In Hot Water: How Disappearing Working Waterfronts and Gentrification Impact Seafood Harvesters

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the ocean. 

In this episode of In Hot Water, Maine, we learn about working waterfronts, the importance of their preservation for the future of the state's fisheries, the gentrification of Maine's coastal communities, and how climate change is endangering the physical and mental health of harvesters and their families.

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, changemakers are leading a new path for seafood in Maine

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

Episode Guide

• :00 Intro to In Hot Water, Maine Edition
• 02:01 If fisheries decline, what can be done to keep working waterfronts working?
• 06:21 Covid exacerbated the lack of affordable property in Maine
• 07:00 What the fish? Many of the people we spoke to in this podcast use “gentrification” to describe what is happening with land, housing, and waterfronts. However, the term is frequently used when describing communities of color pushed out by wealthier, generally white, people. We dive deeper into gentrification, colonialism, and the Indigenous context.
• 17:45 Fisheries and working waterfronts have cultural values that can, and should, be measured
• 22:29 The increasing lack of access to the water and waterfronts is affecting the physical and mental health of harvesters, often snowballing into a life, and death, of pain and addiction
• 37:28 Removing barriers to health care will go a long way to support harvesters experiencing mental and physical health crises and substance addiction
• 44:34 What the fish? Everyone deserves access to health care, especially mental health care. We dive deeper into addiction, lack of culturally literate healthcare, and toxic masculinity.

Resources

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