An Introduction to Seasplainer (Ep. 9)

An inside look at Jenn Thornhill Verma’s and Leila Beaudoin’s Indy series about fish and the sea.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, there are two things without which we probably wouldn’t be here: the sea, and the fish.

But how much do we really know about them? In an era of offshore oil, mega hydro dams, and now an impending wind energy industry — have we become indifferent to the fisheries? 

What we do hear about them seems so unrelatable: quotas and metric tons, prices per pound, licensing regulations. 

How did something so important to our economy, and our identity, become so hard to understand?

Will you stand with us?

Your support is essential to making journalism like this possible.

In Episode 9 of berrygrounds we speak with award-winning journalists Jenn Thornhill Verma and Leila Beaudoin, who have teamed up with The Independent to create something that we didn’t have in Newfoundland and Labrador: an explainer series about the fisheries and the sea.

You can find the Seasplainer series on The Independent’s website.

Click here to support The Independent with a monthly donation.

The song “Sunsetter” courtesy of Shane Ivers at Silverman Sound Studios.

Author

Justin Brake (settler, he/him) is a reporter and editor at The Independent, a role in which he previously served from 2012 to 2017. In recent years, he has worked as a contributing editor at The Breach and as a reporter and executive producer with APTN News. Justin was born in Gander and raised in Saskatchewan and Ontario. He returned home in 2007 to study at Memorial University and now lives with his partner and children in Benoit’s Cove, Bay of Islands. In addition to the channels below, you can also follow Justin on BlueSky.