The Catch Foreign Policy

Host Ruxandra Guidi heads to northern Norway to get a firsthand look at one of the country’s top fisheries: cod. Joined by northern Norway native and co-reporter Eskild Johansen, Guidi hears from local fishermen and stakeholders in the port city of Kirkenes, as it closes port access to Russian fishing trawlers. And we hear from policy experts on a decades-old cooperation agreement between Russia and Norway as it’s being tested like never before.
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On this episode of The Catch, we kick things off with a British staple: fish and chips and a visit with chef Nick Martino, owner of Aboveground at DC's Union Market. Then we hear how this iconic dish led to an interstate dispute between Iceland and the U.K. known as the Cod Wars. Host Ruxandra Guidi is joined by historian and Icelandic President Gudni Th. Johannesson, and Mark Kurlansky, the author of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, to hear how the Cod Wars have shaped our oceans to this day.
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On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and co-reporter Eskild Johansen hear firsthand how northern Norway’s oldest fishing communities have dealt with cod fishery collapses in the past. These communities weren’t the only ones facing “cod crashes.” Fisheries supply chain expert Jim Cannon then joins Guidi to share how he worked directly with business partners and stakeholders in the ‘80s and early ‘90s to improve sourcing and save cod fisheries from further collapse.
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On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and co-reporter Eskild Johansen hear how economics of fishing shapes Norways identity, and vice versa. The two explore the impact of fish farms and visit places where the burgeoning industry has been welcomed and others where it's been shunned. The episode also features insight from Norwegian aquaculture researcher Irja Vormedal.
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Making sure that fish stocks are healthy–and that fishers can keep on making a living–is no simple task. On this episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and co-reporter Eskild Johansen hear from local fishermen on how they have to be just as aware of political winds, as they do bad weather. And then Guidi hears from Chief Sustainability Officer Sergey Sennikov and Konstantin Drevetnyak, head of the Russian Union of Northern Fishermen, on how they work to meet the demands of the Russian-Norway cod fishery agreement.
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What can the Arctic region tell us about fisheries conflicts in the future? On our final episode of The Catch, host Ruxandra Guidi and co-reporter Eskild Johansen head to the island of Svalbard to see how geopolitical tensions between Russia and Norway are playing out firsthand. Guidi is then joined by former U.S. diplomat Evan Bloom to hear how diplomacy and cooperation have shaped the Arctic region.
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