Commercial Fishing Inspector (with Natalie Posdaljian)

Do you ever wonder where your food came from? What sorts of approvals and checks and balances it had to pass before making its way to you? As we recently learned in the ‘Organic Farmer’ episode, getting produce on your table is not as simple as you might think. For better or for worse, if you live in the Western world your food will endure quite a bit of scrutiny before it ever makes it to you. Today we learn about another side of this food chain. Natalie was recently employed as a North Pacific Groundfish Observer for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division (FMA)…quite a mouthfull. Natalie’s long title meant that she lived on fishing boats off the coast of Alaska and made sure that everyone was following the rules. Thanks to people like Natalie sustainable fishing that makes minimal impact on the overall ecosystem is a reality in the majority of the United States.