Sadly my summer internships have come to a close and I will use this final blog post to reflect on my experience.

What did you accomplish with your host organization? What was the impact of your work?

I am very proud project I completed with the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions. I created a master list of relevant laws and conventions concerning social responsibility in the seafood/ fishing industry. I then completed a document of detailed findings where the laws were defined, and a synthesis of findings was created to identify areas in the industry where more work needs to be done, and to also highlight the legality or lack there of on the varying topics relating to socially responsible seafood (Human rights, worker rights, gender rights, child protection, human trafficking, seafarer and ocean safety, social responsibility, and food security and nutrition). This document will be used by the Alliance to educate and orient member organizations to the relevant laws and conventions they should be aware of.

Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions & Monterey Bay Seaweeds

Working from home; the song everyone seems to be singing this summer. In my case, I am very fortunate to work for two amazing organizations right from my garden. The only slight inconvenience to this is perhaps the woodpeckers, who seem to have perfectly timed their pecking to the toon of my 9am calls.

My internship with the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions is off to a great start. I spent the first 2 weeks reading up on the history of the Alliance, getting to know some key partner organizations, and diving deep into the Monterey Framework. Currently we are working on cataloging social responsibility efforts by creating a master list of international laws, conventions, and guidance tools concerning human rights in the fishing industry. My all female team is very dedicated to these issues, and are looking forward to bringing new organizations to the table to better reach all members of the supply chain, in order to support a more socially responsible global seafood industry.

My internship with Monterey Bay Seaweeds has also been going swimmingly (LOL). MB Seaweeds is currently looking for new and innovative ways to expand their growing aquaculture facility. Currently, we supply seaweed to high-end seafood restaurants around the US. However, the restaurant industry is just one small industry with regards to seaweed potential. Currently, I am helping the team with the initial research phase of where to explore next with our seaweeds. This could be partnering with RAS companies to not only use seaweed as a bio filtration mechanism, but also as a secondary crop, or partnering with an “alternative seafood” company, which is a rapidly growing market. Regardless of where we turn next, this small company has a lot of promise, and I am very excited to be working with the team in these initial phases.