Weaving Waters Expedition and Captain Allen CurryThe Weaving Waters Expedition is a journey by Canadian natural historian, Captain Allen Curry aboard the Water Weaver. Allen sets off on a largely solo one-year voyage around the Great Loop” to gather local stories from people who live by the Great Lakes, along the Mississippi and St. Lawrence Rivers, and the coasts of southeastern USA and Canada’s Maritimes. The stories will inspire greater respect for water and the fishes that live there-in. Join Host Lawrence Gunther and Dr. Allen Curry as they explore how far we have drifted from our watery history, and why more than ever we need to restore our connection with fish on The Blue Fish Radio Show.
Aaron Hill, Executive Director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society, joins Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio Show to discuss why B.C. needs its creekwalkers more than ever. More than providing crucial information about when and how many salmon are returning to B.C.’s rivers, the data collected and reported is vital to managing fisheries, assessing climate change impacts, evaluating restoration initiatives, assessing watershed health, responding to fish health emergencies, and more. Aaron and other advocates are therefore questioning why the number of creekwalkers hired each year has been falling over the past decade.
BCs Recreational Salmon Fishing may be about to endGayle Gordon and Mark Roberts from the BC Recreational Fishing Association once again join Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio Show. Last year the issue was unfair proposed seasonal recreational fishing closures. This time the closures being proposed are indefinite. Find out the real reason why salmon fishing for the majority of southern B.C. anglers may end in the name of saving southern resident killer whales, and why recreational anglers are pushing back to save their coastal communities from social and economic collapse.
The FishingBeyondFun.Org project focuses on better understanding how important recreational fishing is to people's food security, livelihood, culture, and identity across the Great Lakes. Project co-lead Dr. Vivian Nguyen is an Associate professor at Carleton University in the Environmental and interdisciplinary science program, and is Lawrence Gunther’s guest on The Blue Fish Radio show
Natel Energy develops hydropower turbines that enable 98-100% downstream passage survival for fish. An investigation of how such technology might be applied to the U.S. side of the Robert Moses-Robert H. Saunders Power Dam on the St. Lawrence River nearby Cornwall Ontario. Listen as Lawrence Gunther speaks with Sterling Watson Principal Engineer, FishSafety, and Abe Schneider, CTO and Natel co-founder about the technology and study on The Blue Fish Radio Show.
It comes as a surprise to many that there are a series of underwater caves measuring 10 km in length that exist below the Ottawa River not far from Canada’s Parliament. Renowned cave diver Jill Heinerth has been busy exploring these caves and documenting the extensive network of life that rely on the cover the caves provide. Jill is the Author of the book “INTO THE PLANET - My Life as a Cave Diver”, and Lawrence Gunther’s guest on The Blue Fish Radio show.
Sea Change and the Catch Share SolutionFor a long time, overfishing felt like a losing battle: fish stocks crashed, coastal economies suffered, and typical regulatory fixes didn’t add up to real progress. A new book “Sea Change” highlights how that narrative was overturned, thanks in part to a market-based solution that aligned U.S. fishermen’s incentives with healthy fisheries. These Efforts have contributed to the recovery of more than 50 U.S. fisheries. Listen to co-author Jamie Workman in conversation with Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio show.
Joining Lawrence on The Blue Fish Radio Show is Meredith Brown from Canadian Geographic, Meredith is one of the brains behind the Biinaagami project developed to inform and inspire people of all ages to connect with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence watershed. The gymnasium-sized map and its ten digital links to imbedded learning resources was developed over a period of several years with input from numerous colaborators, and has opened the minds of over 10-million people to the water that ties much of Ontario and Quebec and the over 140 indigenous communities together.
Patrick Madahbee, Commissioner on Governance and former Grand Council Chief of the Anishinabek Nation is Lawrence Gunther’s guest on The Blue Fish Radio Show. Patrick and Lawrence discuss the many challenges and opportunities associated with transitioning his community to self governance. It’s a wide-ranging conversation that touches on numerous topics from commercial fishing to eco-tourism, and all manner of social, economic, historic,cultural and reconciliation – it’s a conversation you don’t want to miss
Prior to joining the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Experimental Lakes Area in 2014, Dr. Michael Rennie was a research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Since 2015, Dr. Rennie has been a Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries and Assistant Professor at Lakehead University, where he continues to maintain a strong research program at the IISD Experimental Lakes Area as a Research Fellow. Dr. Rennie speaks with Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio show podcast about the many challenges and rewards associated with having access to so many pristine lakes and native fishes, the responsibilities that go along with initiating fish health studies in nature, and the numerous external variables that both drive and challenge his research.
Peter Krahn is the President of Genesis Environmental Sciences and the brains behind the innovative River Trap selective fish sampling and water testing mobile platform. Peter joins Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio show podcast to provide an up-date on the latest River Trap developments and testing underway throughout British Columbia. Find out why a number of First Nations communities are adopting the River Trap to conduct research on the state of salmon and water quality.
Jérôme Marty is the Executive Director of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR). The IAGLR is about to hold their 68th international conference and it couldn’t come at a more crucial time. Jerome speaks with Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio show podcast about the importance of Canada and U.S. scientists meeting and collaborating on issues specific to understanding and solving issues impacting the Great Lakes. Science, politics, economics and climate change are making the work of researchers more challenging than ever before.
Rovert Pye is the Executive Director of Watersheds Canada and Lawrence Gunther’s guest once again on the Blue Fish Radio show podcast. Fresh off the first National Watersheds Conference Robert and Lawrence discuss highlights of the event and why the Conference needs to become an annual event to both educate stakeholders and facilitate the collaboration needed to strengthen shoreline resilience and safeguard fish habitat. The podcast includes numerous short recordings of event presenters and attendees on why they showed up for the event.
Dr. Cristina Charette, Research Scientist & Education Coordinator with the St. Lawrence River Institute for Environmental Science is Lawrence’s guest on The Blue Fish radio show. Find out how gobies have evolved over the past 20- years in the St. Lawrence River, their favorite habitat and food, how they have impacted ecosystems, how different predatory fish have adopted goby as their preferred food, what it means for their health, and how ALL these changes are still very much underway. Turns out there’s a lot more to this invasive species than we thought.
Canada’s Water Rangers recently released The Watershed Reports that assess the health of Canada’s 11 main watersheds. Fishes are one of the four primary indicators used to assess watershed health. Water Ranger’s director Gabrielle Parent-doliner, and Data Coordinator Kiersten McCutcheon join Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio show to discuss their findings, the challenges in putting these reports together, what’s coming next, and how anglers can have a bigger role in generating the needed data.
President of Swim Drink Fish Canada and former Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Mark Mattson has over 35 years of legal advocacy experience devoted to protecting the Great Lakes. With so much turmoil south of the border about to impact Great Lakes water quality, we thought it was time to reconnect with Mark for a water health check. Sometimes wisdom and a big picture focus are just the thing for regaining perspective, and Mark is exactly who we need to help make sense of everything that’s going on. Listen now on The Blue Fish Radio Show.
President Mark Roberts and Vice President Gayle Gordon of the BC Recreational Fishing Association are Lawrence’s guests on The Blue Fish Radio Show. Unfortunately, more recreational fishing closures have been announced for BC salmon anglers, and the BC Recreational Fishing Association and many others are questioning their scientific validity. Recently published research by DFO on vulnerable Chinook Salmon captures is one such report. Listen and find out why angler associations across BC are coming together to move forward with the implementation of the fundamentals that make selective fishing a reality.
Dr. Hannah Harrison is an assistant professor at the Marine Affairs Program, Dalhousie University, and the creator of the new documentary “Last Boat on the Lake”. Dr. Harrison grew up in Alaska where she witnessed first-hand the salmon fishery and then moved to Ontario where she studied the Great Lakes commercial fishery at Guelph University. The title of the documentary has more to do with the decline of commercial fishing on the Great Lakes, but for reasons you might find surprising. The Great Lakes represent the most valuable freshwater fishery in the world, and it’s also thriving, so why the decline? Listen to Dr. Harrison on The Blue Fish Radio Show in conversation with Lawrence Gunther and just maybe you will find yourself pursuing a brand new-to-you career path that dates back thousands of years. Visit Dr. Harrisons website to watch the documentary Last Boat on the Lake: WWW.HannahHarrison.Ca
Jeff Wilson is the co-founder of the highly successful Striper Cup tournament series that takes place in New Brunswick along the Miramichi River. A native fish stock that has struggled through two near extinction events in the past 100 years, the species is once again under assault. Jeff is now heading up a push to conduct a legal review to stop the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ mass cull of striped bass. Listen as Jeff explains why he and many others throughout Atlantic Canada have launched advocacy campaigns to protect Striped Bass on The Blue fish Radio show. To help save the species donate to Jeff Wilson’s Go Fund Me campaign and sign the petition.
Lindsey Haskin is the Writer/Producer/Director of the new documentary “The Fish Thief”, now available for home viewing. The documentary is Lindsey’s second film about the great lakes, the difference being this time he focusses on the role scientists played to identify the cause of the near total collapse of native fishes throughout many of the Great Lakes, and how scientists eventually discovered a solution responsible for restoring the Great Lakes as the most valuable freshwater fishery in the world. Lindsey and host Lawrence Gunther also discuss emerging threats that could un-do the hard work of so many. watch the documentary at: www.thefishthief.com.