Samantha Robinson

A FishWise Fellow
Samantha Robinson

Sustainable catch themed Nightlife at Cal Academy? Free admission?! Free drinks tickets?!! SOLD.

Posted in Uncategorized on June 28, 2013 by
Oh my gosh, it's a cheetah! Nope. Chuck Testa. (Photo Credit: www.calacademy.org)

Oh my gosh, it’s a cheetah! Nope. Chuck Testa. (Photo Credit: www.calacademy.org)

A few weeks ago (I know, I know… worst blogger ever) I had the awesome opportunity to attend California Academy of Sciences’ “Sustainable Catch” Nightlife with the FishWise crew. Now, for those of us Bay Area locals, Cal Academy Nightlife if a well known excuse to drink while walking through an indoor rainforest, a kick-ass aquarium, and a hall of taxidermied African animals. Needless to say, it’s at least a once a month occurrence in my humble household. Imagine my surprise and delight when FishWise invited me to come hang out at Nightlife and talk to people about sustainable seafood while hosting a Green, Yellow, Red (GYR)* FishWise themed bean bag toss game (otherwise known as “cornhole” as am told by my more midwestern compatriots). Looooove my job. Thanks FishWise and Cal Academy for the beers, food, and wicked good time.

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FishWise GYR cornhole!

*Ever picked up one of those handy, oh-so-wallet-friendly Seafood Watch cards at the Monterey Bay Aquarium? Then you probably already know that the GYR label corresponds to sustainable (green), good alternative (yellow), and unsustainable (red) seafood choices. For example, while dungeness crab is a best choice “green”, bluefin tuna is a big ole’ “red.”

Remotely FishWise: San Francisco to Santa Cruz

Posted in Uncategorized on May 14, 2013 by
Home made floor desk! Good for the back, bad for when I actually need one of those books to do something besides hold up scarf covered plywood...

Homemade floor desk! Good for the back, bad for when I actually need one of those books to do something other than hold up scarf-covered plywood…

It’s only week two of my CBE fellowship here at FishWise, a non-profit sustainable seafood consultancy, and I’m already a horribly negligent blogger…

Where to begin?!

My project this summer is producing a white paper on social issues in aquaculture and fisheries. I knew my work would involve Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (IUU) fishing and traceability, but working specifically on human rights issues associated with seafood production and processing was a welcome suprise. It’s a completely new focus for FishWise, and it’s awesome being able to break ground where the organization is concerned.

I’m working with Mariah Boyle, the Traceability and IUU Project Director, and I am so, so grateful to have her constantly available via Skype and email for direction and feedback. Fortunately and unfortunately, I’m only down in the Santa Cruz office one or two days a week. The rest of the time I’m working from home in San Francisco. (Cool, because I get to hang out in SF and save rent $$$ by mooching off my gainfully employed boyfriend. Lame, because it means working solo most of the time and commuting 1.5+ hours whenever I want to engage at the office.)

Right now, I’m spending most of my days researching (i.e. either huddled over my computer at my home-made floor desk, or at one of five free wi-fi destinations within walking distance of my house). On Wednesdays, I try to make it down to the Santa Cruz office for the weekly FishWise staff meeting, which is awesome because I get to hear what everyone else is working on. FishWise now consults for everyone from small, independent retailers (such as SF based BiRite) to huge corporations such as Safeway and Target, who are completely revamping their seafood supply chain.

I am so, SO happy I was able to come work with FishWise, and I only see things getting better as my research progresses and I am able to communicate more to FishWise (and to you!) about the sometimes nebulous social and human rights issues associated with seafood production and supply.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Sites DOT MIISThe Middlebury Institute site network.