Each week across Wisconsin, diners crowd into supper clubs, VFW halls, and corner taverns for a ritual that has endured for generations: the Friday night fish fry. Almost half of Wisconsinites say they sit down to a fish fry at least once a month. But increasingly, what's on the plate isn’t local. As warming lakes, invasive species, and disrupted spawning cycles threaten native fish populations, the tradition faces an uncertain future. What happens when a cherished custom must adapt to a changing ecosystem?
In this project, journalist Jeff Oloizia follows the journey from hook to fryer, shadowing conservation teams, consulting scientists, and sharing tables with chefs, anglers, and historians. Through data, storytelling, and on-the-ground reporting, he explores a quieter climate crisis: the erosion of cultural traditions through ecological loss, and what’s at stake when the natural world stops cooperating with the stories we tell about who we are.
