Watch: Waterside Chat with Joel Johnson of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation

Joel Johnson, the President and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, joined the Marine Fish Conservation Network and host Tom Sadler for an online Waterside Chat on September 22, 2023.

The foundation is a leading voice for U.S. protected waters, working with communities to conserve and expand those special places for a healthy ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes. The foundation safeguards species and the places they call home, and preserves America’s maritime history.

Among many other topics, Joel and Tom talked about:

How marine sanctuaries are sources of solutions to conservation and climate problems, not museum pieces.
How sanctuaries historically left out the people and communities around the sanctuary, and how that situation is changing in places like sanctuaries in Hawaii and the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary in California.
How recreational fishing, commercial fishing, boating, kayaking and many more activities continue inside sanctuaries, and how a Great Lakes marine sanctuary essentially saved a coastal town.
Why recreation is the “front door to the whole house,” introducing people to how much there is to learn and experience inside sanctuaries.
How the foundation supports the sanctuary designation process, by helping local communities navigate the process, helps to spreading attention about nominations, convening meetings involving stakeholders and rights-holders and much more.

The Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat series connects people who depend on healthy oceans and fisheries with the issues that directly affect them and their communities. In each episode, the Network’s Deputy Director Tom Sadler talks with different guests about ocean policy and fisheries management topics. He engages them in genuine and thoughtful conversations about what policy decisions mean for people’s livelihoods, communities, recreation, and coastal ways of life.