1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: This is part six of a six part series, the 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: final episode. If you're just joining us, go back and 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: listen to the first five episodes. In this episode, we're 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: going to look at where exactly the crabbers are right 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: now and what this year's season holds. Previously on Drilled. 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 2: We get overextended too. I've done it myself over and 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 2: over again in my career. You know I'm doing it 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 2: right now with the new boat, you know, taking a 9 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 2: big financial risk. So with all this stuff going on, 10 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 2: with whale lawsuits and democass hitting everything else. 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: This is the story of two industries, one struggling to survive, 12 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: the other the most powerful and human history. The outcome 13 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: of their battle may well dictate what path we take 14 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: in dealing with climate change. I'm Amy Westerveld, and this 15 00:00:54,640 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: is Drilled, Season two, Hot Water. On a sunny spring day, 16 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: fishermen are filing into a large room off the back 17 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: of the Lutheran Church in downtown Sacramento. They look a 18 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: bit shell shocked. They've just come from days of negotiations 19 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: between the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Center 20 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: for Biological Diversity to settle the whale entanglement suit and 21 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: it's not looking good for the crabbers. The rumor is 22 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: spreading that the fishery will be closing early statewide. It'll 23 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: close even earlier next year. Ben Platt will later tell 24 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 1: me that this is the biggest threat the fishery has 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: faced since he was a kid, or maybe even ever. 26 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: There are hushed, worried conversations happening in every corner of 27 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: the room that raise in volume as the beer gets flowing. 28 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: But there are also happy reunions happening here. This is 29 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: an annual event held the night before the state's annual 30 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: Fisheries Forum every year. Tomorrow we'll bring more arguing and negotiating. 31 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,559 Speaker 1: But tonight Lorie French is in her element, moving between 32 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: the crowd and the kitchen in her apron. She's happy 33 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: to have changed the menu from fancy food to normal food. 34 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: She's particularly proud of a large platter of perfectly fried fish. 35 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: Ben Platt isn't there, but I hear he's driving down 36 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: for the meeting in the morning. Dick Ogg is in 37 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: his usual jeans and hoodie, coordinating with the fish and 38 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: Wildlife staff. He'll take them out to look for wales 39 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: soon and start the long road towards shifting the fishery 40 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: to accommodate changing migration and feeding patterns. Vic Chaer, the 41 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: trade group's attorney, is there with his wife. Noah Oppenheim, 42 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: the Fishing Trade Association director, is getting pulled into a 43 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: new conversation every two minutes. It's the first time I've 44 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: met him in person, and he's younger than I expected, 45 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: with what can only be described as a fisherman's beard. 46 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: Crabber Larry Collins is staffing the bar. His pals jokingly 47 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: call him the King of San Francisco. He's pragmatic about 48 00:02:59,720 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: the way. 49 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 3: Well, that one year that started all that crap, we 50 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 3: had the blob and there wasn't any crab up above, 51 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 3: and so all the crawboats in the state came to 52 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 3: fish here because there was some crab here, and the 53 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 3: whales were here eating anchobies. So it was like all 54 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 3: these things came together. But now it's all started, and 55 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 3: it's gathered momentum, and you know, the crabbers are bad guys, 56 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 3: and you know it just it's you know, it's too 57 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 3: far along. You can't stop it. 58 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: One point of discussion, not at this fish fry, the 59 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: climate lawsuit, which is still ongoing and which has divided 60 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: the community a bit. According to Lori, it's very, very polarizing, 61 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: and it's just things are changing. When I talked to 62 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: Ben Platt about it, it was clear that the suit 63 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: had made reluctant activists out of them. 64 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 2: I think Noah posted something on Facebook about it when 65 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 2: they actually dropped the lawsuit, and there was a bunch 66 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 2: of comments about them this is, you know, or liberal 67 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 2: blah blah blah whatever. But you know, like that was 68 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 2: the main comment I heard, was like, well, how could 69 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 2: you be a part of this if you've got, you know, 70 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 2: diesel engine in your boat. That's the kind of stuff 71 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 2: that I heard. But I haven't heard much discussion on 72 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 2: the docks or nobody's asked me about it. I'm reluctant 73 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 2: to be part of something that might anger a lot 74 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:23,359 Speaker 2: of other my fellow fishermen. But you know, if I 75 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 2: separate all that from the facts of the lawsuit and 76 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 2: what they're trying to achieve, I believe it's the right 77 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 2: thing to do. 78 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: It also gets to the heart of the whale entanglement suit. 79 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: Although that suit focuses on the crabbers and their gear, 80 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: what drove the perfect storm of events during those years 81 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: when whale entanglement spiked was climate change. Warming waters have 82 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: fundamentally changed the marine ecosystem, shifting everything from whale migration 83 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: patterns to algo blooms and squeezing the crab fishery in 84 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: the middle. The crabbers are still waiting for that federal 85 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: disaster payment they were awarded in twenty fifteen. They're pissed 86 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: off about the entanglement settlement and feel like the ones 87 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,479 Speaker 1: who bear the brunt of every problem. It's all gotten 88 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: to be too much for some folks, and the fleet 89 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: has been shrinking rapidly in recent years. According to Larry, 90 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: there's hardly any of us left. 91 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 3: You know, last year, four hundred and fifty three boats 92 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 3: delivered salmon, and fifty three boats delivered fifty percent of that. 93 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 3: So basically our work in salmon fleet, which was five 94 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 3: thousand boats in the early eighties when I started, is 95 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 3: fifty three. 96 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: Boats and noah echoes this. 97 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 4: We're losing more and more fishermen each and every year 98 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 4: to either consolidation or to climate impacts or the inability 99 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 4: to operate in a heavily regulated environment. 100 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: I hear a lot of people saying, fine, have fun 101 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: eating your imported tilapia, pointing out that even if commercial 102 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: fishing stops entirely on the West Coast, people will still 103 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: want to eat fish and seafood. The California Water Project, 104 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: which diverts many of the state's rivers down to farmland 105 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: in the Central Valley, is another popular gripe. At most 106 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: West Coast fishermen have the overwhelming sense that they are 107 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: always outspent, out lobbied, and generally outgunned by environmental groups, 108 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: by big oil, and by almond growers in the Central Valley. 109 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,680 Speaker 3: I mean, the water's going to build fish or it's 110 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 3: going to build fortunes for almond growers, you know, And 111 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,280 Speaker 3: basically we've made that, California's made that choice. 112 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham says we 113 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 1: need a broader, more systemic approach to supporting climate adaptation 114 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: in coastal towns up and down the West Coast. 115 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 5: There's a bigger discussion that needs to continue about what 116 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 5: does it look like to help our rural coastal communities 117 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 5: become more climate adapted. What does it look like to 118 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,280 Speaker 5: have the right wars and infrastructure for chillers and boats, 119 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 5: and how to prepare them for what might be the future. 120 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: The climate lawsuit feels like a long shot, but also 121 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: like one of their last hopes. Between demoic acid and 122 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: whale entanglements, crabbers are steering down the barrel of extinction 123 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: this year. The whale entanglement Settlement has mandated in early 124 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: closure for most districts of April first if they see 125 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: another start as late as their twenty fifteen year. Combined 126 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: with the early closures, that would limit the season to 127 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: four days, effectively shutting it down for the year. If 128 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: the suit against the oil companies moves forward, it could 129 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: set a precedent the industry absolutely doesn't want to see. 130 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: If they're held responsible in this case for their contributions 131 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: to not only the warming oceans, but also their role 132 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: in decades of inaction on climate, they could be held 133 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: responsible for multiple other impacts on cities, businesses, and people 134 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: all over the world, so they're expected to fight it hard. 135 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: They're battling about a dozen of these climate liability suits 136 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: at once, but the rest are all from cities, counties, 137 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: and states local governments wanting oil companies to help pay 138 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: for see walls. And other climate adaptation strategies. Any one 139 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: of them moving forward could spell trouble for the oil industry. 140 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: Just getting into the discovery phase of a suit could 141 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: unearth documents and information that would tell both attorneys and 142 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: the public even more about what oil companies knew and when, 143 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: and about their strategies to suppress and confuse information. Here's 144 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: Attorney Vic Schaer on why so many of these suits 145 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: have been filed in the last couple of years. 146 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 6: What's compelling about these cases is the strong relationship that 147 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 6: scientists can now give us between emissions and climate change 148 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 6: related impacts on the first hand, the ability to attribute 149 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:47,560 Speaker 6: emissions to particular companies on the second hand, and this 150 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 6: compelling culpability narrative that starts really with the ramp up 151 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 6: in emissions that scientists called great acceleration in the nineteen sixties. 152 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: So far, despite claiming that these lawsuits are causing them 153 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: undue financial harm, oil companies have been increasing profits since 154 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,959 Speaker 1: the Paris Accord was signed. They've also been ramping up production. 155 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,719 Speaker 1: In the past two years. The US has become the 156 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: number one producer of oil globally. US companies are now 157 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 1: also net exporters of energy. So when people talk about 158 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: climate change is a global problem requiring a global solution, 159 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: it's hard not to look at the number one global 160 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: supplier of fossil fuels. And while oil companies have accused 161 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: the plaintiffs bringing these cases of scapegoating them for climate change, 162 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,679 Speaker 1: in fact they're pushing for oil companies to cover only 163 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: the percentage of damages that can be reasonably linked to them. 164 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: Oil companies, meanwhile, insist they have zero responsibility and should 165 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: not be required to do anything at all about climate change. Ultimately, 166 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 1: this case represents a choice that societies will increasingly need 167 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: to make. Which communities are worth saving, How much power 168 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: should one industry have over all of the Which activities 169 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: do we reward as a society, and which do we discourage? 170 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,680 Speaker 1: For Lori French and Ben Platt, it's not just about 171 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: a sense of right and wrong, or even about helping 172 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: the industry recover from all its recent troubles. It comes 173 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: back to the community itself. This attachment they have to it, 174 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: this loyalty, the sense of being extended family, the sense 175 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: of responsibility they have to it, their desire to protect 176 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,640 Speaker 1: it and to ensure that it outlasts them. We care 177 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: about what we do we care about from the next 178 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: generation and leader, it's like, yeah, we are environmentals. 179 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 2: Those of us that have been making living at fishing 180 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 2: or in the industry and around it in these coast 181 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 2: communities for most of our lives or all of our lives. 182 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 2: Unless you have your head in the sand, you can't 183 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 2: ignore the connection between some environmental causes and and what 184 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:02,440 Speaker 2: we're trying to do to make a living. If we 185 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 2: want to be managed by the best available science, then 186 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 2: we have to do our part too, and so if 187 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 2: there's anywhere where we can make improvements, we should be 188 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 2: willing to do that, and I think our future really 189 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 2: does depend on it. 190 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 1: That's it for this season. We'll be bringing you update 191 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,320 Speaker 1: episodes over the next few months, and we'll be back 192 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: with a third season in late summer early fall, so 193 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: stay tuned for that. Drilled is produced and distributed by 194 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: Critical Frequency. The show was created and reported by me 195 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: Amy Westervelt. Raka Murthy is our editorial advisor. An additional 196 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: editing for this series was done by Julia Richie. The 197 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: series was mixed by Bill Lance, music by Elliott Peltzman. 198 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: Season two cover art was drawn by Angela Schech Drilled 199 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: is supported in part by a generous grant from the 200 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 1: Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development. You can listen and 201 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,719 Speaker 1: subscribe to Drilled on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get 202 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: your podcasts. If you like the show, don't forget to 203 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:08,839 Speaker 1: give us a five star rating. It helps us find 204 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: more listeners and combat peskey climate deniers. Visit our website 205 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: Drilled podcast dot com for behind the scenes photos and 206 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,679 Speaker 1: additional information about this series. You can also drop us 207 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: a tip or story idea there and sign up for 208 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: our newsletter, or you can find me on Twitter. I'm 209 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: at Amy Westervelt. Thanks for listening.