The Catch

S5 Part VI: Women at the Helm Mar 26, 2025

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, roughly 4 in 10 people working in small-scale fisheries are women. Half are fishers themselves, and half process the fish, like Cary Badgie, from Gambia, whom the reporting team met as she salted and preserved the local catch.

Female activists and entrepreneurs also underpin these fishing communities, as you’ll hear from Senegalese climate activist Ndeye Yacine Dieng and local official and businesswoman Yayi Bayam Diouf, based in Dakar.

Finally, host Ruxandra Guidi gets a perspective on a possible way forward for fishmeal production in a conversation with Libby Woodhatch, the executive chair of MarinTrust.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S5 Part V: Migration by Land and by Sea Mar 19, 2025

In a region characterized by high unemployment, food insecurity, and depleted fish stocks, many fishers are forced to migrate. The fishmeal plants dotting the coast have only exacerbated these existing problems, economist Rashid Sumaila notes, saying that “overfishing would still be an issue in West Africa without the plants. But the plants make them worse.”

On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and her reporting partners look into the migration crisis. Senegalese reporter Borso Tall shares her reporting from a village in the region of St. Louis directly impacted by a fishmeal plant. And Sumaila sits down with Guidi to share his take.We want to hear what The Catch means to you! Reach out to us at podcasts@foreignpolicy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S5 Part IV: The Human Impacts of Disappearing Fish Mar 12, 2025

On this episode host Ruxandra Guidi and her team cross over into Senegal to see how the fishmeal industry's impact compares. She hears from local fishers as well as environmental NGO Environmental Justice Foundation's Bassirou Diajar.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S5 Part III: Sovereignty Mar 05, 2025

Foreign fleets off the Gambia’s shore are straining local fish stocks by “coming in at night and fishing illegally,” Sanyang fisher Alagie Gasama says. And the lack of enforcement, or even political will, by the government leaves these fishing communities to struggle on their own. On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi continues her journey along the Gambian coast by hearing directly from the fishers, processors, and local officials navigating these changes in their fish stocks.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S5 Part II: The Arrival of the Fishmeal Plants Feb 26, 2025

Gambians eat an estimated 55 pounds of fish a year, the most fish consumed per person in the region. This trend is shifting, though, with the arrival of the fishmeal plants, which directly affect these communities' food security. And as local activist Lamin Jassey points out, the fishmeal plant companies "never asked [the community], they never asked the young people" whether they wanted these plants in the first place.

Join host Ruxandra Guidi as she continues her look at the fishmeal industry in West Africa and hears directly from community leaders on how they're advocating for change.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S5 Part I: A Legacy of Colonialism Feb 19, 2025

Small pelagic fish off the West African coast are being scooped up in large numbers and ground into a product called fishmeal. This fishmeal is then used to support animal production and aquafarms around the world.

How is this industry impacting local fishers? And what does this mean for the global supply chain? Host Ruxandra Guidi partners with Gambian reporter Mustapha Manneh to look at fishmeal production in both the Gambia and Senegal for Season 5 of The Catch. Other voices in this episode include Sally Yozell, Senior Fellow and Director of the Environmental Security program at the Stimson Center and Dr. Ensa Touray, a historian at the University of The Gambia.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 5 of The Catch Coming Soon Feb 12, 2025

Coming up on Season 5 of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi reports from the Gambia and Senegal to hear firsthand how the fishmeal plants are impacting these communities and whether the industry, which underpins much of aquaculture, can be turned sustainable for all. Follow and listen to The Catch wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonus: Live from UNGA Marine Protected Areas Oct 02, 2024

This past week, Foreign Policy magazine hosted a live taping on Marine Protected Areas at the United Nations General Assembly. This discussion was moderated by Matt Rand, Senior Director of Marine Habitat Protection at the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Joining Matt on the stage was: Monica Medina, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. She’s currently a distinguished fellow at Conservation International.

Joel Johnson is the President and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

Editrudith Lukanga is the Founder of EMEDO, an organization that supports small-scale fisheries in Tanzania and she currently leads the Secretariat of the African Women Fish-workers Network.

And Jim Leape is the Co-Director and William and Eva Price Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S4 Maine Part II: What's Crab Got to Do With It? Sep 25, 2024

Reporter Caroline Losneck joins The Catch once again to share with host Ruxandra Guidi how Maine's iconic lobster fishing is adapting to new arrivals.

First, Losneck explores how green crabs, an invasive species, are being turned into a delicacy by the local culinary scene. And then, she visits a new training program that's helping to change the face of the fishing industry.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S4 Maine Part I: A Lobster Tale Sep 18, 2024

Maine based reporter Caroline Losneck reports on how the state's iconic lobster industry is changing due to forces like climate change, a changing labor market, and damage to fishing areas. Caroline shares with host Ruxandra Guidi how local fishers are adapting by finding new sources of income and how communities as a whole are banding together to provide more resources to protect the industry.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S4 Indonesia: Fishers Contend with Sand Dredging Sep 11, 2024

This week, Bali-based reporter Febriana Firdaus explores how Indonesia has been affected by environmental damage from land reclamation projects put in place to bolster the country's tourism industry. Land is a premium for this country of 17-thousand islands. And so the country is expanding its buildable land by dumping sand into the water, negatively impacting the small scale fisheries who live and work nearby. Firdaus tells host Ruxandra Guidi how these projects are hurting fishers both in Bali where the sand is dumped and in far away Lombok, where the sand is mined.

The Catch is going LIVE in New York City later this month.

Come be a part of our live audience on September 26th at 4:30 pm at Rockefeller Center's Studio Gather to hear from experts and fishers on how protecting our oceans can benefit everyone. Click the link here to reserve your seat for this special event. Space is limited.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S4 South Africa: Tensions with Marine Protected Areas Sep 04, 2024

For today’s episode we head to South Africa’s southern coast, where journalist Rasmus Bitsch saw firsthand the tension between local populations and environmentalists over plans to expand designated marine protected areas. The country is moving forward to implement the United Nations’ 30 by 30 goals, which seek to protect 30 percent of the world’s oceans by the year 2030.

While environmentalists contend that this will actually help increase fishing stocks, many local fishers and others are skeptical of government plans because of the country’s history of apartheid and forced removal of locals from their land.

Bitsch relays to host Ruxandra Guidi what he heard from both sides on what it will take to build trust and protect both marine habitats and local livelihoods.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S4: Galapagos Part II: Finding Balance Aug 28, 2024

Quito-based reporter Carolina Loza León continues her reporting from the Galápagos Islands. We hear how some fishers, frustrated by decreased yields and the dangers of harvesting sea cucumbers, have turned to tourism to make ends meet.

Elsewhere, efforts are being made to connect and engage fishers and scientists in a dialogue, in the form of a quota system. Its aim is to protect this fragile ecosystem and could be a model for cooperation elsewhere in Ecuador.

SHOW NOTES: If you’re a fisher, we want to hear from you! The Catch is hosting a live podcast taping at the United Nations General Assembly, and we’re looking for a fisher who has experience with marine protected areas and is either based in New York or can be in New York in September. Please reach out to us at podcasts@foreignpolicy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S4 Galapagos Part I: Sea Cucumber Fever Aug 21, 2024

This season we kick things off off in Ecuador, where reporter Carolina Loza León heads to the famed Galápagos Islands to hear how a sea cucumber boom shaped the economy and current conservation efforts.

SHOW NOTES:

If you’re a fisher, we want to hear from you! The Catch is hosting a live podcast taping at the United Nations General Assembly, and we’re looking for a fisher who has experience with marine protected areas and is either based in New York or can be in New York in September.

Please reach out to us at podcasts@foreignpolicy.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 4 of The Catch Coming Soon Aug 14, 2024

Coming up on Season 4 of The Catch, how fishing communities around the world are facing major global and environmental shifts—and are working to adapt. Follow and listen to The Catch wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonus Episode: Preventing Fisheries Conflict Around the World Dec 21, 2023

Over half of the world’s fish populations are likely to move from their historic habitats by the end of the century. Pushed by rising temperatures and changing ocean cycles, these migrating fish stocks could be the cause for our next international conflict. Between the end of WWII and the collapse of the Soviet Union, a quarter of the world’s conflicts were tied to fisheries. And experts expect this number to rise as fishing grounds shift, reliance on the oceans for food increase, and maritime borders move with sea level change. What can be done to prevent this next global conflict?

Foreign Policy teamed up with the Walton Family Foundation for a live podcast taping at COP28.

PANELISTS:

Manuel Barange, Assistant Director General and Director Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Sarah Glaser, Senior Director, Oceans Futures, World Wildlife Fund

Rashid Sumaila, University Killam Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, Fisheries Economic Research Institute, OceanCanada Partnership, The University of British Columbia

Dr. Manumatavai Tupou-Rosen, Director General, Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency

MODERATOR: Rebecca Hubbard, Director, High Seas Alliance

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S3 Part VI: Cod Almighty Dec 19, 2023

What can the Arctic region tell us about fisheries conflicts in the future? On our final episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and co-reporter Eskild Johansen head to the island of Svalbard to see how geopolitical tensions between Russia and Norway are playing out firsthand. Guidi is then joined by former U.S. diplomat Evan Bloom to hear how diplomacy and cooperation have shaped the Arctic region.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S3 Part V: Holding the Line Dec 12, 2023

Making sure that fish stocks are healthy–and that fishers can keep on making a living–is no simple task. On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and co-reporter Eskild Johansen hear from local fishermen on how they have to be just as aware of political winds, as they do bad weather. And then Guidi hears from Chief Sustainability Officer Sergey Sennikov and Konstantin Drevetnyak, head of the Russian Union of Northern Fishermen, on how they work to meet the demands of the Russian-Norway cod fishery agreement.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S3 Part IV: Of Cod & Country Dec 05, 2023

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

S3 Part III: Make the North Great Again Nov 28, 2023

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

S3 Part II: Cod of War Nov 21, 2023

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

S3 Part I: In Cod We Trust Nov 14, 2023

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

Coming Soon: Season 3 of The Catch Nov 07, 2023

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

S2 Part VI: The Future Apr 25, 2023

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

S2: Part V: Pressure Points Apr 18, 2023

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

S2 Part IV: The Cartel of the Sea Apr 11, 2023

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

S2 Part III: The Embargo Apr 04, 2023

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

S2 Part II: A Complex Web Mar 28, 2023

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

S2 Part I: The Aquarium of the World Mar 21, 2023

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

Bonus Episode: The High Seas Treaty Mar 14, 2023

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 Soon: Season Two of The Catch Mar 10, 2023

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

Part VI: The Fate of Fishing Jul 13, 2022

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

Part V: Game Changing Diplomacy Jul 06, 2022

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

Part IV: The High Seas Jun 29, 2022

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

Part III: Who's in Charge? Jun 22, 2022

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

Part II: Pota in Paita Jun 15, 2022

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

Part I: Out to Sea Jun 08, 2022

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

Coming Soon: The Catch May 25, 2022

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

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected