The Catch

The next time you order up some calamari, stop for a minute and think. Where does this actually come from? This summer, Foreign Policy magazine is partnering with the Walton Family Foundation to bring you a new podcast: The Catch. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the current state of global fishing by tracking squid—from the waters off the coast of Peru, to the processing plants, all the way to the restaurants, and finally–your plate. Join us as we learn what squid tells us about the state of our oceans. Follow and listen to The Catch wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The race to catch squid off the coast of Peru is increasingly pitting local artisanal fishers against huge multinational fleets. Host Ruxandra Guidi, along with her Lima-based reporting partner Simeon Tegel, travel to Paita, Peru, to get a firsthand look at one of the country's top fisheries: squid. We begin with Lima-based reporter Dan Collyns as he joins the Peruvian Coast Guard as they patrol Peru’s waters and work to prevent illegal fishing. We hear from local fisherman Eduardo Garcia, Javier Chiroque, and Atias Aguilar on what it’s like to be out at sea day-in and day-out. And finally, we then hear from Edwin Houghton, the president of the Paita Fishing Boat Owners’ Association on why the Peruvian government should do more to help these fishermen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and reporter Simeon Tegel continue to follow squid, or pota, as it's known locally in Peru. They hear from fisherman Armando Chinchay on how artisanal fishers are faring against larger industrial fleets. Then they head to two processing plants to speak to Gerardo Carrera of Produmar and Hector Olaya of Fisholg & Sons about how squid has changed the local and national economy. And finally, they speak to Juan Carlos Sueiro, Director of Fisheries at Oceana, about the state of squid in Peru. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part three of our series, host Ruxandra Guidi and reporter Simeon Tegel return to Lima to hear from officials and NGOs on how sustainability could be improved. Voices in this episode include Peruvian Coast Guard Captain Jesus Menacho and Alfonso Miranda, President of CALAMASUR. They two speak to Carlos Martín Salazar with the Instituto del Mar de Peru about ways to improve sustainability with data. And finally, they hear from Patricia Majluf, a well-known conservationist and Senior scientist at Oceana, who dared to take on the fishing industry and rein in overfishing while in office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A look at the international efforts being done to curb Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported fishing. Host Ruxandra Guidi hears from Peter Hammarstedt a captain from the organization Sea Shepherd as well as Dyhia Belhabib, Principal Investigator at Ecotrust Canada and an Executive Director at Nautical Crime Investigation Services. The two discuss ways in which NGOs are assisting log enforcement to root out bad actors and what can be done to better monitor international waters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year, the future of squid and the oceans in general is being determined by a relatively small group of diplomats and representatives who are working on new agreements to regulate the laws of the oceans. With new incentives to curb fishing subsidies, new marine protected areas, and new laws for the high seas, collectively these agreements could have a major impact on the health of the Earth's oceans and the viability of all fishing stocks. Today on The Catch we go behind the scenes—first to the United Nations, where we meet up with Lisa Speer from the Natural Resources Defense Council and learn about the work she's doing to help shape U.N. negotiations over a new treaty governing the high seas. Next we hear from Matt Rand, an oceans expert with the Pew Charitable Trusts, on what it takes to get various sides to come together to create and expand marine protected areas. Finally, host Ruxandra Guidi speaks with Rashid Sumaila, a fisheries economist, and the World Trade Organization's Santiago Wills about a new agreement on subsidies that's been decades in the making. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final installment of our series we hear from two U.S. congressmen—Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, and Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican—who are working to curb illegal fishing practices. We learn about the ways individual countries such as Japan and China are adapting their laws to hold industrial fishers more accountable. Finally, chef and food advocate Barton Seaver talks about his quest to teach others how to think and eat more conscientiously. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After nearly two decades of negotiating, the United Nations passed an agreement called the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty, also known as the High Seas Treaty. Host Rux Guidi is joined by Lisa Speers, the Natural Resources Defense Council's Director of the International Ocean Program and Duncan Currie, a lawyer with the High Seas Alliance, to hear more about this recent breakthrough. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming up on this season of The Catch, we head to the upper Gulf of California, to see what a porpoise, a fish whose bladder fetches tens of thousands of dollars on the black market, and the highly desirable—and delicious—colossal shrimp tell us about the complicated world of fishing. This spring, Foreign Policy is partnering with the Walton Family Foundation for season two of The Catch, hosted by Ruxandra Guidi. We'll hear how local fishermen are caught between providing for their families and protecting marine habitats. And how governments, importers, and consumers all have a role in returning balance to the upper Gulf of California. Follow and listen to The Catch in English or Spanish wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Part One of our new season of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi along with co-reporter Ernesto Méndez and marine biologist Alex Olivera travel to the Upper Gulf of California to meet with local experts and shrimp fishers. The underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau once deemed this area "The Aquarium of the World" because it was so rich in biodiversity. But unfortunately much of this ecological wonder is under threat due to illegal gillnet fishing. At the center of everything is a small porpoise called the vaquita whose numbers have dwindled to less than a dozen. In this episode Guidi speaks to local fishers and hears from environmentalist Rick Brusca as well as former NOAA fisheries official Barbara Taylor. They discuss how the highly desirable blue shrimp endemic to the Gulf of California has been tied up in conservation efforts to protect the vaquita. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode, we look into what led to the dire situation faced by the vaquita and the fishing communities in the Upper Gulf of California. Host Ruxandra Guidi and her travel companions learn more about the history of fishing in the area and how demand for high value seafood such as the totoaba and blue shrimp led to a dire situation for the vaquita porpoise. In this episode, Guidi speaks to Carlos Tirado, a champion of sustainable fishing in the Upper Gulf. He's also the leader of the Regional Federation of small-scale fishers, an independent association. Later, she heads out on the water with Captain Naya to explore an area where scientists had hoped to study and protect vaquita in captivity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi continues her exploration of the Upper Gulf of California to learn more about what can be done to stop illegal gillnet fishing. We hear from Zak Smith, a senior attorney and the director of global biodiversity conservation at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). He led an effort to force a U.S. embargo on seafood from the area. Guidi then reports on the efforts made by the NRDC and others to compel Mexico to follow its own laws to protect the vaquita. She and her travel companions venture out on a boat to see firsthand whether or not tighter restrictions have impacted local fishers and the market for the highly desirable blue shrimp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode host Ruxandra Guidi looks at the conditions in the Upper Gulf of California that have allowed Mexican cartels to embed themselves into nearly all aspects of the fishing industry. She investigates the weak response from the Mexican government in rooting out the cartels, and tries to learn what, if anything, can be done about all this.  This episode features conversations with Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Carlos Tirado, a local fishers leader who runs a large artisanal shrimp fishing operation and is an advocate for sustainable fishing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, host Ruxandra Guidi follows the market for Mexican blue shrimp up the supply chain to see what pressure importers and consumers can have on ensuring the shrimp is not caught illegally. She'll hear from sustainable importers and packages and talk about how they are trying to implement different practices as well as the limitations they face. She'll also hear how pressure from international markets such as the US could force the Mexican government to implement meaningful change to how the Gulf of California is fished. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Ruxandra Guidi concludes this season with a look at the state of fishing in the Upper Gulf of California. She meets fishers who are members of Pesca ABC who are trying to implement sustainable fishing practices. She also shares some good news about the vaquita porpoise and the efforts to protect its habitat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming up on Season 3 of The Catch, hear how one of the Arctic’s most valuable fisheries—cod—is being impacted by the politics of Russia’s war in Ukraine as well as changing fish migration patterns due to climate change. Host Ruxandra Guidi heads to northern Norway to meet with the fishers and processors caught the middle. Follow and listen to The Catch wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Ruxandra Guidi heads to northern Norway to get a firsthand look at one of the country’s top fisheries: cod. Joined by northern Norway native and co-reporter Eskild Johansen, Guidi hears from local fishermen and stakeholders in the port city of Kirkenes, as it closes port access to Russian fishing trawlers. And we hear from policy experts on a decades-old cooperation agreement between Russia and Norway as it’s being tested like never before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The Catch, we kick things off with a British staple: fish and chips and a visit with chef Nick Martino, owner of Aboveground at DC's Union Market. Then we hear how this iconic dish led to an interstate dispute between Iceland and the U.K. known as the Cod Wars. Host Ruxandra Guidi is joined by historian and Icelandic President Gudni Th. Johannesson, and Mark Kurlansky, the author of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, to hear how the Cod Wars have shaped our oceans to this day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and co-reporter Eskild Johansen hear firsthand how northern Norway’s oldest fishing communities have dealt with cod fishery collapses in the past. These communities weren’t the only ones facing “cod crashes.” Fisheries supply chain expert Jim Cannon then joins Guidi to share how he worked directly with business partners and stakeholders in the ‘80s and early ‘90s to improve sourcing and save cod fisheries from further collapse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and co-reporter Eskild Johansen hear how economics of fishing shapes Norways identity, and vice versa. The two explore the impact of fish farms and visit places where the burgeoning industry has been welcomed and others where it's been shunned. The episode also features insight from Norwegian aquaculture researcher Irja Vormedal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices