This podcast is for anyone who is interested in the most important thing in the world.
Water.
In this podcast we will explore a bunch of different global problems that may not come to mind when you think about water, but they most certainly boil down to how we use this precious resource. We will talk to experts and figure out all the secrets about water, it’s uses, and the organisms that depend on it.
In season One we cover a huge range of water issues ranging from ghost fishing, fish fraud, to how climate change affects locust plagues across Africa, and plastics in the ocean.
Episodes will begin to be released on World Water Day March 22nd. Story telling episodes will be released every monday. Our full length interviews with experts will be released as special "Deep Dive" episodes throughout the week.
The Aquatic Bisophere Project The ABP is establishing a conservation Aquarium in the Prairies to help tell the Story of Water.
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David Evans:
Water we doing? And how can we do better? your one stop shop for everything water related. From discussing wate, it's use and the organisms that depend on it. For all the global issues that you really never knew all had to do with water. I'm your host, David Evans from the Aquatic Biosphere Project, and I just want to ask you something. What are we doing? How can we do better? I'm so excited to go on this journey with you as we learn all about how locusts plagues in Africa and Asia, are linked to ghost fishing in our oceans, with desalination and how we can get fresh water from seawater, how fish fraud is happening right here in Canada underneath our noses, and how we can look at sewage to understand where COVID-19 has gotten to. There's so many interesting questions that all have to do with this one topic, and I'm so excited to talk to experts and share what we learn with all of you listening. We are so excited to be launching our first episodes on March 22nd World Water Day. Our first season will be 10 episodes long. Every Monday, we will have a storytelling episode about a new complex water issue and then throughout the week to tide you over to our next episode, we will be releasing our special deep dive episodes, which are full length interviews with the experts. What's that? You can't wait, here's a quick Sneak Peek!
Dr. Steve Hrudey, Canadian Water Network:
It was demonstrated early on in the case of COVID that we could detect the virus that causes COVID-19 in feces, and therefore we would expect to find it in sewage. The idea of being able to collect a single sample for an entire community that might tell you something useful, compared with having to try and sample everybody clinically in that community. You know, you don't need to be a mathematician to figure out that there's a lot fewer analyses involved!
Christina Callegari, Seachoice:
In 2017 7% was mislabeled. The species that are mislabeled are sold in like such big quantities. So if you think about like 7% of what sold in Canada it's actually a lot of seafood. Some species have been found to be mislabeled 100% of the time, or you know, over 50%
David Evans:
That's crazy.
Christina Callegari, Seachoice:
Yeah, it is. It's it's pretty shocking.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Dalhousie University:
The most challenging thing about food fraud is to understand where the problem is. food supply chains are very complicated. A lot of people may actually decide to blame the retailer or the restaurant or but often that person is not necessarily responsible.
Dr. Keith Cressman, UN FAO:
There was a swarm that was about 35 miles long by about 15 miles wide. So I mean, that's the size of the country of Luxembourg. And that was one single swarm. So that was like covered, the whole area is like covered with locusts. If you just imagine a swarm the size of Manhattan, right? New York City. In one day, that swarm will eat the same amount of food as everybody in California and New York.
Dr. Heather Cooley, The Pacific Institute:
When I say I work in water, often their first question is, well, what about desalination? Clearly, that's the solution! And you know, I can sort of see you know, oceans cover about 70% of the earth's surface. But there are major drawbacks that really limit widespread use. First, it's expensive. The second, it's energy intensive, and third, it can have some major impacts on the marine environment.
Joel Baziuk, Global Ghost Gear Institute:
Recent studies one on the Great Great Pacific Garbage Patch showed that 46% of what was there by weight was lost fishing year. It's pretty significant. Another study found that 70% by weight of the floating macro plastics or the pieces that are bigger than a couple of millimeters, in various spot checks from around the world, was found to be lost fishing gear, the number that most people will point two when talking about this is 640,000 tons of gear lot every year. Now, that number, it's a big number. It's approximately the equivalent of the mass of twice the Empire State Building.
Ally Stocks, Emerald Sea Protection Society:
There are some really amazing businesses that are creating, you know, skateboards, sunglasses, bathing suits, you name it out of last fishing gear.
Andrew Reeves, Author of "Overrun: Dispatches from the Asian Carp Crisis":
When I first became aware of Asian carp, there were an awful lot of news stories. The focus of it often just seemed to be comical videos of fish jumping out of the water, which makes them unique, but it also makes them this really visceral, you know, indicator that something is wrong. When a boat traveling down a river all of a sudden just results in 1000s of pounds of fish flying through the air at 30-40 kilometers an hour. And these are big fish most of them are usually between 20 and 30 pounds. It sounds like a high school math equation problem you hav e a 30 pound fish flying at you at 40 miles per hour is like how badly will your nose be broken?
Alson Niu, Pontus Proteins:
Since ancient times, humans have been at the mercy of Mother Nature. When crops fail when natural disaster happens we lose all control.
Steve McArthur, Pontus Proteins:
In general, what aquaponics is all about, it's a combination of fish and plants. Most importantly though, it's the the right amount of fish to the right amount of plants. Then there's a third player, the biological engine, nitrifying bacteria that are responsible for converting the effluent from the fish into plant food. So aquaponics in general, is this trifecta of the right amount of fish to the right amount of bacteria to the right amount of plants and to make it all in one ecosystem so that everybody's happy.
Alson Niu, Pontus Proteins:
Our technology revolutionizes agriculture on so many levels, because we have food security, we have biosecurity, it's sustainable, we think that we can change how everyone thinks how food is produced on a natural scale.
Elvisa Vanderladen, Taranaki Regional Councillor:
The threats to little blue penguins, with the warming waters, even just a couple of degrees difference can actually shift food sources further out to sea. Even just a kilometer can have a huge impact on our little blues. They're having to travel further out and burning more energy to try and find their food and they are actually catching it. That's another thing that climate changes is affecting.
David Evans:
If my fridge kept moving a kilometer away, every year it would be brutal! For these stories, and more, please subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss any of our stories. Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram for behind the scenes and sneak peeks of future episodes@whatarewedoingpodcast and be sure to check out our website AquaticBiosphere.ca to find out how we're telling the story of water right here in Alberta, Canada. Get excited for the first episodes of season one of the Water We Doing? podcast starting on World Water Day, March 22nd 2021.
