The Blue Fish Radio Show

Save The River, home of the Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper is doing their part to recruit community stewards. For well over a decade their river steward training initiative has informed and empowered hundreds of volunteer river stewards. Listen to Lawrence Gunther in conversation with Save The River’s Education Manager Daniel Bellinger as he walks us through various on-water educational experience...

In 2003, the Wallaceburg Advisory Team for a Cleaner Habitat (WATCH) began as a committee under the direction of the Wallaceburg Chamber of Commerce, in response to several chemical company spills into the St. Clair River which shut down the water intakes of both Wallaceburg and Walpole Island. The spills came to light when toxic blobs were discovered on the river bottom. Listen to Kris Lee, Direc...

Helen Forsey and Barry Darby are the driving force behind “Changing Course”, a “blue justice” initiative designed to restore Atlantic Canada’s fair and equitable commercial fisheries. The two discuss with host Lawrence Gunther why the current system of quotas is insufficient to breath new life into Canada’s coastal communities, and why the catch share initiative is further concentrating control of...

Dr. Steven Cooke from Carleton University was recently appointed as one of four Canadian Commissioners on the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. His fish health and fishery expertise is highly regarded around the world, and brings a strong recreational fishery perspective and expertise to the Commission. Dr. Cooke and GLFC Executive Director Mark Gardon are Lawrence gunther’s guests on The Blue Fish...

Part II of the Public Fishery Alliance Trip to OttawaThe seven representatives of the Public Fishery Alliance have returned home to B.C. after a 4-day visit to Parliament Hill where they met with MPs to explain why closing the marine recreational fishery in southern B.C. and reallocating their assigned salmon to the commercial fishery is a bad idea. In Part I of this 2-part series we heard from th...

In the first of this two part Blue Fish Radio Show series host Lawrence Gunther speaks with members of the Public Fishery Alliance delegation that just arrived in Ottawa. Their goal is to provide a balanced perspective on proposed changes to the Salmon Allocation Policy and Southern Resident Killer Whale fishing for Chinook closures. The proposed changes pose an immediate threat to the public’s ac...

In the final installment of Dr. Chris Harvey-Clark’s conversation with Blue fish Radio show host Lawrence Gunther, the two exchange stories concerning their respective times spent in Canada’s Arctic, and how foraging remains a central part of food security in the north. At 5:45 the topic of commercial fishing being introduced into the Arctic by Inuit fishers due to longer summers was discussed. At...

In part II of Blue fish Radio show Host Lawrence Gunther’s conversation with Dr. Chris Harvey-Clark, the two speak about the need to engage all B.C. salmon stakeholders in meaningful consultations including the sharing of relevant research. At 3:55 Chris sheds light on the impact of pollution on chinook and killer whales, and at 6:05 how pacific grey whales are being impacted by insufficient acces...

In the first of this new Blue fish Radio Show 3-part series featuring Dr. Chris Harvey-Clark we begin with Chris sharing the story of how an 18-metre skeleton of a blue whale became the centrepiece of the new Beaty Centre for Marine Biodiversity  at Dalhousie University. Then, at minute 17:47 Chris summarises his presentation to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association on fish as sentient being...

Lee Willbanks is the President and co-founder of the new water-rights NGO called Talking Rivers. Their mission is to find ways to extend legal status to water bodies with the goal of giving stakeholders legal standing upon which to defend their lakes and rivers. Lee and host Lawrence Gunther discuss the Magpie River recognition in Quebec, the Rice Lake recognition in Ontario, efforts underway in t...

Sean Simmons, founder of Angler Atlas and the My Catch angler app has been making significant strides with engaging anglers and students to use their fishing rods to gather vital data about fish health. His efforts across Canada have earned him strong recognition among his peers at the American Fishery Society, and has made Angler Atlas the top source for fish health data across Canada. Sean speak...

Weaving Waters Expedition and Captain Allen CurryThe Weaving Waters Expedition is a journey by Canadian natural historian, Captain Allen Curry aboard the Water Weaver. Allen sets off on a largely solo one-year voyage around the Great Loop” to gather local stories from people who live by the Great Lakes, along the Mississippi and St. Lawrence Rivers, and the coasts of southeastern USA and Canada’s...

Aaron Hill, Executive Director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society, joins Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio Show to discuss why B.C. needs its creekwalkers more than ever. More than providing crucial information about when and how many salmon are returning to B.C.’s rivers, the data collected and reported is vital to managing fisheries, assessing climate change impacts, evaluating restoration...

BCs Recreational Salmon Fishing may be about to endGayle Gordon and Mark Roberts from the BC Recreational Fishing Association once again join Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio Show. Last year the issue was unfair proposed seasonal recreational fishing closures. This time the closures being proposed are indefinite. Find out the real reason why salmon fishing for the majority of southern B.C....

The FishingBeyondFun. Org project focuses on better understanding how important recreational fishing is to people's food security, livelihood, culture, and identity across the Great Lakes. Project co-lead Dr. Vivian Nguyen is an Associate professor at Carleton University in the Environmental and interdisciplinary science program, and is Lawrence Gunther’s guest on The Blue Fish Radio show

Natel Energy develops hydropower turbines that enable 98-100% downstream passage survival for fish. An investigation of how such technology might be applied to the U.S. side of the Robert Moses-Robert H. Saunders Power Dam on the St. Lawrence River nearby Cornwall Ontario. Listen as Lawrence Gunther speaks with  Sterling Watson  Principal Engineer, FishSafety, and Abe Schneider, CTO and Natel co-f...

It comes as a surprise to many that there are a series of underwater caves measuring 10 km in length that exist below the Ottawa River not far from Canada’s Parliament. Renowned cave diver Jill Heinerth has been busy exploring these caves and documenting the extensive network of life that rely on the cover the caves provide. Jill is the Author of the book “INTO THE PLANET - My Life as a Cave Diver...

Sea Change and the Catch Share SolutionFor a long time, overfishing felt like a losing battle: fish stocks crashed, coastal economies suffered, and typical regulatory fixes didn’t add up to real progress. A new book “Sea Change” highlights how that narrative was overturned, thanks in part to a market-based solution that aligned U.S. fishermen’s incentives with healthy fisheries. These Efforts have...

Joining Lawrence on The Blue Fish Radio Show is Meredith Brown from Canadian Geographic, Meredith is one of the brains behind the Biinaagami project developed to inform and inspire people of all ages to connect with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence watershed. The gymnasium-sized map and its ten digital links to imbedded learning resources was developed over a period of several years with input fro...

Patrick Madahbee, Commissioner on Governance and former Grand Council Chief of the Anishinabek Nation is Lawrence Gunther’s guest on The Blue Fish Radio Show. Patrick and Lawrence discuss the many challenges and opportunities associated with transitioning his community to self governance. It’s a wide-ranging conversation that touches on numerous topics from commercial fishing to eco-tourism, and a...

Prior to joining the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Experimental Lakes Area in 2014, Dr. Michael Rennie was a research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Since 2015, Dr. Rennie has been a Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries and Assistant Professor at Lakehead University, where he continues to maintain a strong research program at the IISD Ex...

Peter Krahn  is the President of Genesis Environmental Sciences and the brains behind the innovative River Trap selective fish sampling and water testing mobile platform. Peter joins Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio show podcast to provide an up-date on the latest River Trap developments and testing underway throughout British Columbia. Find out why a number of First Nations communities are...

Jérôme Marty is the Executive Director of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR). The IAGLR is about to hold their 68th international conference and it couldn’t come at a more crucial time. Jerome speaks with Lawrence Gunther on The Blue Fish Radio show podcast about the importance of Canada and U.S. scientists meeting and collaborating on issues specific to understanding a...

Rovert Pye is the Executive Director of Watersheds Canada and Lawrence Gunther’s guest once again on the Blue Fish Radio show podcast. Fresh off the first National Watersheds Conference Robert and Lawrence discuss highlights of the event and why the Conference needs to become an annual event to both educate stakeholders and facilitate the collaboration needed to strengthen shoreline resilience and...

Dr. Cristina Charette,  Research Scientist & Education Coordinator with the St. Lawrence River Institute for Environmental Science is Lawrence’s guest on The Blue Fish radio show. Find out how gobies have evolved over the past 20- years in the St. Lawrence River, their favorite habitat and food, how they have impacted ecosystems, how different predatory fish have adopted goby as their preferre...