 00:58:13,508
And when you're working with you know,
1118
00:58:13,508 --> 00:58:14,729
dozens of countries
1119
00:58:15,157 --> 00:58:16,483
that come from different cultures,
1120
00:58:16,483 --> 00:58:20,117
different languages, different ~
capacities,
1121
00:58:20,117 --> 00:58:23,601
different development levels. It it takes
time.
1122
00:58:23,961 --> 00:58:26,934
Yeah, I can imagine. A last question for
you.
1123
00:58:26,934 --> 00:58:32,098
~ what's one of your most memorable times
like in a
1124
00:58:32,098 --> 00:58:35,262
in a room negotiating you know,
1125
00:58:35,262 --> 00:58:38,045
some sort of international agreement with
fisheries?
1126
00:58:38,045 --> 00:58:42,689
~ what's one of the most memorable
experiences that you've that you've
1127
00:58:42,689 --> 00:58:44,661
had over your career?
1128
00:58:45,391 --> 00:58:48,283
gosh. that's a tough one to pick one.
1129
00:58:48,283 --> 00:58:51,936
always say that someday I'll write my
memoir and it'll be called
1130
00:58:51,398 --> 00:58:52,398
Yeah.
1131
00:58:51,936 --> 00:58:55,468
The True Lies of the Pacific because no
one will believe half of the half
1132
00:58:55,468 --> 00:58:57,029
of the stuff that I could tell you.
1133
00:58:57,241 --> 00:58:59,666
I think one of my more memorable moments
was
1134
00:59:00,154 --> 00:59:03,336
well, it was in New York. It wasn't in it
wasn't for a tuna negotiation.
1135
00:59:03,336 --> 00:59:07,419
It was when I was chairing the sustainable
fisheries resolution negotiations
1136
00:59:07,999 --> 00:59:12,368
and we worked all night it was
Thanksgiving,
1137
00:59:12,368 --> 00:59:17,772
actually, ~ to adopt the resolution which
was sixty one one sixty one
1138
00:59:17,772 --> 00:59:22,255
one five for the bottom fishing bottom
fishing pre ~ provisions.
1139
00:59:22,255 --> 00:59:24,176
And I was chairing
1140
00:59:24,395 --> 00:59:31,170
the meeting and I had this one country
that was potentially holding gonna hold
stuff
1141
00:59:31,170 --> 00:59:34,662
up and I went to them and I said
1142
00:59:35,118 --> 00:59:39,302
I'm going to do this and I know that's not
what you want.
1143
00:59:39,733 --> 00:59:40,733
Mm-hmm.
1144
00:59:40,183 --> 00:59:42,966
But I'm not going to ask you to agree to
this.
1145
00:59:42,966 --> 00:59:47,270
I'm just going to ask you to accept it.
1146
00:59:47,607 --> 00:59:48,607
Mm.
1147
00:59:49,712 --> 00:59:52,584
Because again, one of my other little
mantras don't ask me to say yes
1148
00:59:52,584 --> 00:59:55,206
and I won't say no. And that's basically
1149
00:59:53,983 --> 00:59:55,112
Right. Right.
1150
00:59:55,206 --> 01:00:00,230
what I did. And so then we got to the
moment of truth and,
1151
01:00:00,230 --> 01:00:03,013
you know, basically said, you know,
1152
01:00:03,013 --> 01:00:06,776
can everyone live with this? Can is there
anyone that objects to this?
1153
01:00:06,776 --> 01:00:10,449
~ not does everyone accept it,
1154
01:00:10,449 --> 01:00:14,302
but as and ~ they they didn't
1155
01:00:14,864 --> 01:00:19,277
put their hand up and we adopted it by
consensus and it went forward at like
1156
01:00:18,967 --> 01:00:19,967
Amazing.
1157
01:00:19,998 --> 01:00:22,139
nine AM on Thanksgiving morning.
1158
01:00:22,139 --> 01:00:23,139
And
1159
01:00:22,404 --> 01:00:23,404
wow.
1160
01:00:23,841 --> 01:00:28,384
and it was like it was it was super
intense because we had we just worked
1161
01:00:28,384 --> 01:00:31,707
all night and every you know, there were
so those were the moments where like
1162
01:00:31,987 --> 01:00:36,080
the fact that you had spent time in the
trenches with these with
1163
01:00:36,454 --> 01:00:39,316
people, I mean, I'm still friends with
people from that night,
1164
01:00:39,316 --> 01:00:41,127
from those days. Like I I'm still
1165
01:00:39,691 --> 01:00:41,000
Yeah. Yeah.
1166
01:00:41,127 --> 01:00:43,014
friends with some of them in the sense
that,
1167
01:00:43,014 --> 01:00:46,321
you know, you kinda go through that with
everyone.
1168
01:00:46,321 --> 01:00:48,463
And I mean I had situations where I had,
1169
01:00:48,463 --> 01:00:50,614
you know, delegations coming up to me and
they're like,
1170
01:00:50,614 --> 01:00:52,005
but I want this and I like, no,
1171
01:00:52,005 --> 01:00:53,140
we're not doing that. You know,
1172
01:00:53,140 --> 01:00:56,088
I mean I I you got to a point as a chair
where you had to basically
1173
01:00:56,389 --> 01:00:59,142
you had to direct it. ~ and
1174
01:00:58,592 --> 01:00:59,592
Yeah.
1175
01:00:59,142 --> 01:01:03,514
and y you know, but it took weeks of
getting to that point to where
1176
01:01:03,244 --> 01:01:04,244
Yeah.
1177
01:01:04,290 --> 01:01:07,715
now was the moment where I s I was like I
I was like,
1178
01:01:07,715 --> 01:01:12,923
We that's not gonna work and we're not
gonna go there like so,
1179
01:01:12,923 --> 01:01:15,517
you know and people kinda got to the point
where they trusted you.
1180
01:01:15,517 --> 01:01:16,879
They're like, All right, yeah,
1181
01:01:16,661 --> 01:01:17,661
Right.
1182
01:01:16,879 --> 01:01:17,879
okay.
1183
01:01:17,630 --> 01:01:19,964
You know, you're right. And ~
1184
01:01:18,967 --> 01:01:19,999
'Cause you weren't saying no
1185
01:01:19,999 --> 01:01:23,998
to something, it's just it's not gonna be
able to have it at this point in time,
1186
01:01:23,998 --> 01:01:24,998
right?
1187
01:01:24,442 --> 01:01:25,442
It's
1188
01:01:24,602 --> 01:01:26,353
not gonna it w it would blow it you know,
1189
01:01:26,353 --> 01:01:28,085
kinda blow everything up. Like we we'd
1190
01:01:27,744 --> 01:01:28,744
Yeah.
1191
01:01:28,085 --> 01:01:32,289
reach such a delicate place where everyone
was sort of like had a little bit,
1192
01:01:32,289 --> 01:01:34,210
everyone had a little bit that they could
live with.
1193
01:01:32,693 --> 01:01:34,802
Yeah. Yeah.
1194
01:01:34,210 --> 01:01:35,210
And
1195
01:01:35,211 --> 01:01:36,472
if someone got a little bit more,
1196
01:01:36,472 --> 01:01:38,024
it would tip the scales and then the
1197
01:01:37,686 --> 01:01:38,686
Right.
1198
01:01:38,024 --> 01:01:41,337
whole thing could fall apart. And but it
like I said,
1199
01:01:41,337 --> 01:01:44,940
it takes so much time to get to that point
where you
1200
01:01:44,587 --> 01:01:45,587
Mm-hmm.
1201
01:01:45,560 --> 01:01:52,086
feel that you can speak plainly with
people and they will trust you to k
1202
01:01:52,262 --> 01:01:55,706
to to shepherd it forward and and get them
get them through the night
1203
01:01:55,986 --> 01:01:56,986
and that's what we did.
1204
01:01:56,149 --> 01:01:59,781
Yeah. That's amazing. Holly, this has been
1205
01:02:00,281 --> 01:02:02,092
such a pleasure to have you on the
podcast.
1206
01:02:02,092 --> 01:02:04,003
You are absolutely phenomenal.
1207
01:02:02,684 --> 01:02:04,197
Thank you. It was so much fun.
1208
01:02:04,854 --> 01:02:06,972
we we had a great I had a great time as
well.
1209
01:02:06,972 --> 01:02:10,387
I wanna thank you for joining us and love
to invite you back,
1210
01:02:10,387 --> 01:02:14,989
talk more ISSF, talk more stories of
international policy 'cause I'm sure
1211
01:02:11,875 --> 01:02:17,174
sure. Any time. Yes.
1212
01:02:14,989 --> 01:02:17,450
you have more. ~ but we really appreciate
1213
01:02:17,450 --> 01:02:18,631
you coming on. It's been a pleasure.
1214
01:02:19,502 --> 01:02:20,603
All right. Well thank you so much.
1215
01:02:20,603 --> 01:02:22,415
It was such a a fun time, Andrew,
1216
01:02:22,415 --> 01:02:25,358
and I really appreciate the opportunity to
chat with you about this and
1217
01:02:25,358 --> 01:02:29,372
and I'm be very happy to come back and and
share some more stories
1218
01:02:29,372 --> 01:02:30,893
and and have another conversation with
you.
1219
01:02:30,893 --> 01:02:31,893
It was it was a pleasure.
1220
01:02:32,353 --> 01:02:34,331
Fantastic. Love it. Talk to you soon.
1221
01:02:35,207 --> 01:02:36,207
Thank you.
1222
01:02:35,949 --> 01:02:38,882
Thank you, Holly, for joining me on
today's episode of the How to Protect
1223
01:02:38,882 --> 01:02:42,755
the Ocean podcast. Wow. That was amazing.
1224
01:02:42,755 --> 01:02:47,299
I loved every minute of that. Not only was
Holly like an infectious to speak to,
1225
01:02:47,299 --> 01:02:50,221
like she's just so like she's she's so
positive.
1226
01:02:50,221 --> 01:02:54,725
and and she's she's so passionate about
the work that she does.
1227
01:02:54,725 --> 01:02:56,897
She's had some great stories that she told
us.
1228
01:02:56,897 --> 01:03:01,091
~ and it was it was great to be able to
see how policy moves forward
1229
01:03:01,251 --> 01:03:02,742
and how some like negotiations,
1230
01:03:02,742 --> 01:03:03,742
although they're difficult,
1231
01:03:03,854 --> 01:03:07,597
There's certain ways to go about getting
the the answer that you want with
1232
01:03:07,597 --> 01:03:11,700
a little bit of compromise, but to move
that needle forward to in order
1233
01:03:11,700 --> 01:03:15,622
to get what you need to get. And this is
in the case in most cases
1234
01:03:15,622 --> 01:03:19,145
was like tuna fishing policy. And I just
think working with every part
1235
01:03:19,145 --> 01:03:20,610
of the supply chain is amazing.
1236
01:03:20,610 --> 01:03:22,987
~ Holly's amazing. The ISSF is amazing.
1237
01:03:22,987 --> 01:03:25,950
And so I'm really happy that we're able to
bring this interview to
1238
01:03:25,950 --> 01:03:29,212
you because I think we need to know more
about tuna,
1239
01:03:29,212 --> 01:03:30,693
right? Tuna fisheries and seeing.
1240
01:03:30,945 --> 01:03:34,838
what the latest things are happening
because I think it has a bad name overall
when
1241
01:03:34,838 --> 01:03:36,229
people think about tuna fisheries.
1242
01:03:36,229 --> 01:03:41,293
And but it's getting better as we as we
showed you with the interview from with
with
1243
01:03:41,293 --> 01:03:42,764
Susan Jackson earlier this year.
1244
01:03:42,764 --> 01:03:44,115
I'll link to it in the show notes.
1245
01:03:44,115 --> 01:03:45,746
~ but yeah I just think it's great.
1246
01:03:45,746 --> 01:03:48,599
If you have any questions or comments or
concerns about tuna fisheries,
1247
01:03:48,599 --> 01:03:50,170
I would love to hear that from you.
1248
01:03:50,170 --> 01:03:53,863
Just if you're on Spotify, you can comment
and you can let us know.
1249
01:03:53,863 --> 01:03:55,824
But also if you want to hit me up on my
socials,
1250
01:03:55,824 --> 01:03:56,824
Instagram, Facebook
1251
01:03:57,255 --> 01:03:58,936
or TikTok or any of the others,
1252
01:03:58,936 --> 01:04:00,267
the links are in the show notes.
1253
01:04:00,267 --> 01:04:05,151
And of course, I'll link to the ISSF
website ~ in ~ in the show notes as well
1254
01:04:05,151 --> 01:04:07,102
so you can check that out for all the
information,
1255
01:04:07,102 --> 01:04:09,153
all the resources, because that's what we
try and do here.
1256
01:04:09,153 --> 01:04:14,137
Provide a resource for you about the ocean
so that you can make better decisions
1257
01:04:14,277 --> 01:04:18,150
in your daily life in and around the ocean
so that we treat the ocean
1258
01:04:18,150 --> 01:04:21,202
a lot better than we thought we were doing
before.
1259
01:04:21,202 --> 01:04:22,402
So that's great. So thank you,
1260
01:04:22,402 --> 01:04:24,404
Holly. I appreciate it. Thank you to the
international
1261
01:04:24,634 --> 01:04:26,024
Seafood Sustainability Foundation.
1262
01:04:26,024 --> 01:04:27,805
We really appreciate you lending us,
1263
01:04:27,805 --> 01:04:31,266
Holly, for the ~ hour or so that we
actually were able to chat.
1264
01:04:31,266 --> 01:04:33,647
it was great to be able to talk to her.
1265
01:04:33,647 --> 01:04:37,818
And I want to thank you for joining us and
listening to this episode ~
1266
01:04:37,818 --> 01:04:38,868
and to all the other episodes,
1267
01:04:38,868 --> 01:04:42,729
Monday to Friday. Hit that follow button
if you enjoy this type of content.
1268
01:04:42,729 --> 01:04:45,430
And I want to thank you so much for
joining me on today's episode of
1269
01:04:45,430 --> 01:04:46,871
the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.
1270
01:04:46,871 --> 01:04:49,361
I am your host, Andrew Lewin. Have a great
weekend.
1271
01:04:49,361 --> 01:04:51,702
We'll talk to you on Monday and happy
conservation.