Rose George on Every Last Fish: A Deep Dive Into Everything They Do for Us and We Do to Them

For every ten tuna that once swam in the ocean, there is now one. One in five fish is caught illegally. And the fish on your plate may not even be what the label says it is.

Rose George is a British journalist who has spent her career making the invisible visible: first sewage, then the global shipping industry, and now fish. Her new book, Every Last Fish, is a deep-dive into the systems, economics, and human stories behind the global fishing industry – and what the collapse of fish populations means for the ocean, for the people who work it, and for everyone who eats from it.

Recording from San Pedro, California — once the largest commercial fishing port in the United States, now the busiest container port in the Western Hemisphere — host Aaron McKenzie talks with George about the moment the industry crossed a threshold it may not be able to walk back from, the strange economics of a supply chain that sends American fish abroad while importing 90% of what Americans eat, and why she thinks we should all be drinking bivalve cocktails.

Chapters:

00:00 — Intro
01:21 — Welcome & San Pedro context
01:58 — How Rose came to write about fishing
04:22 — The collapse of fish populations: when did we cross the threshold?
06:19 — The fishing industry is not a monolith
08:28 — Sushi, China, and the pressure of the "Big Five" species
11:15 — The illusion of plenty: why 90% of American seafood is imported
14:57 — Mislabeling and the opacity of the global supply chain
16:26 — If you can't trust the label, how do you act on your values?
18:04 — Subsidies, systemic change, and the WTO
21:04 — Tragedy of the commons: who owns the ocean?
24:39 — What World War II taught us about fish recovery
25:10 — Reporting from the boats: seasickness, Captain Tom, and a rough day at sea
28:23 — The best case for bottom trawling, and why Rose isn't buying it
30:32 — "I've never met a fisherman who doesn't love it"
32:05 — Aquaculture, salmon farming, and a three-meter statue of a sea louse
35:41 — What would a truly honest seafood system look like?
36:57 — Fisheries observers: the most dangerous job you've never heard of
38:45 — Causes for optimism
41:45 — What to see when you walk along a harbor

Every Last Fish is available wherever books are sold.

Soundings is produced in partnership with San Pedro Today magazine. Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

More info at aaronmckenzie.net/soundings.