Ocean Calls

Will there ever be more fish in the sea? Almost 90% of all marine fish stocks globally are now fully exploited or overfished, according to a study from the World Bank. In the Mediterranean region alone, more than 40% of marine mammals and a third of the total fish population have been lost in just half a century.However, there does appear to be some hope for the future of the fishing industry, as new rules come into force. To learn more about the new European regulations concerning overfishing, listen to the full episode of Ocean Calls in the player above.In this episode of Ocean Calls, we're diving deep into this controversial issue and seeking solutions to help fish stocks recover. We hear from Daniel Voces, managing director of Europêche, which represents the fishery industry in the EU, and Louis Lambrechts, European Ocean Policy officer at WWF. At the end of the episode, you’ll also hear from Sy Montgomery, an award-winning author and naturalist. You won’t want to miss her story about the time she met and bonded with Athena, a giant Pacific octopus. Follow these links to read more about our guests:Daniel Voces, Managing Director of EuropêcheLouis Lambrechts, the European Ocean Policy officer at WWFOcean Tale from Sy Montgomery, an award-winning author and naturalistHosted by Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks. Produced by Naira Davlashyan and Natalia Oelsner.The production coordinator is Carolyne Llabe.  The sound editing is by Jean-Christophe Marcaud and sound mixing is by Matthieu Duchaine. Our editor-in-chief is Sophie Claudet.Ocean Calls is produced in partnership with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

In this episode of Ocean Calls, we hear from the people behind the fish on your plate. Small-scale fisheries make up the backbone of our coastal communities, yet they are often overlooked despite their crucial role in Europe's fishing industry.We’ll learn about the importance of these often family-run businesses from Jeremy Percy,  the Executive Director at Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE), as well as the role of women in the industry from Anna Carlson is the Fishery Officer for Livelihoods at the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. We’ll also hear from Thomas Højrup, a Danish ethnologist, who’s battling to save small-scale fisheries in the Nordic nation from extinction - via the medium of traditional boat building. At the end of this episode, you’ll learn Jasmine Harrison explain how she made an unusual friend while swimming the full length of the British isles from Lands End to John o’Groats in 2022. She’s a British adventurer with a couple of world records on her mantlepiece who, somehow, managed to befriend a whale. Follow these links to read more about our guests:Jeremy Percy, Executive Director at Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE)Anna Carlson, the Fishery Officer for Livelihoods at the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions of the Food and Agriculture OrganisationThomas Højrup, Danish ethnologistOcean Tale from British adventurer Jasmine HarrisonHosted by Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks. Produced by Naira Davlashyan and Natalia Oelsner.The production coordinator is Carolyne Llabe.  The sound editing is by Jean-Christophe Marcaud and sound mixing is by Matthieu Duchaine. Our editor-in-chief is Sophie Claudet.Ocean Calls is produced in partnership with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Despite strict regulations already in place, a 2021 study conducted by a major news outlet discovered that some 38% of seafood in Europe is mislabeled.That means that many restaurants and shops are selling much cheaper options than advertised at a far higher cost to the consumer.In this episode of Ocean Calls, we're embarking on an eye-opening journey to explore the origins of the seafood on our plates. We will also dive into new EU regulations implemented to improve seafood traceability and what still needs to be done to ameliorate this situation.At the end of this episode, you’ll learn about the mind-blowing practice of pole and line tuna fishing in Indonesia - as well as getting some invaluable tips for how to cook fresh fish from top Dutch chef Bart Van Olphen.Follow these links to read more about our guests:Vanya Vulperhorst, Europe Campaign Director at OceanaFrancois Mosnier, head of Ocean Programme at Planet TrackerOcean Tale from Dutch chef Bart van OlphenHosted by Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks. Produced by Naira Davlashyan and Natalia Oelsner.The production coordinator is Carolyne Llabe.  The sound editing is by Jean-Christophe Marcaud and sound mixing is by Matthieu Duchaine. Our editor-in-chief is Sophie Claudet.In this episode, we used extracts from reports from CBS Evening News on 11 Sept 2016 and The Wall Street Journal on 5 Aug 2016.Ocean Calls is produced in partnership with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Imagine if policymakers, businesses, and society had access to a virtual twin copy of our oceans to explore? This AI tool could be used to simulate realistic what-if scenarios based on scientific knowledge.Would that help protect and restore our oceans by enabling better decision-making? And what kinds of questions could it help us to answer?In this episode of Ocean Calls, we will discuss the EU's Digital Twin of the Ocean, known as the DTO. This European initiative aims to create an artificial intelligence-fueled representation of the seas. It’s expected to be accessible to the public in 2024.We’ll explore what the DTO is and examine how it can aid in combating plastic pollution, saving endangered species like marine turtles, and protecting our harbours from meteotsunamis.At the end of the episode, you’ll hear from Sex Education and Karen Pirie star Chris Jenks about his adventures growing up on an island in Scotland. Follow these links to read more about our guests:Joanna Staneva, Head of Hydrodynamics and Data Assimilation at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon research centreSimon Van Gennip, oceanographer at Mercator Ocean InternationalPhilippe Gaspar, senior scientist at Mercator Ocean InternationalJoaquin Tintore, head of Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System Vincent Pieriborne, co-CEO of OceanXOcean Tale from Chris Jenks, British actor and producerHosted by Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wiks. Produced by Naira Davlashyan and Natalia Oelsner.The production coordinator is Carolyne Llabe.  The sound editing is by Jean-Christophe Marcaud and the sound mixing is by Matthieu Duchaine. Our editor-in-chief is Sophie Claudet.In this episode, we include extracts from Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola commercials, as well as a scene from Star Trek (Season 1, Episode 1).Ocean Calls is produced in partnership with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Called "ticking time bombs," millions of tonnes of unexploded munitions and other relics of WWII lie at the bottom of all our European seas. In an attempt to demilitarise Europe, around 40,000 tonnes of chemical weapons were dumped into the Baltic Sea alone, according to HELCOM.Today, the war in Ukraine is threatening the Black Sea once again, exacerbating an already complicated situation.In this episode of Ocean Calls, Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks and his guests will discuss the complicated legacy of WWII and explore whether we can help save the Black Sea or at least make future clean-up efforts a bit easier to manage.At the end of the episode, you’ll hear a mysterious tale of the oldest and best-preserved shipwreck ever found, thanks to the unique properties of the Black Sea.Follow these links to read more about our guests:Jens Greinert, head of the Deep Sea Monitoring Research Unit at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in KielMarkus Helavuori, professional secretary at the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM)Mikhail Son, deputy director of the Institute of Marine Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of UkraineViktor Komorin, head of the Ukrainian Scientific Centre for Marine EcologyRodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz, maritime archaeologist at The National Museum of the Royal Navy and The Black Sea MAP projectOcean Calls is produced in partnership with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

On April 4, Ocean Calls is back for another season. This time, we’ll talk about the environmental catastrophe in the Black Sea, help you trace where your seafood comes from, and explore how AI can offer insights into everything from the pathways of plastic pollution to the lives of teenage turtles.We also have some touching, personal tales from ocean lovers like Sex Education star Chris Jenks and fresh-fish-obsessed Dutch chef Bart Van Olphen. Stay with us as we debate with experts, break down the science, and explain EU policies and action.Created in partnership with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and hosted by Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks.

How should the sea sound? And how does it sound if you're a fish, a dolphin or a shrimp? What are the noises made by marine animals? What are the impacts of sounds made by humans travelling across the oceans, diving deep to mine for resources, or even waging war across the water? In this episode, we hear what a happy coral reef sounds like, how Russia's war in Ukraine is hurting dolphin ears, and why slowing down ships could change everything for underwater acoustics.  And at the end, we've put together an ocean sounds quiz. Guests of this episode are: Nicolas Entrup, Director for International Relations at Ocean Care. Pavel Goldin, Leading Researcher at the Department of Evolutionary Morphology, Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology in Kyiv, Ukraine. Kirsten Thompson, population biologist at the University of Exeter in the UK. Timothy Lamont, marine biologist at Lancaster Environment Centre in the UK.Special thank you to Reef Pulse, the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, Tim Lamont and his colleagues Ben Williams from University College London, Eric Parmentier from the University of Liege and Steve Simpson from the University of Bristol for letting us use their underwater recordings in this episode.Hosted by Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks. Produced by Naira Davlashyan and Natalia Oelsner.Sound design and mixing are by Jean-Christophe Marcaud and Matthieu Duchaine.  The theme music is by Gabriel Dalmasso. Our production coordinator is Carolyne Labbe and our editor-in-chief is Sophie Claudet. The Ocean Calls podcast is made possible by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Fishing is believed to be one of the oldest professions in the world, with evidence of this activity dating back to prehistoric times.According to the European Commission, in 2018 more than 150,000 people worked in the fishing industry in the European Union, but this number is declining. An ageing workforce, lack of investment, safety concerns, and sustainability challenges are just some of the difficulties that this sector is facing. In this episode, Euronews science reporter, Jeremy Wilks, discusses the future of European fishing communities with Anna Carlson, Fishery Officer for Socio-economic Issues at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. Our second guest is Esben Sverdrup-Jensen, President of the European Association of Fish Producers Organisations.And at the end of the episode, Captain Peter Hammarstedt, the Director of Campaigns for Sea Shepherd, shares a personal and moving story of saving a pilot whale. Thanks to Melvin van der Niet and Ton van Duijn from the STC scheepvaart en transport college, in Katwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands, and to Vicente Alfonso, from Gandia in Valencia, Spain, for talking to us about their experience as fishermen. Hosted by Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks. Produced by Naira Davlashyan and Natalia Oelsner.Sound design and mixing are by Jean-Christophe Marcaud and Matthieu Duchaine.  The theme music is by Gabriel Dalmasso. Our production coordinator is Carolyne Labbe and our editor-in-chief is Sophie Claudet. The Ocean Calls podcast is made possible by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.