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This week I feel extremely grateful to sit down with Kristin Hoel, a project manager in the East Coast Whale Entanglement Mitigation Program for Ocean Watch Australia AND one of my closest friends. Kristin works to balance both fishers livelihoods and humpback whale conservation outcomes, describing the constant jigsaw puzzle of human-wildlife conflicts.  

She shares with us about her work with a cohort of fishers to advance sustainable fishing gear and the unique opportunities for Australian commercial fishers. We discuss a range of topics regarding her work including the bias that fishers face, working with whale conservationists, fishery certification schemes, and stakeholder engagement.

In the second half of the episode we shift towards Kristin herself and her journey to her present role that she values deeply. She reflects on switching from pre-med to marine biology (in Wisconsin), roadtripping around the USA to figure out why she couldn’t land an internship, her experience in Australia during COVID at James Cook University, and now working as a marine biologist. I really loved our discussion on dealing with burnout and balancing life and purpose-driven career towards the end of this episode.

RESOURCES:

The social complexities of shark depredation

Seaspiracy critique
Marine Stewardship Council Certification 

Connect with Kristin:
@ofwildseas

HIGHLIGHTS:

6:48 - How the growing humpback whale population poses challenges for the set gear fishing industries

13:27 - “They are on the water every day, they are the ones who are out there way more frequently than researchers, whale watching boats, a lot of conservationists.”

18:44 - “Finding these ways to facilitate conservations with them because at the end of the day they dont want to be entangling whales just as much as anyone else doesnt want to see an entangled whale

23:28 - The differing issue between fisheries and humpback whale entanglement in Australia versus in the North American lobster fishery and right whales

30:00 - What are some of the good and bad aspects of fishery certification schemes?

37:24 - We’re really promoting whale conservation but at the same time we’re also promoting conserving these fisheries and trying to say okay well what are ways that we can look towards coexistence”  

38:10 - “I really value having like good conversations and discussions with people who dont necessarily agree with me. 

41:00 how Kristin got her start in marine biology

46:28 “we’re in a terrible time in our history that people just dont get back to you if they dont want you” 

58:30 “Wow…I think i’ver really found what excited me in this field” 

1:05:38 “How do you stay grounded, how do oyu prevent burn out, what boundaries have you learned from your work?”

1:12:20 “What are you most proud of from the work you’ve done over the last few years?”

?? “I’m really proud of recognizing when I was so burnout that I needed to quit my job, even though I was two months away from my contract… No job is worth your mental health. At the end of the day you don’t really owe them your soul.”

1:21:38 - Rapid Fire Questions

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