The Blue Fish Radio Show – Details, episodes & analysis

Holly Isnor is the Marine Campaign Coordinator with the Ecology Action Centre in Nova Scotia, and our  guest on The Blue fish Radio Show. Holly will explain why the 184 fishers in Nova Scotia that hold swordfish harpoon licenses are interested in adding the option of filling their quota using hook-and-line, and bringing along paying customers interested in reeling in swordfish that can reach weights of 500 kilograms. Find out what it’s going to take to open up this new big game recreational fishing opportunity.

Dr. Ussif Rashid Sumaila from the University of British Columbia is widely known and highly regarded as an expert on the ability of offshore commercial fisheries to fish sustainably. His opinions are shaping Canada’s entry into a new WTO agreement on the World’s first international sustainability Treaty. Listen as Dr. Sumaila speaks with Lawrence about the role technology is having on increasing fishing pressure around the world on The Blue Fish Radio Show. 

Two new books are discussed, “In search of the Great Canadian Shark”, and “Thinking Big About Small-Scale Fisheries. Lawrence and Scottie discuss Lawrence’s work with Canon to launch the new tactile printer for the blind. The unknown Arctic fishes and control over the new commercial fishery. The extreme age of Greenland Sharks and traditional techniques to cure their meat. The movement of fish species north into the Arctic Ocean. The bid by recreational fishers in Newfoundland / Labrador to increase personal harvest limits of Northern Cod. What Muskie eat. Good news about Atlantic Salmon on a New Brunswick River thanks to a new fish-friendly bridge. New data on chemical pollutants in the St. Lawrence River stemming from treated sewage waste releases. The success of the “swish and spit” program for preventing invasive aquatic species from entering the Great Lakes. The impact of 70 new species of invasive earth worms brought to North America. A delayed oil spill mitigation effort on the Fraiser River. Methane gas leakage into the atmosphere. Efforts to create a giant garbage incinerator on the banks of the Ottawa river. Numbers of Great Lakes water usage and releases for 2022. 

According to the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, recreational fishers are routinely violating the 400-metre protection buffers around Southern Resident killer whales. The Foundation is now calling for a complete end to recreational salmon fishing in southern B.C. Joining us again on The Blue Fish Radio Show is Chris Bos, Coordinator of a south Vancouver Island Chinook salmon hatchery, President of the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition, and Director with the Public Fishery Alliance. Join Chris and I as we discuss the need for science-based precautionary conservation measures in the fight to save these whales and BC’s billion-dollar marine recreational fishery.

Dr. Michael Murray served as a senior biologist with the National Wildlife Federation for over 20 years. His knowledge of Great Lakes fish health and impacts of legacy and emerging toxins is tremendous, as is his experience in how different governments develop and implement fish consumption Advisories. In my role as Chair of the Great Lakes Fish Health Network, getting to meet and know Dr. Murray has been extremely helpful. More collaborations to come, but for now, it’s my honour to have Michael as a guest on this episode of The Blue Fish Radio Show.

Watersheds Canada has taken shoreline restoration to new depths with their new “Fish Habitat Enhancement Toolkit”. The free Fish Habitat Enhancement Toolkit provides grassroots organizations and community groups with project guides, updated protocols, and accompanying videos to identify suitable sites and successfully enhance various types of fish habitat. Project materials include walleye spawning bed enhancement, in-water fish habitat enhancement with woody debris, and cold-water creek enhancement. Melissa Dakers, Habitat and Stewardship Program Manager with Watersheds Canada, discusses how her organization is partnering with groups across Canada to improve unseen natural fish habitat in lakes and rivers on The Blue Fish Radio Show.

Pure Fishing’s General Manager of Canadian Operations, Rob Walton, is the new president of the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association and the Canadian National Sportfishing Foundation. Listen to Rob’s conversation with Lawrence Gunther about the role of industry to support conservation, sponsor anglers, give voice to public fisheries across Canada, and promote the mental and physical health benefits of fishing to the ever-growing number of people learning to fish. Rob also speaks about on-going advocacy and public outreach initiatives on this episode of The Blue Fish Radio Show:

Former Globe&Mail journalist Mark Hume recently penned a 4,000-word opinion piece that appeared in the Globe&Mail on June 12 2021 called “fish are caught in the middle of the catch-and-release debate”. It’s a brilliant examination of the history of angling, and why catch-and-release fishing is a justifiable and essential element of our conservation strategy. Mark is no stranger to exploring and sharing stories about fishing having written five books on nature with a 5th to come out later this fall. I reached out to Mark through a mutual friend, author and previous guest on The Blue Fish Radio Show, Bob Hooton. Link to hear my conversation with Mark as we discuss what prompted him to write the article, what groups are against catch-and-release fishing, and why we fish, on The Blue Fish Radio Show.

MP Bob Zimmer has spent the last year travelling throughout B.C. to meet and speak with public fishers about their access concerns. His videos documenting his consultations have been watched over 450,000 times. Clearly, public fishery access along the B.C. coast is a hot topic, and no wonder given that it generates $1.1 billion of economic activity spread out over numerous coastal communities. Link to hear MP Bob Zimmer speak about what he’s learned on The Blue Fish Radio show.

Brian Tutty spent 38 years as a biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the vast majority of which was spent on Canada’s west coast. Brian still consults on public fisheries related matters some 13 years since. I asked Brian if he could give Blue Fish Radio listeners a review of decisions taken or not over the past 50 years that led to where we are today. What I learned was startling, but should not have come as a surprise. Link below to hear Brian Tutty’s reflections on how values about wild fish changed over the years, and why we need to turn to local and indigenous round tables at the local level if wild salmon are to recover on The Blue Fish Radio Show: