Right Whales v. Lobstermen: NOAA Responds to Lobstermen Leaving Right Whale Recovery Team

October 4, 2020

Part 2 is coming up, when we interview the Lobstermen

On this episode, Peter and Tyler speak with Dr. Michael Asaro, Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Group Lead at NOAA Fisheries. The subject of discussion is NOAA's effort to safe the North Atlantic Right Whale, of which only some 400 individuals are living. They discuss the current state of the whale, what NOAA is doing to save the species, and the current political situation with the Maine Lobstermen's Association, who just announced last week that they were leaving the recovery implementation team. This is the Part 1 or a two part series on the politics of the Right Whale. Part 2 will feature a voice from the Lobstermen.

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.