We Are In a Salmon Crisis

In the Arctic, salmon is more than a fish. It's food, connection, culture and identity. In this episode, we travel to the Deatnu River on the border of northern Norway and Finland in Sápmi, where declining Atlantic salmon stocks have led to fishing bans and disagreement on how to move forward in the future. We speak to a fisher from Alaska, where declining salmon stocks in rivers there raise similar questions about food security and what it means when the very foundation of a culture is in crisis.

Through the voices of local fishers and a scientist, we explore the ongoing salmon crisis in the Arctic and what food security and food sovereignty mean in practice. You'll learn about why some salmon species are rapidly declining, new invasive species on the rise and how measures to conserve them have upended the foundation of communities. You'll also learn about different cultures' connections with salmon, how Indigenous Peoples are adapting to new realities and why management decisions can't be made on science alone. This is a story about knowledge, identity and building bridges that raises the question - how do you manage a river and species in crisis, and who gets to decide the future?

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.