The Catch

To close out Season 7 of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and her reporting team examine what’s to come as Jamaica works to rebuild after Hurricane Melissa devastated the coastline in 2025. But the answer to build a more resilient island will require thinking and acting holistically. They speak with private-sector representatives, environmentalists, and local fishermen alike to see how working together can help safeguard the island they all call home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hurricanes have become a part of life in Jamaica—with disastrous consequences. In response, the country’s government has made a vow to improve the country’s resilience and spread consciousness about climate change, but what does that look like? To find out, The Catch’s reporting team speaks with Matthew Samuda, the Jamaican cabinet minister leading climate, environment, and sustainable development policy. Then, they learn how mangrove forests might be a key buffer to protect the coastlines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jamaica has become a major vacation destination, selling an image of pristine waters and untouched beaches. But the demands of tourism often go against the needs of the local ecosystem. To better understand how natural and human factors are impacting Jamaica’s reefs, host Ruxandra Guidi talks with Chauntelle Parkins, the chief scientist at the Port Royal Marine Laboratory. Then, a hotel worker-turned-activist shares his experience fighting for a better future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Season 7 of The Catch, host Rux Guidi and her reporting team head to Jamaica to see firsthand how the country is rebuilding from Hurricane Melissa with natural tools that promote coastal resilience. These nature-based solutions, such as seagrass and mangroves, routinely support better outcomes after severe storms, particularly as Jamaica, and other coastal communities around the world, face increasingly volatile hurricane seasons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The Catch, Rux and the reporting team head to the island of Tetepare, in the western Solomons, to speak to park rangers tasked with protecting local marine life. Much of their work on the island is focused on combating poachers, with insufficient support from the government. Despite these challenges, as one ranger put it, “we still continue to survive.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Ruxandra Guidi and the reporting team meet with descendants of climate refugees who arrived in the Solomon Islands in the 1960s from the atolls of Kiribati. This community, like many others across the Solomon Islands, continues to grapple with climate-fueled changes today. According to Alec Hughes, a coastal and marine management expert based in Munda, Solomon Islanders are witnessing changes in their local environment, and fish stocks that make it clear "that there’s a lot more fishers out there and there’s a lot of demand for fish.” Munda tribal chief John Pina shares Hughes’s concern as he notes that he, too, is observing a shift away from the cultural norms and traditional practices that have shaped his community for centuries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To kick off Season 6 of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and her reporting team head to the Solomon Islands to hear about this Pacific island nation’s deep connection to the ocean. First, the team heads to Honiara’s fish market to hear firsthand from local fishers, processors, and sellers. Then they head to the Solomon Islands National Museum to speak with one of the museum’s archaeologists, Ruben Sangegeo, on the cultural and historical significance of fishing for these islands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Catch hosted a live podcast taping at the United Nations’ third annual Ocean Conference in Nice, France. Moderator Philippe Cousteau was joined by former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Special Envoy for the Ocean Peter Thomson to discuss diplomacy’s importance to our ocean. Our panelists followed this discussion by looking closely at the challenges and successes of the tuna fishery in the Pacific Islands, the focus for our next season. Our panelists were Filimon Manoni, the Pacific Ocean commissioner for the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat; Chris Dorsett, the vice president of conservation for Ocean Conservancy; Kristin Kleisner, the lead senior scientist and senior director for oceans at the Environmental Defense Fund; and Paolo Domondon, the chief program and policy officer for Global Fishing Watch. And stay tuned for Season 6 of The Catch, coming to you later this summer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a region characterized by high unemployment, food insecurity, and depleted fish stocks, many fishers are forced to migrate. The fishmeal plants dotting the coast have only exacerbated these existing problems, economist Rashid Sumaila notes, saying that “overfishing would still be an issue in West Africa without the plants. But the plants make them worse.” On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and her reporting partners look into the migration crisis. Senegalese reporter Borso Tall shares her reporting from a village in the region of St. Louis directly impacted by a fishmeal plant. And Sumaila sits down with Guidi to share his take.We want to hear what The Catch means to you! Reach out to us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Foreign fleets off the Gambia’s shore are straining local fish stocks by “coming in at night and fishing illegally,” Sanyang fisher Alagie Gasama says. And the lack of enforcement, or even political will, by the government leaves these fishing communities to struggle on their own. On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi continues her journey along the Gambian coast by hearing directly from the fishers, processors, and local officials navigating these changes in their fish stocks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Small pelagic fish off the West African coast are being scooped up in large numbers and ground into a product called fishmeal. This fishmeal is then used to support animal production and aquafarms around the world. How is this industry impacting local fishers? And what does this mean for the global supply chain? Host Ruxandra Guidi partners with Gambian reporter Mustapha Manneh to look at fishmeal production in both the Gambia and Senegal for Season 5 of The Catch. Other voices in this episode include Sally Yozell, Senior Fellow and Director of the Environmental Security program at the Stimson Center and Dr. Ensa Touray, a historian at the University of The Gambia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This past week, Foreign Policy magazine hosted a live taping on Marine Protected Areas at the United Nations General Assembly. This discussion was moderated by Matt Rand, Senior Director of Marine Habitat Protection at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Joining Matt on the stage was: Monica Medina, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. She’s currently a distinguished fellow at Conservation International. Joel Johnson is the President and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Editrudith Lukanga is the Founder of EMEDO, an organization that supports small-scale fisheries in Tanzania and she currently leads the Secretariat of the African Women Fish-workers Network. And Jim Leape is the Co-Director and William and Eva Price Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices