Dr. Nicolas Mink, CEO and co-founder of Sitka Salmon Shares, will be the featured speaker at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center’s Dinner on the Bluff event on Leap Day, Saturday, February 29.
Dr. Mink’s talk, “Climate Change and the Fish on Your Plate,” will explore the complex relationship between commercial fishing, climate change, and sustainable foods. He will highlight the challenges facing modern fisheries and detail how a community-supported fishery model can increase transparency in the fishing industry, build sustainable fishing communities in Alaska, and protect at-risk fish populations in our seas.
Global fisheries are in peril, facing threats of pollution, overharvest, habitat loss, and impacts from a changing climate. Mislabeling in the fish industry is rampant, leading to confusion for consumers and degradation for the oceans and globally important fisheries. The community supported fishing model, similar to community supported agriculture, connects consumers in the midwest to independent fishermen who use sustainable harvest methods. In a future where global fisheries and Alaskan communities alike are increasingly imperiled by the impacts of climate change, developing resilient models of commercial fisheries that build bridges and preserve the oceans are essential.
“As Midwesterners, it could be easy to say that what’s happening to the oceans or Alaskan fisheries is not our problem, but that could not be further from the truth,” Eagle Bluff Adult Education Manager Henry Whitehead said. “The oceans and their wild creatures, including fish, are a resource shared by all people. Understanding the nuanced relationship between fish, coastal communities, and us as consumers is a necessary first step to making informed ecological decisions.”
Dr. Mink’s speech will be preceded by a three-course dinner featuring sockeye salmon provided by Sitka Salmon Shares. Doors open at 5 p.m. Guests may choose to bring an adult beverage of their choice. Tickets for this event are $30. For more information or to register, visit eaglebluffmn.org/dinner or call (507) 467-2437.
Dinner on the Bluff is sponsored in part by the Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership through the University of Minnesota and the Lanesboro Community Foundation. Eagle Bluff’s “Dinner on the Bluff” speaker series, now in its 16th year, is designed to give thought-leaders and experts in the environmental field the opportunity to discuss issues with the broader Eagle Bluff community.
Located in the scenic bluff country of southeast Minnesota, Eagle Bluff is a nonprofit, year-round residential environmental learning center providing education programs and outdoor adventures to more than 16,000 children and adults each year. Through transformative hands-on experiences we aim to increase environmental awareness and appreciation for the natural world, and empower people to care for the earth and each other.
