Watch the Network's Inaugural Waterside Chat with Linda Behnken

The Network’s new Waterside Chat online discussion series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. In each edition, Network Deputy Director Tom Sadler talks with guests about current ocean policy and fisheries management topics and what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life. Join the Network’s email list to learn about future Waterside Chat sessions.

In our first Waterside Chat on January 21, 2022, Tom spoke with Linda Behnken, who has fished the waters off Alaska her entire adult life. She is executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and co-chair of the Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Policy Council. The Network’s Deputy Director Tom Sadler talked with Linda about her experience fishing in Alaska, her work with ALFA and her thoughts on the impact of climate change on fisheries management and fishing communities.

Watch the video below to learn:

Why policy discussions should not be climate vs. jobs, but instead about climate AND jobs.
Why Alaska is ground zero for climate change, and what Linda recommends the Biden administration do to ensure climate policy keeps pace with the changes she sees all around her.
How shifting fish stocks are impacting Alaska’s Indigenous cultures and economies.
How Linda’s sons are becoming part of the next generation of fishermen, and what ALFA and others are doing to ensure they carry the conservation torch and have a prosperous commercial fishing future.
And much more.