In this episode, we sit down with Briony Venn, the Marine Campaign Organizer at the Bob Brown Foundation in Tasmania, Australia. Over 500,000 tonnes of Antarctic krill are harvested every year to make products that even the industry's biggest player has begun replacing with a plant-based version. Briony is working to end it.
Krill, Euphausia superba, is the keystone species of the Southern Ocean. Whales, penguins, seals, and seabirds all depend on it. Yet krill biomass has declined by up to seventy percent in the last fifty years due to climate change, and the fishery is being expanded against that collapsing baseline. Briony unpacks the industry's misleading "less than one percent" claim, the role of certification bodies like the Marine Stewardship Council, and the campaign strategies her coalition is using to fight back.
Before joining the Bob Brown Foundation, Briony left a career at Accenture to move into marine campaigning, first at Greenpeace UK and now in Tasmania. Her story is a reminder that anyone who cares about the ocean and decides to dedicate themselves to its protection can figure out a path to do so.
This episode also includes a bonus conversation with Captain Paul Watson, who walks us through Operation Krill Wars, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation's and Sea Shepherd France's recent direct intervention against industrial krill trawlers in the Southern Ocean. He also highlights the European Parliament's subsequent motion for a five-year moratorium on the krill fishery.
Support the Show
Mentioned in This Episode:
Briony Venn on LinkedIn
Bob Brown Foundation: bobbrown.org.au
SwisseKrills Campaign: swissekrills.org
Captain Paul Watson Foundation: paulwatsonfoundation.org
Sea Shepherd: seashepherd.org
Greenpeace: greenpeace.org
Blue Marine Foundation: bluemarinefoundation.com
Aker BioMarine: akerbiomarine.com
Swisse: swisse.com.au
National Geographic: nationalgeographic.com
WWF (World Wildlife Fund): worldwildlife.org
CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources): ccamlr.org
Marine Stewardship Council: msc.org
Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman
How to Speak Whale by Tom Mustill
Definitely check out the documentary, Ocean with David Attenborough
If you want to support the podcast or learn what more you can do to help save the ocean, visit reef-scuba.org/take-action.
Thanks as always to our Producer, Emily Pokou.
A production of REEF Scuba.
