David Abel, "Lobster War"

October 4, 2020

Changing water temps have created a new boom on the border

On this episode, Peter and Tyler dive deeper into the changes facing the Maine lobster fishery by welcoming David Abel to the show. Peter and Tyler were introduced to David and his film "Lobster War," which tells the story of the border dispute between the US and Canada in waters rich with lobster, at the International Ocean Film Festival earlier in the month.

David is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who covers fisheries and environmental issues for The Boston Globe. Abel’s work has also won an Edward R. Murrow Award, the Ernie Pyle Award from the Scripps Howard Foundation, and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Feature Reporting. He co-directed and produced “Sacred Cod,” a film about the collapse of the iconic cod fishery in New England, which was broadcast by the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2017. He also directed and produced two films about the Boston Marathon bombings, which were broadcast to national and international audiences, on BBC World News, Discovery Life, and Pivot. Before "Lobster War" his made “Gladesmen: The Last of the Sawgrass Cowboys.” Abel was the director, producer, and co-director of photography of "Lobster War."

Show Transcription
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Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.