Lack of connection is the greatest challenge facing our oceans - Lauren Shea

Congratulations to Lauren Shea, the recipient of the 2024 Buck Suzuki Legacy Bursary Award! Originally from Florida, Lauren earned her Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from the University of South Florida and is now pursuing a Master of Science in Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Her research focuses on the fishmeal and fish oil industry — a sector heavily driven by aquaculture, often promoted as a sustainable alternative to overfishing. Lauren's work sheds light on the industry's significant impacts on marine ecosystems, fishing economies, and food security.

Lauren, on her work, and the motivation behind it: 

My earliest memories involve the following: seasickness, slimy hands, and fish blood. It was very important to my parents that my three brothers and I knew where our seafood came from and engaged in the harvesting process. This meant that every weekend was spent fishing or diving. Unfortunately, my young, seasick self, did not always appreciate this sentiment. 

As the seasons changed, so too did the species we were searching for. In the spring, we headed offshore to follow the sargassum trails and catch mahi mahi. In the summer, we held our breaths and collected scallops. In the fall, we stuck our hands under rock ledges and hoped for lobster. Not only were we learning where our seafood came from, but we had a clear understanding of the entire process—maintaining fishing tackle and boats, permits and regulations, searching, catching, taking an animal’s life and processing it for food. This connection to the wild spaces and animals around you is becoming more rare, and I think that this lack of connection is the greatest challenge facing our oceans and fisheries today.  

Throughout my life, I have experienced complete wonder at sea and underwater, but I have also seen massive amounts of change. The lobsters are smaller than I remember as a child, scallops are fewer, and fish have plastic in their bellies. Many people have no idea where the seafood on their table comes from. And the globalization of the seafood trade has made it more and more difficult to trace where it comes from, even if you do want to know. I was made fun of in school, called “the animal killer”, because my family hunted and fished for our meat, but none of my friends were vegetarian either. 

My undergrad was followed by work as a scuba diving instructor, and sailing 40,000 nautical miles around the world. When I returned to school, it was to study fisheries economics. If everyone was convinced that sustainability was bad for the economy, I wanted to figure out why, and how we could change that. I focused my studies on economics, marine resource management, social-ecological systems, and fisheries decline. My thesis research delves into the interactions between wild fisheries and aquaculture. At once proclaimed to be the solution to overfishing, aquaculture is driving the mass extraction of small pelagic fisheries for fishmeal and fish oil that are critically important to humans and ecosystems. 

The fishmeal and fish oil industry is data-poor and teeming with misinformation. Through this research, I spoke with fishers and fishmongers in West Africa about their struggles to compete with the fishmeal industry and their concerns regarding food security and fisheries sustainability. These people had a deep respect for the sea and relied on its health for food. I wondered how many other communities around the world were facing similar issues with fishmeal factories. So, I mapped out the global distribution of the fishmeal and fish oil industry, in order to better understand where the hubs for production are and where we should be investigating the social, environmental, and economic impacts of the industry. 

Throughout my studies so far, I have been fortunate to learn from so many leaders in the field of fisheries and marine science. While attending workshops and conferences, I have gotten to listen to people speak about their deep connections to the lands and waters around them. I regained hope in humanity's ability to reconnect with nature. But we must go further. I believe that communities that have stewarded their lands and waters for long periods of time should lead. Traditional ecological knowledge, coupled with science, can solve the many issues our oceans are facing. When we reconnect with the natural world and see ourselves within it, rather than outside of it, we may begin tackling ocean issues with greater success.