When we first set foot in Texas to record this podcast, we were cautioned to not say the words “climate change” and to instead describe its effects (like more storms than in years past). But how does our language further fuel climate change acceptance—or denial?

In our 4th and final episode of In Hot Water: Texas, we talk about PEOPLE and the social issues at play.

You’ll hear from academics, farmers, fishers, and activists and their thoughts on climate change and its connection to inequality in the seafood sector, along with the history of social justice (and injustice) in the Gulf.

Ultimately, how do racism, colonialism, white supremacy, and capitalism—systems of oppression—exacerbate the climate emergency?

One thing for sure is that NONE of us should dismiss a state just because of its politics.

We need to fight alongside their marginalized communities. Nor should we ever forget the youth who are set to inherit a planet that is quite literally and figuratively IN HOT WATER.

The time is NOW, friends. The future is in our hands.

Produced by Seaworthy and Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE), the “In Hot Water” podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro
• 01:45 Crystal Sanders-Alvarado, founder of Seaworthy, details their journey growing up in the Coastal Bend of Texas that led to a career in fisheries and seafood focused on environmental and social equity. They also share why science must be communicated in ways that are relatable to everyone while not diminishing or avoiding scientific facts.
• 08:04 Let’s talk about the politicization of the term “climate change”—does avoiding the term actually help fuel the denial of climate change?
• 11:55 Colonialism, white supremacy, racism, capitalism, and climate change are undeniably linked, and the only way to address the effects caused by a changing climate is to address these systems of oppression.
• 19:00 Two regional case studies illustrating how these systems of oppression operate in tandem: The fraught history of Vietnamese American shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico who were falsely blamed for the declining shrimp fishery and Diane Wilson, the fourth-generation shrimper, who fought for decades against Formosa Plastics, the company whose plastic production and subsequent pollution of the bays is a real contributor to the decline of the Gulf’s fisheries
• 25:50 Don't discount the American South—why those of us with the most privileged identities should engage with, and not avoid, conservative states
• 32:24 Evelyn James, an eleven-year-old ocean advocate and author, explains her love of the ocean and her observations of a warming planet
• 35:26 Suraida Nañez-James, Evelyn’s mother, shares the origin of the Gulf of Mexico Youth Climate Summit and some of the amazing projects the participants are doing to advance climate solutions
• 42:42 It is important to engage youth in addressing climate change. Here’s what we can learn from them
• 47:51 How to cope with the eco-anxiety and remain hopeful in the face of these global challenges
• 49:44 Evelyn ends our series with her hopes for the future and her Gulf Story

Resources:

1. Watch Dr. Rupa Marya’s presentation, Health and Justice: The Path of Liberation through Medicine, presented at the Bioneer’s Conference. The graph by Dr. Marya is below.
2. Check out the following books referenced in the podcast! Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice, An Unreasonable Woman, Captain Paws, and The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast.
3. Recommend this series to anyone who is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood producing regions.

We can’t talk about Texas—and its seafood ecosystem—without mentioning oil and gas in the region.

In the second episode of In Hot Water: Texas, we learn about the current (and future!) oil and gas development and hotly debated alternative energy sources like wind farms, along with the far-reaching impacts of agricultural runoff.

How do these things affect ocean mammals, fishing communities, and local people all along the coast? When does sargassum—a type of brown seaweed—start to threaten marine life? And what does a winemaker tending to her vineyard think about the connection between her soil and the water of the Gulf?

Produced by Seaworthy and Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE), the “In Hot Water” podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro
• 01:53 Oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico—we start with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010
• 07:46 The opposite of “leave no trace:” Many Texans denounce the decommissioning of oil platforms in certain instances as they have come to enjoy some unintended benefits the platforms provide.
• 13:41 What do some Texans think of wind farms in the Gulf?
• 17:17 When it comes down to it, a lot of the discussion around decommissioning of oil rigs and wind farm siting in Gulf waters is a discussion around access to the Gulf: who has it and what is their responsibility to the Gulf and the coastal communities in the Gulf states and countries?
• 20:00 Recreational fisheries in the Gulf are an important and powerful voice.
• 23:38 Jennifer Pollack, professor and endowed chair for Coastal Conservation and Restoration at the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi and featured throughout this episode, discusses the reliance of the Gulf’s bay systems on river water to maintain an ecological balance. Yet regional and national agricultural production are affecting that delicate balance!
• 25:57 Sargassum, what it is and how its proliferation due to warming waters is affecting the Gulf
• 27:44 What goes well with seafood? WINE! Tiffany Farrell, winemaker at Haak Winery and a trained hydrological scientist, takes us on a journey of wine making in the region and how the effects of climate change can be catastrophic to the state’s vineyards and wine production.
• 37:09 How Tiffany balances growing a healthy and productive agricultural crop on the coast while minimizing the potential for agricultural runoff into the Gulf

Resources:

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood producing regions.

The first episode of In Hot Water: Texas takes us to the Shrimporee—a festival in Aransas Pass, the self-proclaimed “Shrimp Capital of Texas”!

But the shrimp fishery has been in decline for many years due to a variety of reasons: the influx of imported shrimp, extreme weather, habitat degradation, along with the high cost of doing business.

Finally, there are labor issues, which are not unique to the shrimp fishery and are experienced throughout the entire U.S. fishing sector—especially a declining interest in the industry among younger generations.

There’s no quick-fix for seafood harvesters in the Gulf, but climate solutions do exist. From encouraging species diversification to actively involving frontline communities, there are changemakers leading a new path for seafood in Texas.

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the “In Hot Water” podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro
• 00:49 The birth of In Hot Water, a Climate and Seafood Podcast
• 03:34 Roland Rodriguez, from the Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce, walks us through the history of the self-proclaimed “Shrimp Capital of Texas” and its 75 year old festival celebrating all things shrimp, the Shrimporee!
• 08:11 Crystal Sanders-Alvarado breaks down the decline of the Gulf of Mexico’s shrimp fishery as it relates to climate change. Despite a popular yet unfounded belief, Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) are not the sole reason.
• 13:16 Regina Garcia Peña, owner and CEO of Philly Seafood and a second generation shrimp producer, shares the challenges facing the Gulf’s shrimp industry
• 23:09 Regina reflects on her life as a woman in seafood and recounts the incredible story of how her father and mother built the family business
• 29:11 Liz Smith, formerly of the International Crane Foundation, describes Texas’ unique coast and the habitat degradation the area is experiencing
• 31:24 Suraida Nañez-James, CEO and founder of the Gulf Reach Institute, recounts another challenge in the region’s seafood production: the youth aren’t interested
• 33:40 Gail Sutton, director for operations for Palacios Marine Agricultural Research, is providing an alternate career choice for shrimpers: oyster farming
• 36:31 Addressing food waste—in our case, seafood waste—is a climate solution. Alyssa Lopez of Gulf of Mexico Ike Jime walks us through Ike Jime, a method of dispatching fish that keeps a high quality product fresher for longer
• 39:32 Ultimately, solutions to the climate crisis must involve the community andbe community-sourced

Resources:

1. Citations:
   1. https://bit.ly/3xhdaCd
   2. https://bit.ly/4cDE8US
   3. https://bit.ly/3VD6ZSZ
   4. https://bit.ly/3TEUrYA
2. Recommend this series to anyone who is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood producing regions.

Turns out the whooping crane can tell you a WHOLE LOT about the health of our waters—including our seafood!

That’s why the endangered whooping crane, along with oyster farming and blue crabs, get the spotlight in our 3rd episode of In Hot Water: Texas.

With world class experts, we dig deep into wild oyster and reef restoration, oyster mariculture (btw, Texas was the LAST state to legalize it!), and the concept of a “living shoreline.”

Speaking of living, the whooping crane is dependent on blue crabs for survival. Economically, the blue crab is the most important crab species in Texas and is the third most valuable fishery behind oyster and shrimp, having been part of the fishing culture since the 1800s (if not earlier).

So how can all three survive—if not thrive—in the era of the climate crisis? Let’s talk about it!

Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the “In Hot Water” podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.

Episode Transcript

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro

• 02:18 Oysters—the superfood that does it all!

• 04:12 Jennifer Pollack of the Harte Research Institute walks us through their oyster recycling program, taking spent oyster shells from restaurants and putting them back into places in dire need of reef restoration

• 05:42 Oyster are little water treatment plants and their shells are the perfect product

• 11:16 Do oysters sequester carbon?

• 14:51 What’s a “living shoreline” and what does it mean for wild oyster restoration?

• 18:28 You can’t just put structure in water and expect it to turn into a reef teeming with oysters. As Gail Sutton explains, you have to “think like an oyster.”

• 26:12 Texas was the LAST state to legalize oyster mariculture

• 28:44 While wild and farmed oysters face many of the same challenges due to climate change, farmed oysters have some advantages

• 31:36 The current state of oyster farming in Texas (Hint: it’s mission critical.)

• 35:57 Whooping cranes are another critically important and endangered animal in the region. Liz Smith share the history of their decline over the last century

• 38:26 How do wind farms affect cranes?

• 42:44 With ten of the world's 15 crane species facing extinction, Liz walks us through the challenges and the innovations that will meet them to support cranes facing extinction.

• 50:30 The reliance of whooping cranes on the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus—which means "savory, beautiful swimmer”—has been documented since at least the 1930s. Liz details the importance of the blue crab for cranes and the region, how crabs reproduce, and the actions management agencies are taking to safeguard the species. The blue crab is the third most valuable fishery (behind oyster and shrimp) and has been part of the fishing culture since at least the 1800s!

Resources:

1. 1. Recommend this series to anyone who is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood producing regions.