A study of fish sold around Australia, by Minderoo Foundation, found that more than one in ten products didn’t match their label. And with 65% of seafood consumed in Australia being imported - to the shock of many Australians - poor labelling was more likely to conceal the sale of threatened or overfished stocks. So, what exactly is on our plates? We chatted to Dr Chris Wilcox about the study, Fair Catch Alliance, and how consumers can help change seafood labelling in Australia. →...

There’s a big chance the items you’ll find in your bathroom make up some of the 120bn units of packaging produced by the beauty industry annually. And those single-use amenity bottles in hotels? According to The Wall Street Journal, an estimated 5bn of them are thrown away yearly. But Nohbo, Winner of The Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2022, has developed a solution to help CPGs and the hospitality industry ditch single-use plastic. Encapsulating your favourite personal care products into...

Did you know that the equivalent of one garbage truck’s worth of plastic ends up in the ocean every minute? And with 40% of global plastic waste coming from packaging, sustainable packaging options have never been more important. Better Packaging Co. is a carbon-neutral BCorp creating sustainable packaging that doesn’t just do less harm, but also delivers some good. Founders Kate Bezar and Becs Percasky are no strangers to the podcast either, with BPCo. being two-time Pitchfest Finalists! →...

The humble potato is endlessly useful and almost universally beloved. But Netherlands-based startup BESE is taking it up a notch, recycling the waste from potato chip manufacturing (as well as materials like oyster shells, and waste wood chips) into biodegradable ocean ecosystem restoration products. Karin Didderen and Peter Vodegel from BESE chatted to us about their mission to restore degraded coastal ecosystems, and to replace current restoration products that use plastics or concrete. →...

Did you know the industry standard coating for marine vessels, antifouling paint, is toxic? Often containing solvents, biocides to prevent growth, and designed to self-erode when organisms eventually take hold. With the commercial shipping fleet growing to over 90,000 vessels in 2022, this global problem is hidden below the water. But one German startup is bringing it to the surface. We chatted to Christina Linke, Co-founder and CEO of Clean Ocean Coatings, about their innovative biocide-free...

Wet trade slurry (eg. cement slurry) is generated on building sites daily. Angus Hudson, an experienced builder and founder of SLURRYTUB, has seen first-hand the issues and difficulties around the wash-up and disposal of slurry. Including shortcuts that can result in chemical-laden slurry getting into waterways. Angus tells us how SLURRYTUB’s innovative - but deceptively simple - solution makes job site cleanup quick, easy, cost-effective, and better for the ocean. Their filtering system has...

Not only do coral reefs promote biodiversity, provide vital ecosystems for life underwater, and benefit economies, they also provide natural coastal protection. But coastal erosion is getting worse, with climate change impacting reef health and contributing to sea level rise, stronger waves, and more severe storms. Luckily, ocean impact startup CCell has developed a solution to grow digitised living reefs through a process called mineral accretion. CEO Dr Will Bateman tells us how CCell is...

How do you monitor catch on fishing vessels at sea? Managing catch, bycatch, and adherence to laws & regulations is often done via camera footage from boats being manually reviewed. An archaic process that isn’t scalable, is expensive, and can be inaccessible in many countries around the world. But early-stage Canadian startup OnDeck Fisheries AI is trying to change this, by automating sustainable fisheries monitoring with artificial intelligence in a way that is both scalable and...

Around 700,000 microfibres are released doing an average load of washing. Mocja Zupan (Founder and CEO of PlanetCare) compares this to an average household dumping one plastic bag per week into the ocean, just by doing laundry! It’s a big problem; after all, microplastics have been found in the Mariana Trench, in our food, and even in our blood. But PlanetCare is on a mission to stop microfibres from your washing finding their way into places they shouldn’t be. And they want other ocean...

What if we could predict how the removal, reefing, or installation of an offshore energy structure could impact fisheries? That’s where spatial planning tool FishLAT by Blue Latitudes comes in. With the decommissioning of thousands of offshore oil and gas platforms imminent, and renewables like offshore wind on the way in, co-founder Amber Sparks tells us how their web-based platform can provide data for financially and environmentally sustainable decision-making. → Shownotes:...

Did you know that biofouling - the growth of organisms on ship and boat hulls - can contribute to a 20-55% increase in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per vessel? An increased carbon footprint is just one of the consequences of this pesky problem. Welcome to the first episode of our Pitchfest 2022 series with Hullbot CEO and co-founder Tom Loefler. Hullbot builds robots for healthy oceans and is working on creating the world’s most sophisticated underwater drone. → Shownotes:...

If the ocean was a country, it would be the 8th largest economy in the world! Martin Koehring, head of Economist Impact’s World Oceans Initiative, joins us for part two of our conversation. Picking up from SDG 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth, Martin discusses how the export value alone of the blue economy is 3% of global GDP, and how the ocean is a key solution to achieving each of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. → Episode show notes:...

Did you know that UN SDG 14: Life Below Water is the most underfunded? Or that the economic value of a great whale in the ocean is $3 million US dollars? Martin Koehring, head of Economist Impact’s World Oceans Initiative, joins us to chat about how the ocean and emerging blue economy is a solution to achieving all 17 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. → Episode show notes → World Oceans Initiative: https://ocean.economist.com → “The Ocean and the UN Sustainable Development Goals”...

Dr Tony Worby is the Director of the Planet Portfolio and Flourishing Oceans at Minderoo Foundation and is a global leader in advancing positive actions to improve ocean health. In this far-reaching conversation, Tony shares fascinating insights into his career and passion for protecting Planet Ocean with a focus on the remarkable work Minderoo Foundation is doing to support their bold mission: ‘to return the oceans to a flourishing state’. We learn about the incredible breadth of work...

Sam Elsom is the co-founder and CEO of Sea Forest, a Tasmania-based startup cultivating asparagopsis seaweed for use as a feed supplement in livestock industries to drastically reduce methane emissions and fight climate change. Through small additions of Sea Forest feed supplements, methane emissions can be reduced by up to 98%. Sea Forest were the overall Winner of The Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2021 and also received the Climate Spotlight Award funded by OIO’s philanthropic community. Sam...

An inspiring and moving conversation with the co-founders of Saathi; a groundbreaking impact startup based in Ahmedabad, India that manufactures 100% biodegradable and compostable sanitary pads made from banana and bamboo fibres. Saathi is also an OIO overachiever! Finalists, Runners Up, and Plastic Pollution Spotlight Award Winners in the Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2021, as well as Ocean Impact Accelerator Program 2022 participants. The only startup in our ecosystem to achieve this so...

An insightful chat with Syrine Chaalala, co-founder and Managing Director of nextProtein, a Tunisia/France-based insect technology startup producing insect-based protein for animal feedstocks using food waste - returning protein to the food cycle. nextProtein was the Winner of the Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2022 Sustainable Harvesting Spotlight Award presented by Austral Fisheries. Founded in 2015 with her partner Mohamed Gastli, nextProtein is helping to tackle land and resource scarcity...

A dynamic discussion with Jesse Baines, Chief Marketing Officer for Atlantic Sea Farms and a proud Maine native with deep connections to the local lobster fishery. Atlantic Sea Farms is a Maine-based startup - and Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2021 Finalist - creating craveable, innovative products made from sustainably farmed sea greens, all while expanding opportunities for Maine's fishing communities. Despite a long legacy of sustainable management, Maine’s lobster industry is unable to fight...

Adam Root is the founder and CEO of Matter, a UK based microplastic technology company pioneering innovative solutions for the capture, harvest and recycling of microplastics. Matter’s mission is to improve the health of our oceans by capturing microplastics from source. On a mission to change our relationship with water and the environment, Adam set-up Matter to provide solutions to the colossal challenge of microplastic pollution. A trained mechanical engineer and keen scuba diver, Adam...

Jack Hurley is the Founder of Firetail Robotics, Winner of The Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2021 Ocean Monitoring Spotlight Award for their pioneering work using technology to increase ocean knowledge. A commercial helicopter pilot and aerial surveyor by trade - Jack is driven to help businesses ‘think outside the box’ when it comes to solving problems. Based in Albury in regional Australia, (quite a long way from salt water) Firetail Robotics are an Australian startup delivering full cycle...

Declan McAdams is the co-founder and Chairman of Pinovo, a Norwegian startup on a mission to transform the $12bn environmentally destructive sandblasting industry. As Declan eloquently shares in this podcast - the vast majority of paint used in the world today is actually plastic. And when painted infrastructure is routinely maintained or degrades over time - enormous quantities of microplastic paint particles enter the environment. Pinovo have pioneered innovative grit blasting...

Rebecca Percasky and Kate Bezar are the co-founders of Better Packaging Co., a New Zealand based startup on a mission to design revolutionary packaging solutions for the new eco-nomy. Better Packaging Co. commenced their journey pioneering world first home compostable packaging solutions for the burgeoning eCommerce courier industry before diversifying into reusable mailer solutions, garment bags, tape, labels and other packaging items. Recently, the fast growing startup launched their...

Julia and Jordy Kay are the founders of Great Wrap, an Australian startup tackling the enormous problem of plastic pollution and waste generated by the stretch wrap industry. Great Wrap replaces petroleum based stretch wrap with a compostable alternative derived from food waste. Great Wrap were the 2nd Runners Up in The Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2021. Julia and Jordy weren’t always ocean impact entrepreneurs - Julia is an architect and Jordy was a winemaker before they both leapt into the world...

Simeon Pieterkosky and Liane Thompson are the founders of Aquaai, an innovative startup using robotics and biomimicry to gather critical data from the ocean and waterways. A unique feature of Aquaai’s technology is a nature-inspired, ‘fish like’ design that moves seamlessly through the ocean allowing for accurate data collection and reduced stress in certain settings, eg. aquaculture. Aquaai have also pioneered ‘FaaS - Fish as a Service’ and a control system that showcases real time data...