How To Protect The Ocean
SUFB 101: Ocean Talk Friday
Nathan Johnson joins us again this week fro Ocean Talk Friday where we chat about the latest Ocean Conservation News that happened this week including: Scotland Fishermen are angry at proposed MPA fishing restrictions; Will the Ocean be your Valentine?; The Seychelles are investing in Blue Bonds; and, North Atlantic Right Whales get protection extension through a larger critical habitat.
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Show Notes:
http://www.speakupforblue.com/session101
Welcome to the speaker for blue podcast session one zero one. Hey, everybody. Welcome to ocean talk Fridays. You know it the day It's my favorite day of the week. We're gonna talk about lots of stuff We're gonna talk about some marine protected areas that are not so welcomed in Scotland by the local fishing community We're gonna talk about how your Valentine's Day can be for the ocean And we're also gonna talk about some blue bonds. Okay, it's not what you think they mean, but blue bonds are an interesting concept and we're gonna talk about right whales and how they've kind of extended their protected zone in Sort of a way around anyway So we're gonna talk about all about that and get clear about all those kind of things today on the speaker for blue podcasts. So stay tuned Welcome to the speak up for blue podcast helping you get involved in ocean conservation And now here's your host. Can't get the song bad blood out of his head Andrew Hey everybody welcome back to another episode of the speaker for blue podcast your voice for the ocean My name is Andrew Lew and I'm your host I'm also the founder speaker for blue calm marine ecologist and self-proclaimed ocean printer and today Is ocean talk Friday? I'm excited. This is gonna be a fun day because we got Nathan Johnson on the phone again, and Unfortunately his internet just went out again Nathan man you get you getting frustrated I think that's a good word for family friendly podcast. I'm quite frustrated Yeah, I think that is a good word for but that's all right We still got your voice and we still got your knowledge of chicken and drop on us with all these different With all these different projects and or all these all these different stories But before we get into that I just want to thank our supporters on the speaker for blue podcast through our patreon campaign That is Ron and Judy Claire and Chris Jefford and dr. Judith Weiss Thank you very much for your support if you want to support ocean conservation through podcast You can do so at www.speakupforblue.com forward slash patreon P A T R E O N And you can go and put different levels of support and really support ocean education and ocean Conservation education throughout the world. This is how we do it. We reach people all across the world And it's a great time our podcast is growing that means our reach is growing and we're able to get the message out there for different types of ocean conservation we can we can help people and they're changed their daily lives Which we have which I read yesterday on our hundredth episode an email from my friend Darlene who's actually made a better effort Herner partner have made better efforts to recycle in a country. That's not or a city That's not very well known for the recycling or it's very difficult to recycle in there So they've actually made an effort to do so and we also hear about teachers who are actually wanting to teach their class and use the podcast as an Information source to actually help their students understand human impacts on the environment So we're gonna as we go through we're gonna share more people stories of how the podcast is helping them So stay tuned for Monday and we'll we'll show another another person. I just got the message from Michael bear who's a friend of the podcast and actually a former interviewee during shark week And he's gonna tell us how he loves the speak up for blue podcast and what why he thinks it's so important But anyway, if you want to support you can go speak up for blue.com force slash patreon P A T R E O N And you can put your level support in there. Just remember it is monthly So it's a monthly support system. So thank you very much for that for all those who have supported and thank you for those who are considering Supporting and will support in the future. Okay. Let's get into it Nathan we're going to I have to admit I didn't come completely prepared So I'm gonna have you give a brief description of all the stories if you don't mind Yeah, no problem. All right so the first one is focusing on a local or regional conflict surrounding MPa's out in Scotland and I'm gonna make another confession my Scottish geography is not really great. So I don't know too much about wearing Scotland This is going on, but there are a couple new stories talking about efforts to lift fishing restrictions on coastal areas that have been previously designated as MPa's so These are already protected areas And a motion was made to reopen these areas to at least partial fishing in an effort to Provide fishing grounds for local fishermen, which in the areas is a huge is a huge industry and It was essentially a way to sort of provide economic value for the marine area While also still providing some sort of protection again It's a little fuzzy on which areas, you know how much of which areas would be open to fishing what types of fishing that would be But but the story focuses on the conflict. So you have yeah The pro fishing side, which are mostly Members of the local fishing groups members of the fishing industry who are saying, you know We're all for environmental sustainability and protecting our oceans but closing all of this off to fishing is unrealistic and parting our It's targeting our revenues. It's hurting the ability of people who are fishermen and and fishing families to make a living And then you have people who are pro Restricting this to fishing and I mean you have the normal environmental groups But the interesting thing is you also have other members of the fishing community. So the Fisher the fishermen are very much split 50/50 on this it sounds like and Then you have different politicians and different industry leaders and researchers and environmentalists on different sides And the pro mpa group is saying well You know the science shows that we need to code that we need to close the entire area to fishing for it to have its maximum benefit Right and part of that maximum benefit is increased fish abundance in these areas Which will ultimately make it easier for these fishing communities to make a living later on down the road. So we've covered a lot of this Before and earlier podcasts about the pros and cons of MPAs and you know how difficult it can be to get People on board, especially when those people are the ones who are directly affected by it, right? so They they had a vote I believe yesterday to lift the restrictions originally the vote was rejected or the motion was rejected But it sounds like there's some sort of appeal process because the issues very much not over there is a protest outside government buildings about it from both sides and you know it sounds kind of like a really good microcosm of what the entire global community is thinking about MPAs being introduced over the next few years, you know, if we're trying to reach that target of 20% protected area right, you know, you're gonna have these types of things happen and we've talked before about All the MPAs that are kind of put into place just so that they can be put into place ones that are further offshore ones that are more remote, you know, we're not really sure how much habitat value they provide but Protecting any MPa or protected any area of water is, you know, when but when you talk about protecting Especially coastal areas or ones within exclusive economic zones or ones that do have a lot of Industry presence in there especially fishing you're ultimately going to get these types of conflicts And so, you know, I think it'll be really interesting to follow the story even though it's it's very small scale Just an area outside Scotland. I believe it's 14 separate MPa that they're talking about. Yeah, but it'll be really interesting to see how this How this situation resolves itself Yeah, I agree. It's a good description. Thanks, Nathan And I agree with you There are a couple things I find with marine protected areas and in one of the articles they say that you know the The fishermen claim that the ministers are green politicking meaning that the MPa's are a good thing right now in the UK They just they just implemented or they just announced I think it was 23 more Marine conservation areas which are very similar to marine protected areas So it seems like in the UK, especially there are a lot of protected areas that are going up And now I don't know What hat like what effort was put into actually putting these marine protected areas in the ones in the in the UK? The 23 where and I don't know if these 23 are part of the ones that are going to Scotland But the 23 that are going to the UK are small and they're connect they're biologically connected So they're going to replenish these Themselves, but they're also small so they don't take up too much of other areas for other uses in terms of stakeholder uses now You know, it's you do you mentioned that you know, you're always going to see conflicts in these situations and yes You're right. You're always going to see conflicts in these situations. However, I find I'm a little skeptical and if the fishermen were actually added as Stakeholders at the beginning of this process and if they had their say it seems like they didn't have their say and they're trying to have their Say now or they didn't speak up enough or something happened in those talks where they just didn't agree and the government decided to go It was something different anyway on the other hand a lot of the places that are being protected apparently are in shore where only 5% of the fishery happens So that you know the author of this page of this article that I'm looking at right now in the Scotsman Dot-com, you know, he kind of states. Well, are we really going to see a big difference in The amount of money that's made from there. Are we going to see a big difference in in fisheries there? If it's if it's taken away, is it going to really affect that area? Probably not and if it's an inshore area, it's likely to be a spawning habitat for the fish that are being that are that are being caught. So the the benefit Probably outweighs the the fishing capacity or the fishing want in this situation So like if it's if that is the story behind it, then I can understand why you know why we're doing that You know, it's interesting as you were describing that I was looking through the comments section because I always love looking through comments sections of Internet sites, right? It's always the best and there's a lot of people who are you know, they just they're not liking You know, some people are for the ban on fishing in these areas Some people are not some people are just fine like one person says this government is composed of idiots You know, so it you know, it all depends on how you look at it A lot of people say that it's gonna kill the small angling clubs And make salmon fishing the preserve of the wealthy is one of the quotes from one of the the people So it's it's one of those things where you have to look at What the stakeholders want and and where their needs addressed during this MPA process? How much science went into it? Unfortunately, the article doesn't really say it How much science went into it and if it was scientifically driven or if it was just politically driven because sometimes these these sites are really politically driven and they go for the low-hanging fruit. They want to show that they're You know, these countries want to show that they're pro environment and they're pro fisheries by putting in the MPAs Even though it doesn't seem like it because they're restricting them, but they want more of a like more of a regeneration of fish but now you got to remember to is I don't know, you know, you look at the other side of it and you say okay Well dredging is pretty destructive, especially in inshore areas where you could have a lot of juvenile fish That could be not only destructive to the habitat, but destructive to the next generation of fish so you got to be careful of how we look at these things when you read these articles and and listen to the story because on the one hand the fishermen they want to make sure that their future generations and their livelihood are Protected and then on the other hand you want to make sure that not only the environments protected and the habit the unique habitats are protected But you also want to make sure that the fishermen are going to be able to fish for a long time You want to protect them as well. So they have to meet a little bit in the middle They're being the government seems to be seems to be cautious in this respect, which I'd like to see You don't normally see it. You actually see usually the argument I'm not sure if you've noticed this Nathan But you actually see the argument going the other way a lot of the times where you know Marine protect area was designated the fishermen, you know Put up a fuss and then all of a sudden advocates for the Marine protected area have to fight to get that protected area actually protected Yeah, and yeah, it's usually the burden of the proof usually seems to fall on the Pro-MPA folks in these types of arguments. Yeah, exactly and that's so it's interesting to see the reverse happen and you know, yeah, I was gonna say something and I completely forgot I was gonna say but I Just find it. I just find I just find that that argument Quite interesting and it's gonna be interesting to see what happens the one thing that they that there's a risk of is if these fishermen Are really strong to their point? They may just say we're just gonna ignore the MPAs and we're just gonna go and fish whatever we want That's the risk that that the government takes by not really taking into account their their Priorities and their needs so I worry about that in the future, but we'll see what happens We'll see as a story develops. What will happen any thoughts on that one or any more? Yeah, I would I would just agree with what you're saying about the whole cautionary principle thing that you know In this case, it seems like the government seems to be very cautious, but I yeah, I would kind of think that a lot of the differences between policy makers and Researchers in this type of MPA versus no MPA situation comes down to the fact that when you're when you're a researcher or scientist Especially focused on Conservation you very much come at things from a cautionary point of view, you know, like you'd rather do Nothing at all than something that's going to hurt potentially hurt the environment So you you're very conservative in that regard whereas with a lot of policymakers you're concerned about upsetting your constituents and You know essentially get into a point where the people who elected you don't like the decisions you're making and so you know while Scientists and researchers and conservationists do have a voice a lot of times It doesn't outweigh the voice of the folks in the economic sector or the fishing communities or stuff like that. I mean those are very very vocal Voices in a lot of these coastal countries or island countries and so you know normally the politicians unless it's overwhelming proof of the Benefit of MTA's, which you know, you would think there would be at this point But they they want to be cautious against upsetting their stakeholders Which a lot of times would be the fishermen in these communities. So, you know, I think it's mostly just the point of view that perspective that These people are coming from it's not that you know They don't want to conserve these areas or it's not that the researchers want to put the fishing communities out of business It's just they come at it from a different perspective Right. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's yeah. It's always an interesting Process this these marine protected areas and to see what what happens in the future But let's move on to the next story I Have a question for you Nathan. It's kind of a personal question. Who's gonna be your Valentine this year? Think the oceans are got Yeah, why don't you describe this story that's kind of come out of the Society of Conservation Biology? Yeah, so the Society of Conservation Biology is calling for a Ocean-heavy Valentine's Day this year. So I think Valentine's Day is on the 12th, which we did with Sunday Usually Valentine's Day is on the 15th. It's the 14th. Okay. Yeah, 14 whatever So for that weekend, they're calling for a lot of Ocean-based support around the the phrase of I-hard ocean So it's you know taking the Valentine's Day cheer instead of buying chocolates and balloons Maybe buying chocolates not balloons and donating some of some extra cash to ocean conservation organizations So they're calling for a big, you know Social media awareness around times a day so you might hear that you might see that on Twitter or Facebook Instagram They're calling for groups to accept donations. So one of the things the article was you know Movie theater at the restaurants places that people may go for Valentine's Day to say hey Do you want to add an extra $2 to your charge and that'll all go towards sustainable ocean practices or ocean conservation organizations? So it's a pretty cool idea. I don't honestly know if they've done it before I haven't heard of it This is the first time. This is the first time they've done it. This is a sort of a new initiative Yeah, so you know, it'll it'll be cool. I think At least you know, I know a lot of people who are kind of jaded at the idea of Valentine's Day of these days Yeah, you know whether whether or not you're in a relationship or you have a Valentine It seems like a lot of people are just not super into the idea of going out to crowded restaurants or you know practicing cheesy dates So creativity is the key in these types of situations So be creative go out support the ocean with your Valentine or by yourself and have a good weekend Yeah, I think this is a fun initiative, you know, you're right a lot of people get jaded around around Valentine's Day You know, I've been married for over 10 years and and you know, my wife and I yeah We we celebrate Valentine's Day, but you know, it becomes a little bit There, you know, we're not really into it. We'll celebrate go up for dinner or something like that But I would rather donate, you know, we don't got by guests for each other anymore But like on Valentine's Day, but we'd rather donate to a nice organization that's gonna do something that can do some good with the money Instead of by chocolates or flowers because I mean you're overpaying for flowers. Anyway, let's be honest It's a cash grab around around Valentine's Day and and I know a lot of women would be like oh Andrew You're just being pessimistic, but it's true. I mean everything is more expensive You know, I'd rather buy my wife flowers any other day We're sure really enjoy them then on a day where they're hiked up and doubled the price so But yeah, I mean this is just a fun thing to do It's it's another way to get you to think about the oceans on in your daily life, right? Which is what we do here. So I think it's I think it's it's great I think it's a great opportunity for people to be like, okay, well, let's see which group we would donate to you know which which organizations we should donate to and You know thinking out loud here. I think it would be kind of a good idea if we wrote an article on you know Which which groups that we would recommend to to donate to so I think that would be kind of fun Maybe that could be an article coming up, but you know, I think I think it's great I think you know a buck or two, you know if you know you always see it at like at bookstores or movie theaters where you can say hey you want to put an extra two bucks and Help out an organization for whatever it is and some people do some people don't but it gives them the option and I think it's an easy way for organizations to make money I really do and I think it's a fantastic way to do that and run a campaign especially over Valentine's day when everybody's feeling emotional So yeah, I love this. I love this story. I think it's you know one of those good Innovative ideas to get people thinking about oceans again Yeah, yeah, I agree. I think You know, hopefully it'll be something that sticks around and kind of offers an alternative to the normal Valentine's Day gets people more thinking about the ocean and you know different conservation issues, which is what we're all about here So absolutely we support it. We give the speak up for blue endorsement. Yeah, no, absolutely And you know, it's interesting just yesterday here in in in Toronto I'm not sure if it was Canada why but in Toronto is there was a big big bell Canada You know that the the telecommunication companies huge here in Canada and I believe that it isn't it's pretty big in the States as well but they put on they had organized this mental health day and Essentially yesterday over Twitter and over social media and texting if you texted or Shared a story or anything like that or help someone share a story or or tried to Whoa, how would you say it tried to encourage people to share their stories about mental illness and depression and things like that Bell would donate a specific amount for every tweet for every hashtag with a specific hashtag for every Facebook post with a Specific hashtag for if you text to a specific number Bell would donate a specific amount of money and they raised an incredible amount of money for you know for mental health So this mental health awareness day some of the radio stations that were owned by Bell all they did was talk about Mental health for most most of their programming that day. They're talk radio Their television stations were plat were plastered with with ads and stuff. So one day they raised a crazy amount of money I don't know the figure so I don't want to quote it but it is high and you know you're looking at it being like this is a great way to to raise money for a Specific opportunity and you can do a lot of things with this and it'll be interesting to see what happens on this first day You know this first year of doing it on Valentine's Day And seeing you know how you can you know obviously Bell is a major corporation that has access to a lot of communications So it'll be interesting to see something like the Society of Conservation Biology the Marine section Actually get into social media and try and and try and start this thing I think it'll be quite interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing the results We're gonna definitely share it around our stories and other people's stories and see if we can get some awareness going And they will build up to it a little bit too. So so yeah, it's a great great article. Any final words on this? No, I I agree I think it's just a really great sort of mass marketing strategy to get the word out. Yeah, absolutely Absolutely. All right, let's go to the next story The Seychelles and they plan to use some business type investing to develop sustainable fisheries. Why don't you give us a the breakdown? Yeah, so the Seychelles is a believe it's an archipelago Yeah, um off the coast of Africa and and they're trying to sing called what they call blue bonds If if you're familiar with green bonds at all it's pretty similar to that idea, but basically there they'll be government backed bonds issued by Seychelles and somehow also co-financed with a lot of other agencies. I think they mentioned the world world trade organization I believe the potential contributor, but but also some other international organizations without finances and They'd be bonds that would go for I believe ten years It's something in the range of like two hundred ninety million dollars total that they would issue out And then people can buy these bonds and the money that they receive from these bonds will be invested into sustainable ocean practices so For green bonds, which have been around for a while. It's a similar idea They you know a government or an agency issues these bonds people buy the bonds and then that money that you those used to purchase them goes into Environmentally friendly practices environmentally friendly businesses things that otherwise probably wouldn't get as much investment as Would you know traditional companies companies that have been around for a long time tech companies that always get an investment? Like it heavy investment. So, you know, it's kind of a way to support these types of practices the article that we discussed about these blue bonds Specifically mentioned that it would be sustainable ocean practices and they talk heavily about fishing around Seychelles and different fishing industries and practices I would probably be recipients of these blue bonds The interesting thing is that at least in my mind Sustainable ocean practices and fishing industries. Don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. They certainly can certainly been a lot of you know Sustainable fishing companies and management strategies throughout the world that shows that it could work And in small islands or small areas like the Seychelles that you know, it very much well be mostly sustainable But I think it would just be really interesting to read a little bit more on how They will select different recipients for these blue bonds Whether it'll be to expand, you know, more commercial fishing Around these areas or whether it'd be mostly going towards sustainable fishing eco-tourism subsistence fishing something like that. So, you know, I think it's a really cool idea just because you're getting the economic and financial side of these types of things And you know with the area small as a Seychelles, I think they can get away with a lot more than maybe a larger country Good a larger area because they don't have to go through all of the bureaucratic or as many bureaucratic loopholes and an obstacle That you might have to if it were of you know a massive country trying to do this But hopefully they have success with it. Hopefully this really does generate some funding for sustainable ocean practices And and also if I think anytime you do something like this where you're issuing bonds or you're attracting investors you reach a lot of the people who have a good amount of money and Who have a good amount of influence and so hopefully this attracts them in a good way It brings awareness to people who may not have otherwise thought about these types of Strategies or endeavors to create funding for sustainable fishing Yeah, and I think it's you know I think it's interesting because I study a lot on the on social and entrepreneurs and social enterprises and There's a specific term that you see a lot of people when they talk about investing in social enterprises And that's impact investing and I think this is a great example of that where you know You're you're investing into businesses that have an impact on our daily lives or just on the world You know they create a business to actually not just feed themselves But to change something and I think this is a lot like that You know you have you have a lot of fish fishermen out there and a lot of fisheries related Businesses out there that are trying to do the right thing They want to make sure that they can fish for generations and generations they want to make sure that like they can process fish for generations and generations or sell fish for generations generations and They want to do it sustainably Though unfortunate part is these major corporations that that don't want to do it sustainably out way and out earn the smaller businesses that eventually get pushed out of the way because they just can't afford the prices of equipment and everything like that So I think this is a way to really focus in on those people who are who want to help the ocean want to make their livelihood Sustainable and for generations to come this will allow that funding to go right to those people and right to make sure that they can Actually conduct business on a regular basis and and and be happy and not have to worry about big corporations Kind of coming in this will be interesting as a case study because you're right. It is a smaller country Probably less red tape to go through but it'll be interesting to see what the results of these are To see where we're gonna go from here and how that's how it's all gonna play out But yeah, I think it's I think it's a great idea I think it's it's not as risky just because the Seychelles is very I guess I'm assuming they have a very high fishing commercial fishing rate, so I think I think this is a this is a great case study for that Yeah, I I agree. I think I would I would really like to learn more about this. I'd really like to learn You know as I said before what types of specific fisheries Fisheries companies or fishery endeavors that they're going to invest in What type of? Investors they would even hope to get you know what their audience is for these types of bonds whether you're trying to get You know just your your average citizen who you know might do some casual investing and pick up bonds when they're available or whether you're looking for more aggressive wealthier organizations And you know I I would like to see if any thing like this has been tried before I know we talked about green bonds a little bit But specifically for the ocean. I wouldn't be surprised if other Countries or other organizations have tried something similar. Yeah, so it'd be really interesting to see how it actually works out Yeah, I agree and I think I think also at people when you know this whole impact investing when people look at Investing you know we always hear about you know natural resources like oil and gas and Mining and things like that. I think you know We should start looking at businesses who are changing the world whether it be in fisheries or whether it be otherwise There are a lot of businesses out there that are actually Investing into the future. They're investing into the environment. They're investing into their employees And I think this is a fantastic way for people to really get into investing invest into a business That's actually sustainable and that actually helps the world You know has more than just a you know a profit as a bottom line It almost has like the triple bottom line which is environment social and and of course money But because you have to live at some point, but you know I think I think this is just it's it's a part of the way of the future It's probably a bit of experimental as well because we don't see it often But I think it's one of those things that we're gonna see more of if this works out or more experiments from From this type of from this from these type of things. So I think I think it's great Let's move on to the last article We're talking about right whales, and we're talking about their protection. It's and apparently it's been expanded So let's let's get down to the to the nitty gritty. Are we talking marine protect there? What are we talking about here? No, we're talking just about Reclassification of different habitats for right whales So the story focuses on It was a few tens of thousands of square miles, I believe of Waters off the Atlantic coast of the United States and North America Specifically from I believe around Cape Cod to Florida Cape Cod, Massachusetts down to Florida. That was reclassified as Critical right whale calving habitat. So habitat that's right whales prefer to give birthin or the data has shown Have a large population compared to the rest of their range of calves You know we've talked before about different types of habitats used by different stages of life, so you know when you're Well, we'll just talk about fish right now, but you know larval fish Usually just kind of dispersed with the currents and our slightly selective about where they'll go, but as juveniles Juvenile fish really prefer shallower areas with more protection so down in Texas There's all this talk about the importance of wetlands or marsh habitat For juvenile fish and then as they get older as they get larger, they'll move offshore and they'll utilize different habitats But if you don't protect All the necessary habitats throughout the life cycle of a particular species so right whales for example If you don't protect their calving habitat where a lot of calves and juvenile live then you're going to obviously see less calves survive Which is going to mean the less of an adult population further down the generation so They reclassified some of the areas of essential calving Habitat for right whales which although it doesn't provide exclusive restrictions to fishing or protection or something like that what it does do is require any sort of any sort of endeavors or industry that wants to Get created in this area to go through a permitting process and in that permitting process and to the question of How will your company or how will this industry affect this right whale calving habitat? which does in its own sense provide some sort of protection because you know if you were to have a Let's say an oil platform put out in this area, which the end of the article didn't mention that most oil is further offshore So oil platforms probably won't impact this area too much, but you're to try and put an oil well out there And then you went for a permit and the agency said okay Well, you know, how is this going to affect right whale calving and you say well, you know probably not going to be so great for them There's going to be a lot of loud sound that can disrupt their behavior There may be some pollution leakage from the drill itself stuff like that. They'll say well, you know because it's classified as critical habitat We can't allow you to you know put your oil platform there until you address these issues So I think it provides an indirect form of protection And you know, it's usually it's a slow process from getting to no protection at all to something like an MPa Yeah, but if you have an area designated as critical habitat that definitely helps you along in the process Yeah, absolutely and and I mean the Atlantic right whale is is an species at risk and I'm just checking right now to actually see what it is Sorry, I'll look it up as I'm as I'm reading it, but um, whereas I'm talking. Oh Yeah, sorry its conservation set is threatened or it's endangered endangered So, you know, it's still like it's it's pretty endangered. It gets a lot of ship strikes It's in an area of high transportation fishing areas and and whatnot So when it when you get an endangered species like this, you have to protect it in specific ways Oh, obviously there's the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the stage Which is great for protecting marine mammals and make sure that they don't get harmed harassed or anything like that however, things still happen shipping channels are rerouted based on right whale in Migration routes or right whale occurrence routes, so it decreases the amount of ship strikes. However, they still occur But a critical habitat will actually outline where these calving areas are Where these areas are crucial for this population to persist So it's it's one of those things where it's like this is a critical habitat. You cannot touch this You also have the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which means, you know, if you see a calf or an adult in the area, you cannot you cannot go near it You can't even I'm not sure if you can actually go through the critical habitat and I don't know The size of the critical habitat, but judging it by the way of whales migrate. I can imagine it'd be pretty big It won't be very small So it's a pretty large area, especially if they're increasing the size of it. It's gonna be a pretty large area That means they just notice more more calving in that area That were that was outside the boundaries. So it's a good thing that we actually find Some area that oh, okay. Well, first we were a little maybe too conservative or based on the science We saw the you know, this is the area for calving So we'll expand it a little bit because they seem to be going out of the boundaries So, you know, you got it You got to always monitor that from a scientific perspective to make sure that the boundaries are still where they should be And especially now with climate change and the difference is in water temperature You might see a shift in where they actually balance so that critical habitat could shift somewhere else It might stay in the same place, but you never know what's gonna happen So I'm glad that they're expanding it and they're being a more cautious about this animal We do and I know it's a bit it's recovering a little bit But it still has a lot of work to do and it still faces a lot of constant impact So we had to be careful with with that kind of with that kind of issue when it when it comes to whales Especially ship strikes and whatnot. So, um, yeah I think it's I think this is a great thing all in all like if you think about all these these articles that we're that we're talking about lately Are areas that are being designated as protected whether it be a marine protected area or a critical habitat? It doesn't matter these areas that are being protected. So this is a positive motion They just have to make sure based on the first story that You know all the stakeholders are included from the beginning of the process And if that can happen then we can be you know all set and ready to go So, um and we and you know and and protection can happen more protection can happen around around the world and it'll actually be uh, obeyed, you know those protections because a lot of times those those questions those boundaries are not obeyed people Uh, if they don't agree with the marine protected area, they'll go over that boundary. So I like I like how they're you know, they probably did a lot of public consultation for this it may not have gone smoothly But it doesn't seem like it's anybody speaking up about it. Um, so obviously, you know, the area is probably has seasoned veterans in terms of looking at protection from Protection for the Atlantic right whale from both the industry And the conservation side. So i'm sure the industries used to it by now They may not like it and it may affect their business in a little bit but For a little bit, but they know that it is probably the best thing to do So I think this is uh, this is a great thing. We've got some positive stories today Yeah, yeah, I I like talking about these types of things compared to some of the more You know ocean acidification is causing everything to die in the ocean But um, and there's no way to do it. Yeah, I I think it's important to get a balance of it I mean, we don't want to Make the impression that we can just sort of lighten up on a lot of ocean protection because we keep talking about the positives But I think the more you talk about the positive steps that are being taken and and the people getting involved to do this The more you inspire other people to do what they can in their own life Absolutely, and that's actually just a little bit of a teaser our next interview on Wednesdays with ester overbeak who Uh works in south africa and she we talked about the same thing in there where she is a shark advocate She works with ocean research, which is a very good shark Research organization in south africa and she does a number of campaigns including the fins alive campaign where she actually uses A stuffed animal for people to take pictures with she has bands and celebrities and scientists take pictures with this Share them on social media to show their support for banning any kind of shark meat industry or any kind of you know Harvesting of sharks. So I think it's uh, you know, but she talks about you know instead of you know focusing on the doom and gloom We're gonna focus on Bringing in a positive message bringing the people so that they can actually Enjoy what they're what they're watching and then, you know, eventually slip in. Okay. Here's their conservation status Here's the problem and they're like, oh, okay. Well, maybe I shouldn't have shark meat anymore, which is popular in south africa But anyway, we're gonna talk all about that on wednesdays But my point is is you you reel them in with positivity And you kind of mentioned you sprinkle a little bit of doom and gloom around but not too much because you don't want people to To feel too overwhelmed and and not understand that there are solutions to to the all these problems I Yeah, I couldn't have said it better. It was a nice way to end it. Yeah, I think so way I know how to end things that's for sure But um, but hey, you know what uh yesterday we had our our our 100th podcast And and I read out some things from from some people and we heard it from a teacher About what they love about the podcast Nathan. I'm gonna put you on the spot here because we didn't really discuss it I just got the idea. What have you enjoyed about the podcast so far other than being on it? But what have you enjoyed about it so far? Um, I I mean personally, I really like the chance to get involved in in this type of marine conservation communication Um, I mean my masters was in marine biology. So from a selfish standpoint, I enjoyed just writing about it and talking with you about it and Hearing all the you know the researchers the policy makers Uh the NGO folks that you have on the interviews. Um, but I think I from from what I've been seeing with the downloads and uh from you know the types of guests we've been getting and Um the types of hits our website has I think we're really making a difference which you know is is really Inspiring and I think a lot of people um You know a lot of these types of podcasts and types of blogs always Thank the the readers and the listeners and everything and you know that kind of gets lost on some people who may Not know how much work goes into it, but I I would just say I mean we we wouldn't be where we are today if people didn't listen to us and read The blogs and and check out the site and everything so I mean we are a hundred percent reliant on all of that So for people who are downloading this or people who have read the blogs. Thank you very much for for all of your support Absolutely. I kind of said that better myself. Uh, no, you're right It's all based on the people who want to listen to this and the people who want to take the action items that we Suggest or we guide people on doing and just make people aware of it because a lot of people may not be aware of it Um, I'm glad that you're a part of this podcast and I'm glad that you've been helping out with the writing because it's been Um easier for me to focus on the podcasting You like you're a great writer and it seems like we're we make a pretty good team on this kind of stuff So I'm looking forward to doing at least another hundred episodes to get to 200. Oh, yeah, no problem Um, and it's I mean, you're right. It's a lot of fun. We get to talk about oceans. We get to talk about ocean conservation We get to research it. It's an excuse for us to really get involved And I like connecting with the people and and to be honest we have this new Um, I haven't really talked to you about this, but we have this new Um This new tool it's called speak pipe and what people can do is they can actually call in through their computer and leave messages for us Um, and say why they like the podcast or ask a question about ocean conservation Um, whether it's something they're having difficulty with or something they want to know more about and we can talk about it on the podcast So if people go to speakupforblue.com forward slash connect you can actually connect with us and you will be You will put you on the podcast your voice message on the podcast So if you do leave messages, please no profanity. We try to make this a family show But yeah, leave messages for us and whether it be me nathan whoever right and you want to talk about specific things Maybe a guest came on in our show and you want to talk about it I'm sure a lot of people voice their opinions on our our most recent guest Chris Parsons talking about whale Whale hunting and the iwc and how the interactions happen with that and how regulations or non regulations occur Um, I think that's a great way to do it So if you want to connect with us and go speak up for blue.com forward slash connect I love technology Uh, because it allows us to connect with our audience more and hear you guys you guys always hear us But now we get to hear you guys. So, um, that's always a lot of a lot of fun. So, uh, so yeah So that's great. I guess we'll end it here unless you have any last any last things to say before the weekend We close out for the weekend No, if if you use the uh, the voicemail thing, please know drunk dials because I get the impression and you're gonna make me filter those out So Which they don't put extra work on me. Yes. Yes. Yes if if you do decide to call it a drunk one You won't be featured on the podcast, but nathan will listen to and we might make fun of you If you drunk dial Oh, if i have to listen to it, we're making fun of that But to be honest people if you want to connect with us, I think it'll be great Um, and and it's good to open up that dialogue and ask questions about it and and if enough people You know call in and ask questions, then uh, we can answer them. Maybe you make a full show out of it I've just a question and answer kind of thing. So, uh, that'll be that'll be awesome. I'd love that kind of stuff But anyway, we'll end it here nathan. Thank you very much for joining us again on this friday I appreciate you Uh, making your time to every friday to get on the on the podcast with us Especially with your internet troubles and everything like that, and I hope they get solved soon Um, so we get to see your face again. It'd be it'd be nice to see your face again, but um, I know it's it's a pretty nice face That's true and people if you do want to see us, uh, actually Uh, on video you can actually go to the website the the speak up for blue notes the show notes for this will be speak up for blue.com Last session 101, uh, so you can just do that and you can watch us on on v. Well, not this one But normally you can watch us on video, um, and uh, and you can just play it in in the background or whatever you want Or again, you can get us on any kind of iphone or android that has a podcast app Uh, we're on stitcher right now and we're on Um, uh, we're on of course itunes and you can leave us reviews if you like it too That would always helps us again more reach so, uh, just want to say thank you for listening That's it for the program today. You've been listening to speak up for blue podcast I am your host, and you're luen with my co-host, nathan johnson. We wish you a very happy friday and uh, a happy weekend And happy conservation see you later [Music]