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The Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference is the largest, most comprehensive event of its kind in the region, featuring the latest scientific research and management issues relevant to the health of the Salish Sea ecosystem. The conference features plenary sessions, concurrent oral sessions and poster presentations, workshops, field trips and other special events including a film festival in 2020. The Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference happens every two years, alternating between Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Background on Fisheries for Communities Gathering 1.0

The first Fisheries for Communities Gathering was held in Vancouver on February 23, 2018. The Gathering brought together more than 120 people including fish harvesters and Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishing interests, from different generations and geographically diverse coastal regions. There were also First Nations leaders, mayors from coastal communities, environmental groups, fish harvester organizations from Canada and Alaska, NGOs, BC food activists, academics, and Provincial and Federal elected officials. All were there to express concern for the current state of BC commercial fisheries, to listen, and to add their voice to the need for change.

While each group came with their own experiences of the issues and had different interests, there was agreement from the entire gathering on the need for immediate fisheries policy reform to ensure that fish harvesters, First Nations, and coastal fishing communities are more fully supported, and are the primary benefactors of the resource. There was also a call on the then Minister of Fisheries to perform an independent review of BC commercial fisheries licensing policy, built on a transparent and inclusive process, to:

a) Ensure fisheries licensing policy in the Pacific region supports independent fish harvesters, First Nations, and the revival of rural fishing communities, and

b) Determine how “social, economic, and cultural” objectives are to be achieved in Pacific region fisheries.

There was agreement from attendees on the guiding principles for reform. The full proceedings report from this event can be seen here http://www.bucksuzuki.org/images/uploads/docs/FisheriesForCommunities_April19.pdf

This request was heard. The Minister did launch a West Coast licence review, which was subsequently taken over by the Standing Committee of Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO). After months of hearings and deliberations this committee made 20 recommendations to address these issues. https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/FOPO/report-21/

Purpose for Fisheries for Communities Gathering 2.0

Much like the previous gathering, the Fisheries for Communities Gathering 2.0 will bring together fish harvesters as well as other individuals, communities, organizations and governments whose livelihoods, economies, food access, cultures, and wellbeing are tied to local fisheries, and who want to continue to work together to ensure fisheries support them and their communities now, and for future generations. This is timely as the newly elected Federal Government will have to decide if, and how, to act on FOPO’s recently released report and 20 recommendations on West Coast fisheries licensing policy reform. This event will provide an opportunity for participants to share thoughts, concerns, desired outcomes around these recommendations, and to show the government that action and follow through on these important issues are needed. The Gathering will also provide a space for those concerned about the health of our fisheries and fishing communities, to connect with each other, build relationships, and share concerns, ideas, and hopes for a better future.

The Issue

The issues are many and complex and there are many current and growing threats to the wellbeing of our fishing communities. Independent harvesters face numerous challenges trying to stay afloat. Among them is the increasing control of the resource from non-coastal business interests. This is the result of policies that enable speculative investors and multinational companies to purchase, own and lease our local fishing rights. As a result, the tangible and broader intangible benefits of local fisheries are being taken from the coastal communities adjacent to them. Influence over decision-making has shifted away from the people and communities connected to fisheries. Fish harvesters are losing their voice in key decisions that affect them and their ability to earn a living from fishing is being increasingly compromised.

The Opportunity:

Despite all the challenges we do have a moment of opportunity to make positive change! There has been progress since the last gathering, along with the FOPO report, this past June the Federal government passed Bill C-68 instilling socio-economic objectives in support of fishermen, coastal communities and First Nations into the Fisheries Act. The new Fisheries Act states that it will keep the benefits of fishing in the hands of independent fish harvesters and their adjacent communities. In addition, the Fisheries and Oceans Standing Committee completed a study on West Coast fisheries, and released 20 recommendations for West Coast fisheries policy reform to help ensure that the benefits from fishing flow to independent harvesters, First Nations, and coastal communities. It is not too late to change the policy foundations that continue to rob the coast of the social, economic and cultural values of adjacent fisheries. Now there is a chance for change that can sustain these values and revive or create new local fisheries, reinvigorate communities, food access and jobs, and rebuild longstanding connections to the sea.

This Gathering provides an opportunity for individuals affected by years of bad fisheries policy to combine their voices, and describe the change needed to revitalize our coast and realize all that its ocean bounty has to offer coastal communities, now and for future generations.

Participants: Registration is required BEFORE February 4. Register via Eventbrite, or by contacting info@saveourcoastalcommunity.org

Location:

Coast Bastion Hotel, 11 Bastion Street, Nanaimo, BC V9R 6E4, Ph: 250.753.6601

When: February 10-11th, 2020

Feb 10th 10:00– 5:00PM (8:30AM registration & continental breakfast; 12:30 lunch provided; 6:00PM catered dinner and social time)

Feb 11th 9:00AM – 4:30PM (8:30AM continental breakfast; 12:30 lunch provided)

Support: There is a limited budget for this event but we do not want costs to be a barrier to attendance. If you need financial assistance with travel expenses, please contact email below.

More Info: info@saveourcoastalcommunity.org

Ecotrust Canada and TBuck Suzuki are facilitating this meeting on behalf of those working to find a common focus and voice on the barriers to thriving, sustainable coastal fisheries and more equitable access to the wealth of the oceans.

About this Event

Join us in Nanaimo for our 4th annual BC Young Fishermen’s Gathering!

What to expect

Advance your business, policy, and leadership skills in workshops with industry professionals and network with peers from across the coast.

Workshop topics range from business planning, marketing your catch, policy and management, the future of BC’s fishing industry, and more. Plus an optional tour, evening reception and a chance to win fishing swag prizes!

This year we will be switching things up, with a new format and new topics for those who have joined us before. Our 2020 agenda will be posted soon, but examples of past agendas can be found on our website- https://bcyoungfishermen.ca/annual_gathering.

Who should attend

The event is hosted by fishermen, for fishermen. We’re open to young commercial fishermen (55 and under), new entrants to the industry (within 5 years), or those considering fishing as a career.

We appreciate the interest we have received from folks across the non-profit, academic, private and public sector and recognize the important roles you play in supporting the next generation of B.C.’s fleet. However, we have limited space for non-commercial fishermen, and will be accepting registrations on a first-come-first-served basis.

Registration

Registration fee covers workshop attendance, two lunches and one breakfast, and a tour.

Fishermen: $70

Non-fishermen: $100

Early bird discount- save 20% if you register before Dec 31, 2019!

Limited travel bursaries are available, please select if financial assistance is required through the registration process.

Accommodation

We have a group rate at the Coast Bastion Hotel. Please book ASAP to secure your spot by calling 800 663-1144 and quoting ‘BC Young Fishermen’s Gathering’.

Facebook Page
Eventbrite Page

The Global “Blue Economy” Business Conference

The World Ocean Council (WOC) Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) is the annual gathering of the global Ocean Business Community dedicated to advancing private sector action on responsible use of the seas.

With the theme of “Investing in Ocean Futures: Finance and Innovation for the Blue Economy”, the SOS 2019 will be the foremost international business conference dedicated to investment and innovation for ocean sustainable development.

Registration is open to all from the ocean business and investment community.

Since 2010, the SOS has been bringing together leaders from the diverse Ocean Business Community – shipping, fisheries, oil and gas, aquaculture, offshore renewables, tourism, seabed mining, marine technology, law, insurance, finance, etc. – as well as ocean stakeholders from the government, inter-governmental, science and environment communities – to focus on industry-driven action on “Corporate Ocean Responsibility”.

Click here to see the CEOs and business representatives who attend the SOS.

On the afternoon of the final day of the 72nd annual conference of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI), TBTI will be hosting an open session that will include a talk by Maria Pena on ‘Gender in Small-scale Fisheries: Caribbean perspectives through the Gender in Fisheries Team (GIFT)’, followed by a talk by Svein Jentoft on ‘Unpacking the SSF Guidelines’. The session will conclude with a roundtable discussion on ways to promote implementation of the SSF Guidelines.

→ The session is open for the GCFI participants and everyone interested in the topics.

To find out more about the session and the GCFI Conference, CLICK HERE.

Come and contribute to the research agenda in social sciences for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development!

Ocean University Initiative is pleased to invite researchers from social sciences for an interactive event aimed at identifying and discussing research priorities in ocean and coastal social sciences for the UN Decade. The two day event will include keynote lectures, 3-minute research presentations and collaborative workshops. The ultimate outcome of the event is to produce a contribution to the planning of the UN Ocean Decade.

For more information about the event, click here.

The 72nd annual conference of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) will be held at the Now Larimar in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic under the theme Scaling up public-private government partnerships for sustainable fisheries and innovative science.

The program includes technical sessions featuring oral and poster scholar presentations, workshops, a ‘Cinefish’ film festival, and many opportunities for students and fishers to participate at the conference.

For more information about the conference, click here.

Side event: Ending Harmful Fisheries Subsidies by 2020: Exploring the Impacts of Fisheries Subsidies and Potential Reform

When: October 23, 2019 from 17h30 to 18h30
Where: Restaurant Chambre Séparée, Clarion Hotel The Hub
Co-hosts: High Level Panel on a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, The Pew Charitable Trusts

To attend the event, register here: http://www.cvent.com/d/9hqjck or RSVP to Isabel Jarrett: ijarrett@pewtrusts.org

Panelists:

• Ambassador Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Ocean & Co-chair, Friends of Ocean Action
• Ruth Kagia, Deputy Chief of Staff (Policy & Strategy) in the Executive Office of the President of Kenya
• Jennifer Prescott, Assistant United States Trade Representative for Environment and Natural Resources
• Dr. Rashid Sumaila, Professor and Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, University of British Columbia
• Alice Tipping, Lead, Fisheries Subsidies, International Institute for Sustainable Development
• Isabel Jarrett, Manager, Ending Harmful Fisheries Subsidies, The Pew Charitable Trusts (moderator)

Session Format

The side event will explore the impact of harmful fisheries subsidies on the world’s ocean as well as the compelling new science that underlines the need for urgent reform through an ambitious and meaningful agreement at the World Trade Organization by 2020. The topic of the side event aligns with one of Our Ocean’s 2019 conference’s three themes – overfishing. The timing of Our Ocean 2019 makes it an important milestone in the final months of negotiations at the WTO, and represents a significant opportunity to increase awareness of, and support for an ambitious and meaningful agreement. To do so, it is vital to ensure active engagement from diverse stakeholders including from officials from environment and fisheries ministries and the NGO and scientific
communities.

Background

Healthy oceans are essential for maintaining livelihoods and global food security and are critical to sustainable development. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics reveal that over 40 million people are engaged on a full-time or part-time basis in the marine capture fishery sector, and more than 1 billion people rely on seafood as a main source of animal protein. Yet, in 2018, the FAO estimated that a third of all fish stocks are being exploited at unsustainable levels and another 60% have no room for increased fishing. Fisheries subsidies are one of the key drivers of overcapacityand overfishing, and ultimately, the decline in global fish stocks. While not all fisheries subsidies are harmful, governments pay an estimated $20 billion per year in damaging types of fisheries subsidies to offset fishing costs such as fuel, gear, and vessel construction, undermining the health of fish stocks, ocean health, fishery management efforts, and the lives and livelihoods of fishers.

After more than two decades of stop-start negotiations to reform fisheries subsidies, by October 2019, governments will have just a few months to reach an agreement at the World Trade Organization and fulfil dual mandates to eliminate harmful fisheries subsidies by 2020. The first is the Ministerial Decision resulting WTO’s 11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires (MC11), and the second is UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.6, one of three SDG 14 targets with 2020 deadlines. In the past, science to demonstrate the impact of fisheries subsidies on fisheries, and the potential impact of reform at the WTO has been missing from the discussion. Now, new research exists that can inform WTO deliberations and mobilize additional engagement in support of reform.

Session Objectives

• Explore new science that assesses the impacts of fisheries subsidies and potential reform in different regional contexts as well as the global impacts of potential reform.
• Connect scientists, government officials and other stakeholders to ensure decision-makers have access to the latest evidence of the benefits of subsidy reform.
• Build awareness of and support for ongoing negotiations at the World Trade Organization to reach an agreement to reform harmful fisheries subsidies by the end of 2019.

Norway is hosting the sixth Our Ocean Conference 23-24 October 2019 in Oslo.

Our Ocean 2019 is being held in a historical moment when the level of threat facing the ocean and the need for action are being spotlighted like never before. With a determination to forge new partnerships and increase momentum, the event will highlight the importance of knowledge as the basis for our actions and policies to ensure protection of our ocean, responsible management of marine resources and sustainable future economic growth.

Our future depends on a clean and healthy ocean. Safeguarding the ocean for future generations is a shared responsibility and a matter of global urgency.

The conference will bring together leaders from governments, businesses, civil society and research institutions to share their experience, identify solutions and commit to action for a clean, healthy and productive ocean.

Our Ocean 2019 is organised by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and hosted by Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide.

As an integral part of the Our Ocean Conference, Sustainable Ocean Alliance and the University of Tromsø will co-host the fourth Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit.

Several side events will also take place in connection with the conference, organised by a variety of civil society, business and government actors.

Place: Clarion Hotel, The Hub, Biskop Gunnerus’ gate 3, Oslo
Dates: 23-24 October

The objective of the transdisciplinary (TD) training program is to expose participants to a range of issues, challenges and concerns related to fisheries and ocean sustainability, especially those affecting small-scale fisheries, as well as to deepen the understanding about their causes and effects, and to broaden the perspective about how to address them.

Presently taking submissions. Abstracts deadline February 1, 2019.

As Canada’s leading association of interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners involved in a diversity fields relating to the environment, ESAC is committed to sustainability in academia (especially concerning the environmental impacts of air travel) and is thus engaged in an experimental conference format this year. In 2019, participants can take part in one of three ways:

i) Participants can apply to attend the main conference at UBC (June 3–5).
ii) Participants can apply to attend the satellite conference at Grenfell (June 3–4).
iii) Participants can apply to present a paper digitally, live from a remote location anywhere in Canada (or anywhere in the world). Digital participants must be available to present via live video-feed and will be incorporated in the main conference program.

We are offering these three modes of conference participation as a means of helping our members participate in ESAC while minimizing the environmental impacts associated with their attendance.

This year’s conference will be packed with exciting events and opportunities, including…

• Keynote Events at UBC (and webcast to Grenfell and online);
• The Annual ESAC Wine and Cheese Receptions (held at both UBC and Grenfell);
• Sessions and workshops geared to graduate students;
• The announcement of the 2019 ECO-Award winner;
• Research sharing and networking opportunities galore;
• Annual ESAC Field Trips (in Vancouver and Corner Brook), and more!

ESAC keenly invites submissions from a diverse range of topics, including (but not limited to):

Environmental Knowledge
Sustainable Livelihoods
Climate Change
Environmental Education
Resilience Community
Sustainability
Environmental Politics
Sustainable Development
Ecological Economics
Environmental Policy
Sustainable Food Systems
Gender and Environment
Sustainable Marketing
Resource Management
Environmental Psychology
Consumption/Production
Political Ecology
Environmental Justice

Submission instructions:

All proposals must be submitted through the online submission console, by Friday, February 1st, 2019, available at https://esac.ca/2019form. ***This is an extension from the original deadline of January 18th***

In an effort to streamline the organization of this year’s conference, the organizing committee is only accepting individual paper presentations (of 15-20 minutes). As part of the submission process, prospective participants will have the opportunity to identify other submissions that they would like to be paired with in a session. In other cases, submissions will be placed in the most appropriate session available. Graduate students are encouraged to make submissions as regular participants.

Through the online submission console at https://esac.ca/2019form, applicants will be asked to include a proposed title, keywords and an abstract of 200 words max, noting: 1) the object of study or theme of session; 2) background, research question/objectives, and methods; and 3) main conclusions or hypotheses. Please note, it is suggested that participants submit a draft of their paper for circulation a week prior to the conference to help foster deeper discussion and generate feedback – but this is not a requirement for participation. You will additionally be asked to submit a short bio. Membership and registration (see attached flowchart) All participants must hold up-to-date membership in ESAC in order to present a paper. Please visit https://www.esac.ca/join-esac/ for details, and to review our new 2-year membership promotion. All participants of the Main Conference (including digital participants) must also register (including fee payment) for both ESAC and Congress through the Congress registration website, available at: https://www.congress2019.ca/.

Participants of the Satellite Conference will use the same submission console as other participants, but will complete a separate registration process once accepted – and will pay their registration fee directly to ESAC (details will be provided to successful applicants).

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The Fraser Watershed Restoration Conference 2019 is a 2-day event held at the Thompson Rivers University Conference Centre in April, 2019 The conference will bring together, Indigenous leaders, industry experts, government representatives, academics, community officials and conservationists from British Columbia and across North America, who are interested in advancing watershed restoration and reconciliation with First Nations throughout the watershed on April 24th & 25th, 2019.

Presentations and panel discussions will outline strategically designed large ‘landscape-scale’ restoration projects that offer the potential to:
• Advance Indigenous reconciliation
• Provide short term employment relief
• Develop mid and long term sustainable employment strategies
• Aid in the recovery of forests and habitats at risk, including salmon, steelhead, and caribou
• “Fire harden” at risk forest communities
• Contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation
• Enable a sustainable forest industry.

CONFERENCE FOCUS

There is an ecological and economic crisis in BC’s interior forests, precipitated by the cumulative effects of historic development, including the managed depletion of forest resources known as “fall-down,” the dramatic climate change-related impacts of the mountain pine beetle epidemic and recent catastrophic forest wildfires. These and other ecological impacts are exacerbating the stresses on salmon and a myriad of terrestrial and riverine species, such as moose, caribou, and other species at
risk, impacting cultural practices, recreational activities, and employment in local communities.

The conference will provide attendees with an integrated look at 6 restoration related themes:
• First Nations and restoration
• Salmon habitat and restoration
• Wildlife and species at risk restoration
• Climate change adaptation and restoration
• Wildfires and restoration
• Jobs and restoration

Details can be found at restorationconference2019.com.

Join Skipper Otto himself and all our fishing families, staff, and members as we celebrate 10 years of disrupting the seafood system for social and environmental justice!

Savour spectacular small-plate Skipper Otto seafood dishes, expertly prepared and plated by Chefs Ned Bell and Stewart Boyles in the breath-taking Waterview banquet space overlooking our boats at the False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf. Chat with the fishermen who caught the seafood and the chefs who prepared it. It will be a memorable night with reflections of the past 10 years and glimpses into the decades ahead.

Your ticket includes 2 complimentary drinks: your choice of delicious local beverages including Tinhorn Creek Salmon Safe wines, beer from Faculty Brewing, and a signature “Sea to Sky” gin and prosecco cocktail. Wait staff will bring you a selection of appetizers while you mingle for the first hour. We’ll then begin our main meal when you will circulate the room, visiting each of the 4 chef stations and enjoy their unique preparation of Skipper Otto’s seafood. We’ll conclude our meal with a delicious dessert.

Free parking is available on site on a first-come, first-served basis, and come dressed in your smart/business casual attire.

We can’t think of a better way to celebrate our first 10 years than spending the evening with all of you!

Schedule of Events

6:00pm • Doors Open

Hors d’oeurves and beverages served

7:00pm • Celebrations and dinner begin
Stop in at each chef’s station and enjoy a small plate of Skipper Otto seafood
Short speeches

9:00pm • Closing speeches and Raffle

9:00pm – 11:00pm • Twilight Lounge
DJ and cash bar open

Menu

Hors d’oeuvres

White Soy Marinated Halibut, Miso Aioli
cucumber, yuzu mirin vinaigrette

Vegan Cauliflower Quinoa Falafel, Black Garlic
pickled vegetables

Halibut Ceviche
mango, passionfruit, avocado

Beetroot Tartare, Celeriac Crisp
horseradish, pea tip

Small Plate Mains

Roasted Ling Cod
lemon braised fennel, green + white asparagus, organic beets, puffed wild rice

Baked Coho Salmon
lime, cucumber + fresh herb salad, Thai basil mayonnaise

Torched Albacore Tuna
olives, tomato jam, laird lentils

Humpback Shrimp Salad
farro verde, Marcona almonds, Romesco

Dessert

Coconut Chocolate Rocks
carrot sponge, citrus, fresh herbs, hibiscus

OceanCanada‘s Dr. Rashid Sumaila is to receive the Ocean Wise Murray A. Newman Research Award.

The OceanVisions2019 – Climate Summit “Successes in resilience, adaptation, mitigation, and sustainability” is co-organized by researchers at Georgia Tech, Stanford University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Smithsonian Institution in coordination with the IOC-UNESCO, the Ocean Conservancy and Georgia Aquarium. The goal is to highlight ocean-based science and engineering successes in the areas of resilience, adaptation, mitigation and sustainability and promote scalable solutions across human, climate and ecological dimensions. [draft program].

British Columbia is on the front lines of climate change… From burning forests, melting glaciers and acidic oceans, citizens across Canada’s Pacific coast are living with the realities of climate change, and show what’s at stake if we fail to get BEYOND CLIMATE. Narrated by David Suzuki and shot throughout the province, the collective wisdom of Indigenous leaders, local communities, scientists and policymakers is featured along with imagery of the region’s beautifully rugged landscape. Addressing many of the pressing issues facing BC – from pipelines, LNG, salmon and Indigenous rights – the film is a timely contribution to the province and the country as we grapple with climate change, the paramount issue of our time. Completing Dr. Ian Mauro’s trilogy of climate documentaries in Canada, the film challenges us to think beyond the climate crisis, and encourages a transition to a vibrant, resilient and low carbon society.

A crucial question still facing humanity is how to successfully manage the ocean to ensure long term sustainability while meeting the needs of people from same. In this lecture Professor Sumaila will explore this question couched around three key issues, ie, how we tackle global warming and climate change; how we implement public policies such as the provision of government subsidies to the fisheries sector; and how we manage the high seas. Professor Sumaila will argue that the chance of managing our ocean successfully for people and nature depends strongly on our ability to tackle these three and related issues that affect the conservation and fair sharing of benefits from our ocean in such a way that positive feedbacks are transmitted between the two. The alternative is for negative feedbacks from conservation to people and vice versa to fester, to the detriment of both people and nature.

Event Details

Date: Tuesday 19 February 2019
Time: 6pm-7pm
Location: IOMRC Auditorium
Cost: Free
RSVP: online via ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/sumaila

A two-day Masterclass with Professor Rashid Sumaila, Director, Fisheries Economics Research Unit, University of British Columbia and UWA Institute of Advanced Studies Visiting Fellow.

In this two day masterclass, Professor Sumaila will discuss elements of fisheries economics and introduce bioeconomic theory. He will also present topical issues related to overfishing, overcapacity and the current state of fish stocks from the lens of economics, including, fisheries subsidies; illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing; fish stock rebuilding; and climate change. The goal of the course is to help students understand and know how to apply the most common fisheries economics theories and methods to fisheries management and policy. By the end of the course, students should find it easier to follow the fisheries economics literature.

Date(s): Monday 18th February & Tuesday 19th February

Time: 8am-12.30pm

Location: Don Voelte & Nancy Keegan Case Study Room

Cost: Free

Audience: Postgraduate Students, Early Career Researchers, Academics

Full details: http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/masterclass/sumaila

Since SeaChoice’s founding in 2006 until 2017, our focus was to increase consumer awareness and develop materials on seafood sustainability in Canada. Our primary goal was shifting seafood procurement by Canadian suppliers and retailers away from unsustainable sources to more sustainable options. We created easy-to-use tools, based on scientific assessments, to help Canadians make the best seafood choices.

Over the first decade, our retailer partnerships successfully shifted seafood procurement away from unsustainable sources, and developed consumer awareness of sustainable seafood options in Canada. With the success of our retailer commitments, we reached a limit in our ability to help retailers influence change on the water, as the majority of “red-ranked” seafood products were replaced with more sustainable alternatives.

To ensure sustainable seafood supply and demand continues to increase in Canada, we recognized the need to expand our focus throughout the seafood supply chain, and to aggregate our market focus nationwide. So in 2016 we embarked in a new direction: To reform unsustainable seafood production and become Canada’s leading sustainable seafood watchdog.

Ensuring accountability in the seafood supply chain is a critical aspect of SeaChoice’s new direction. Among our many efforts toward this goal are:

• Providing retailers with tools and incentives to improve their sustainable seafood commitments and create in-house policies.
• Using market leverage to improve some of the least sustainable fisheries and aquaculture production.
• Ensuring that seafood certification and ranking systems are as robust as possible.
• Improving transparency and traceability in the seafood supply chain by reforming seafood labelling legislation in Canada, verifying seafood labelling through DNA testing in Canadian markets, and working on technical solutions for traceability.

Come and learn how SeaChoice is leading the sea change for seafood sustainability in Canada.

Speakers: 
Dr. Sarah Foster National Manager, SeaChoice
Liane Veitch Seafood Supply Chain Analyst, SeaChoice

SFU’s Faculty of Environment is pleased to invite you to a special talk and discussion, “Evidence-Based Conservation: ecological connectivity and the design of Marine Protected Areas” presented by Dr. Anna Metaxas, a professor in Oceanography at Dalhousie University. 

Jenn Burt, a PhD Candidate with our School of Resource and Environmental Management and the B.C. Marine Program Lead for Nature United will then respond to the presentation exploring what this means for British Columbia.

Date: Thursday, February 7th,

Time: 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Where: Room 1900, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings

Reservations:  Reserve your seat here

Abstract and Bio: here

Please note: If you are unable to get a reservation, you may still come and we will do our best to find you a seat.  With free events, there are some people with reservations who do not claim them.  We hold reservations until 6:50pm at which time we offer seats to newcomers. 

Headlines have linked the decline of Southern resident killer whales to just about everything—noise, shipping, toxins, whale watching and fishing.
But are these the real threats to the survival of this iconic species? Join UBC marine mammal researcher Andrew Trites as he separates facts and research
from popular assumptions. British Columbians care deeply about killer whales and feel responsible for protecting them. Be part of the conversation and bring your questions.

Featured Speaker

Dr Andrew Trites 
Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, UBC Faculty of Science
Director, Marine Mammal Research Unit

Andrew Trites (MSc, PhD Zoology) oversees the Marine Mammal Research Unit and a research program that studies seals, sea lions, whales and dolphins.
His work involves captive studies, field studies and simulation models ranging from single species to whole ecosystems.
His research spans ecology, nutrition, physiology and animal behavior—and is designed to further the understanding and
conservation of marine mammals, and resolve conflicts between humans and marine mammals.
Training students, and collaborating with other disciplines (such as nutrition, ecology, physiology and oceanography)
is central to the success of his research program

Tuesday, February 5th 2019
H.R. MacMillan Space Centre – Auditorium
1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, BC

Doors Open: 6:00pm
Program: 6:30pm
Reception: 7:30pm 

Admission: $10/per person + GST
*Your registration includes a complimentary beverage and a selection of tasty hors d’oeuvres during the reception.

Globally, efforts to sustainably manage the oceans are occurring in areas that are often occupied and used by coastal communities, small-scale fisheries and indigenous peoples. Thus, these ocean sustainability efforts need to be guided by evidence from the social sciences. In this talk, Dr. Bennett will discuss what the social sciences can offer to ocean policy and decision-making processes and review themes that require greater attention. Then, he will present results from two ongoing research projects related to:

1. small-scale fisheries and MPAs in the Mediterranean Sea with the FishMPABlue2 Project, and
2. coastal community access to fisheries in Canada with the OceanCanada Partnership.

Finally, he will discuss a couple upcoming initiatives that he is embarking on to help embed the human dimensions and the marine social sciences into the ocean sustainability agenda.

Full Event Poster

Join us for the 3rd annual BC Young Fishermen’s Gathering!
A two day workshop designed to support the next generation of British Columbia’s fishing fleet.

What to expect
The Gathering covers a range of topics from business planning, to policy and management, to the history and future of BC’s fishing industry, and more. Lots of time to network with other fishermen, industry leaders, and folks across the coast.

This year’s agenda (& examples of past) can be found on our website https://bcyoungfishermen.ca/bcyfg. (Note: subject to minor changes).

Who should attend
The event is hosted by fishermen, for fishermen. We’re open to young commercial fishermen (55 and under), new entrants to the industry (within 5 years), or those considering fishing as a career.

Registration 
$55 registration covers workshop attendance, two lunches and one breakfast, and tour.

Do Beluga Whales Have Different ‘Names’ for Each Other?

Beluga whales are highly sociable animals, traveling, hunting and playing together. Therefore, beluga whales need the ability to find each other when they are lost or separated from their pod. They do this by calling to each other. However, not all of these ‘contact calls’ are the same. Beluga whales make a large number of unique and complex calls when attempting to locate each other.

Brand new research from Ocean Wise, indicates that the reason why there are so many different ‘contact calls’ is because each different call is used to identify and contact distinct individuals – similar to how each human being has its own individual name!

Come and learn about this cutting edge science and how the data on wild beluga calls was actually collected.

About The Speaker

Dr. Valeria Vergara is the lead researcher on this study and has been eavesdropping on whales for years! From the Vancouver Aquarium to Hudson Bay, from the Canadian Arctic to the St. Lawrence Estuary, she has listened to the communication sounds made by belugas in diverse environments. She directs studies on beluga whales and other Arctic marine mammals through the Marine Mammal Research Program at Ocean Wise. Valeria Vergara’s ground-breaking doctorate research at the University of British Columbia was the first to document how beluga calves develop their rich repertoire of vocalizations and to identify contact calls critical for maintaining cohesion within the group and mother-calf contact. Her studies allow her to address the problems that this sound-centered species faces in an increasingly noisy environment.

Details

When? Tuesday 22nd January @ 7pm (doors 6.30pm)
Price: Free, but register to guarantee your seat
Accessibility: This event is wheelchair accessible Gender neutral and accessible bathrooms located in Clownfish Cove.
ASL Interpreter: Yes (supplied by WIDDH)
Location: The Vancouver Aquarium – Enter at Aquaquest Reception

When and how to worry about Ocean Acidification: The case of the Greenland Shrimp fishery

A multidisciplinary team of bio-geochemists, biologists and economists have investigated end-to-end modeling of impacts of ocean acidification on Baffin Bay/Davis Strait and the West Greenland Shrimp Fishery as part of the AMAP Arctic Ocean Acidification Report 2018. There exist many scientific uncertainties regarding the potential that ocean acidification may have on marine resource productivity. This work examines expected impacts and how they may affect the northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) fisheries. The work also addresses how these overall effects may affect the Greenlandic communities which rely heavily on these fisheries resources. The shrimp fishery is already a vital component of Greenlandic income, and is well studied and well managed. Our current understanding of the impacts of ocean acidification in this ecosystem and economy remains sufficiently uncertain that the inclusion of these impacts in formal modelling, even with explicit incorporation of this uncertainty, cannot yet improve upon existing stock assessment models. The current state of information could benefit with expanded monitoring and research on connections between changes in ocean acidification and shrimp attributes. These could include population dynamics, genetic adaptability, ecosystem interactions, and human tastes and preferences (including e.g. palatability tests) as required to improve both stock assessments and management decisions. Further efforts to increase resilience of communities reliant on the shrimp fishery through diversification, and understanding of the requirements for resilience, may be a preferred use of resources. View event poster.

Speaker: Dr. Brooks Kaiser, Visiting Professor,  Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics, University of Southern Denmark

Date: January 18, 2019
Time: 11:00 am
Location: AERL Theatre (120)

Announcing this year’s first Biodiversity Legendary Internal Seminar Series (BLISS) talks, to take place this Friday (11th January 2018) at the Biodiversity Research Centre. We have 4 speakers to kick-start BLISS into the new year, telling us about their recent experience in the BRC’s renowned BRITE graduate internship program.

Speakers

Nina Morrell
Identifying riparian and wetland ecological values in British Columbia using GIS

Julian Heavyside
Ecology, traditional indigenous fisheries management, and youth engagement in science and culture

Emily Adamczyk
Kelp forest restoration in Gwaii Haanas, Haida Gwaii

Sarah Harper
Who owns fishing licences in BC?

When: This Friday at 4 PM, January 11, 2019.
Where: Biodiversity Research Centre, Room 224.

Knowlton/Jackson Distinguished Speaker: Dr. Rashid Sumaila, Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries & School for Policy and Global Studies, University of British Columbia.

Dr. Sumaila will be presenting: Interdisciplinary collaborative ocean economics research with examples from the ‘ocean trenches’

Abstract: A crucial question still facing humanity is how to successfully manage theocean toensure longtermsustainability while meeting the needs of people from same. Here, I explore this question couched around three key issues, i.e., how we tackle global warming and climate change; how we implement public policies such as the provision of government subsidies to the fisheries sector; and how we manage thehighseas.

Additionally, CMBC Alumni Speaker: Dr. Sheila Walsh Reddy, Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives, Chief Strategy Office, The Nature Conservancy

Sheila is leading an initiative to transform how we measure conservation impact using remote sensing and artificial intelligence. She also supports strategy development by ensuring strategy teams have the science they need, especially sciences newer to conservation such as economics and other behavioral sciences.

Friday, January 11, 2019
3:00pm –5:00pm
Reception to follow

Robert Paine Scripps Forum for Science, Society and the Environment

Registration: https://cmbc-2019-sumaila.eventbrite.com

Inquiries call: 858-822-2790

PICS invites students, emerging researchers and faculty to a unique opportunity to engage with and learn from IPCC lead authors from around the world.

The event – introduced by PICS executive director Sybil Seitzinger – will begin with a 20-minute panel presentation from six lead authors who will talk about the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and share their personal experiences. Afterwards, a world café style dialogue will take place, where participants will have the chance to directly engage with all of the lead authors, ask questions and discuss the following topics:

1. How can early career scientists get involved with the IPCC?
2. How do authors deal with conflicting data, uncertainty and different perspectives?
3. How impactful is the work of the IPCC, and what are the benefits of getting involved?
4. How can the IPCC improve the communication aspect of its reports?

Event starts at 7pm: Refreshments will be served at 6:30 pm.

Save your seat as space is limited, please register to attend in person.

For UNBC and UVic participants interested in participating, the introductory panel will be live-streamed, and a webinar link will be provided to join the discussion with IPCC authors at the world café. Please register to attend remotely.

Event Details

** As well as advance tickets, there will also be free tickets on the door! **

ENTANGLED: A Deep Dive into the Vaquita Crisis 

When researcher Brooke Bessesen set out to write a book about the smallest cetacean she had no idea how high the stakes would be. Traveling into Mexico, she found a cartel drama unfolding. Over the next twenty-two months she followed the scientists studying vaquitas and the organizations and honest fishermen facing grave risk to save these tiny porpoises. Attempting to reconcile the conflicts obstructing conservation amid rising violence and a plummeting vaquita population, Brooke found herself on a raw, personal journey to the doorstep of extinction. In this presentation, she shares stories from the field and helps clarify the historical and immediate forces driving a species to the brink.

About Brooke Bessen

Brooke Bessesen has worked with wildlife for over thirty years. She’s been eye-to-eye with humpback whales and surrounded by free-flying California condors. She has hand-raised a baby wallaby, rehabbed a rattlesnake, trained a tiger, and photo-identified dozens of wild bottlenose dolphins. As a research fellow, Brooke’s marine studies in Costa Rica led to the naming of a new yellow sea snake, Hydrophis platurus xanthos. She is the author of seven books. Through her writing, Brooke strives to make science accessible. In 2010, she founded Authors for Earth Day, and many prominent kid-lit authors have joined the coalition to mentor young readers through special conservation-focused school visits.

About the book

In 2006, the last of China’s Yangtze river dolphins—baiji—succumbed to functional extinction, and la vaquita marina, a diminutive porpoise endemic to the Upper Gulf of California, quietly and without fanfare inherited the title of world’s most endangered marine mammal. Unlike many critically endangered species, the vaquita is not hunted. Nor is its habitat disappearing or degraded. The species is even protected by law. Why then have its numbers plummeted to near extinction? The answer lies in a shadowy mix of international cartels, fishermen entrapped by politics and culture, and an unlikely fish called totoaba.

In this haunting story, Brooke Bessesen sets out to untangle the intricacies behind the vaquitas decline. She interviews townspeople, fishermen, scientists, and activists, teasing apart a complex story filled with villains and heroes, a story whose outcome is unclear. This beautifully written account of the forces driving extinctions around the world asks us to face a hard question: What will we do now?

Details

When? Tuesday 27th November @ 7pm (doors 6.30pm)
Price: Free, but register to guarantee your seat. (There will be a limited number of tickets on the door)
Accessibility: This event will be ASL signed and is wheel-chair accessible
Location: The Vancouver Aquarium – Aquaquest Reception

Have questions about VAQUITA: Science, Politics and Crime in the Sea of Cortez? Contact Ocean Wise Community Education

Contact

For more information about IIED’s ocean and fisheries economics research programme: Essam Yassin Mohammed, principal researcher, Shaping Sustainable Markets research group

Register here | Schedule at a glance

The “Digital Ocean” is upon us, as Big (Ocean) Data and the Internet of Things (Marine) are generating data that is increasingly going to be managed by the (Ocean) Cloud.

As digital technologies spread into the seas, more and more data is being collected as companies are wiring their fleets as part of the Internet of Things, e.g. with sensors on “smart ships”. The information on the location, time and behavior of vessels at sea from vessel tracking systems, satellite observations, photography, radar and vessel databases is growing. Gliders, floats, buoys and other instruments deployed by researchers and governments are logging and sending data daily.

In addition, ocean, weather and climate data can and should be collected by the diverse array of commercial ocean infrastructure as well: 90,000 merchant vessels, tens of thousands of ocean platforms and facilities (aquaculture, offshore wind farms, etc.), tens of thousands of ferries and workboats, an estimated 3-4 million fishing boats, 1 million km of submarine cables. The WOC “SMART Ocean‐SMART Industries” program is working to harness the involvement of companies with these vessels and platforms to use them for data collection by hosting or deploying sensors.

This growing wave of “Big Ocean Data” will need the power and ubiquity of Cloud computing. The Cloud is how ocean industries and infrastructure spread across 71 % of the planet can and must connect. An “Ocean Cloud” for hosting and organizing data – collected by instruments on the millions of commercial ocean vessels and platforms – connects and shares information with the international ocean science community and other ocean stakeholders.

The WOC is working to advance a future for ocean sustainable development that benefits from an integration of: 1) the Internet of Things for the enormous number of maritime vessels and platforms at sea, 2) the data on ocean, weather and climate collected from those ships and structures (SMART Ocean‐SMART Industries), and 3) the scope, scale, power and potential of Cloud computing.

The SOS 2018 plenary session on “The Digital Ocean, Big Ocean Data and the Ocean
Cloud: Data Driven Sustainable Development of the Seas” will feature leadership companies that are pioneering this current and future ocean.

This SOS 2018 session will address:
• What are the status, trends and forecasts for the development of the Digital Ocean, Big Ocean Data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and the use of Cloud Computing for ocean sustainable development, especially in Asia?
• What are the benefits (economic, sustainability, operational oceanography, maritime security, etc.) from a Digital Ocean that produces Big Ocean Data and harnesses Cloud Computing in support of Agenda 2030, and what are the challenges to achieving these benefits? 
• What are the opportunities for better industry leadership and collaboration in advancing the Digital Ocean, Big Ocean Data and Cloud Computing for the Blue Economy, especially in Asia?

SOS 2018 Schedule at a Glance Now Available!

We are pleased to unveil a more detailed agenda for this year’s Sustainable Ocean Summit (Hong Kong, 14 – 16 November 2018), where the global Ocean Business Community will convene to advance action on ocean sustainable development and the Blue Economy.

Sessions featured in this year’s program include:
• Asian Shipping: Leadership and Challenges in Connecting Asia and the World
• Ocean Investment Platform: Financing Ocean Sustainable Development in Asia
• Shipbuilding for Sustainability: The Role of Shipyards and Vessel Construction in Supporting Ocean Sustainable Development
• Aquaculture: Ensuring Sustainable Production in Crowded Seas
• Biofouling and Invasive Aquatic Species: The GEF-UNDP-IMO GloFouling Partnerships Project – Opportunities for Business Collaboration and Implementation
• One Belt, One Road, One Ocean: International Business Collaboration to Help Ensure the Maritime Silk Road Leads to a Sustainable Destination

REGISTER HERE to be a part of the Sustainable Ocean Summit 2018!

What does marine fisheries management in BC really entail these days? The list of legal and policy requirements that must be considered in fisheries decision making has grown substantially in the last 10-15 years. This presentation will discuss how DFO’s fisheries management work and mandate have evolved over that time period, and some of the challenges we face as a result, with a focus on the relationship between science and management in responding to these changes. The presentation will provide examples of work underway to address these challenges and identify some of the outstanding gaps in our ability to fulfill the breadth of our requirements and highlight some of the key areas of expertise and skill sets critical for fisheries managers and fisheries scientists given all of this context.

Speakers:

Neil Davis
Director of Resource Management, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Dr Robyn Forrest
Section Head of the Quantitative Assessment Methods Section, Pacific Biological station

In this presentation, Dr. Tortell will discuss ongoing work of a joint university-DFO consortium of researchers examining climate change impacts on marine ecosystem services of the Subarctic Pacific. Together, the team is working to develop new automated ship-board measurement systems and remote sensing approaches to better quantify plankton biomass and productivity over a range of scales. Working closely with the Line P and La Perouse time-series programs, the team has deployed a suite of dissolved gas analyzers and optical sensors to quantify net community production, phytoplankton biomass and taxonomic composition. These observations led the development and validation of remote sensing algorithms that can be applied on synoptic scales. The team is also working to develop new ship-based methods of zooplankton productivity, and coupled ocean ecosystem models exploring the impacts of various climate scenarios on potential future fisheries yields. Working with DFO applied science staff, the consortium seeks to use our new observational and modelling tools to better support salmon stock assessment and future forecasting. The goal of this presentation is to stimulate tighter collaborative links between fisheries scientists and oceanographers.

When: Friday, October 5, 2018 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Where: AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS RESEARCH LABORATORY (AERL)
UBC Point Grey Campus
Description: Speaker: Dr. Philippe Tortell
Professor, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, The University of British Columbia
Location: AERL Theatre (120), 2202 Main Mall, UBC

The ecological goods and services provided by the oceans are critical to human welfare. However, sustainable management of these resources is of concern given the complex and dynamic social-ecological systems in which they are embedded. As the effects of both natural and anthropogenic impacts are projected to intensify, it is clear that successful marine resources management for human well-being and ecological sustainability, will require more holistic governance approaches that consider the social and ecological dimensions in tandem. The success of holistic marine governance is underpinned by the provision of interdisciplinary science that integrates both the social and natural sciences, to decision-makers. To this end, the ClimEco6 Summer School aims to contribute to the development of the next generation of interdisciplinary marine researchers. Drawing on the expertise of lecturers from the natural, social and economic sciences, participants will develop a strong theoretical and applied understanding of each discipline, and how they can be integrated to solve some of the challenges facing the oceans. To complement this, participants will also gain practical skills in science communication and how to operate at the science-policy-society interface, so that they can more effectively influence the decision-making process relating to the marine environment.

Topics to be covered

Impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems and implications for food security

• Delineating the issues of climate change and impacts to marine ecosystems
• Oceanographic and biogeochemical processes
• Ecological impacts and processes of changes
• Social and economic impacts of climate and change in marine systems
• Sources of food from the ocean and introduction to food security and the supply chain
• Local vs regional vs global impacts and links to human health consequences
• Achieving food security and linking across boundaries

Modelling

• Modelling basics
• Ecological models
• Economic and bio-economic modelling
• Agent based models
• Network Modelling
• Baysian Belief Network Modelling
• Coupled models
• Climate projects and uncertainty

Social and economic research techniques

• Introduction to social science
• Quantitative vs qualitative social science research techniques
• Social psychology and behavioural economics
• Ethics or social science

Governance and managing marine resources

• Introduction to marine governance, and different models of governance
• The role of science in marine governance, and how to improve knowledge exchange between science and policy to allow adaptive decision-making processes
• Unexpected management outcomes (using real examples and how we might prevent them in the future)
• Role of indicators for policy/engagement
• Role of society in governance
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation

Workshops will be interspersed between lectures

• How to write a winning research grant
• Social media for researchers
• How to write scientific papers (and to know where to target them)
• How to develop a research impact plan
• How to prioritise workloads
• How to work across disciplines (collaborate well)

Participants

Post-graduate students (Masters and PhD) and early-career scientists (< seven years post PhD) with an interest in topics such as, oceanography, biogeochemistry, fisheries, climate change and social and economic aspects of marine ecosystems are encouraged to apply. It will also be of considerable interest to those who want to find out more about practical ways to deal with the challenges arising from working across social and natural science disciplines. Because of the hands-on nature of the summer school, and to facilitate good discussions and interactions, the number of participants will be limited to 60. We aim to have participants from a wide geographic and disciplinary distribution.

How to apply

Complete the Application Form linked below and submit it together with a short CV (in English, no more than two pages!) before 26 March 2018.

Applicants wil be seleted on their research interests and experience, and their reasons and motivation for wanting to attend the summer school.

The International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade (IIFET) and the conference organizers welcome all with an interest in the economics of fishery management, seafood trade, and aquaculture, to join us for the nineteenth international Biennial Conference of IIFET to be held on the campus of the University of Washington, in the “Emerald City”: Seattle, Washington, USA.

We are pleased to announce that Dr. James (Jim) L. Anderson and Dr. Cathy Roheim, who will be named IIFET Fellows in 2018, will give keynote addresses at the conference.

IIFET is the only global professional organization devoted to improving understanding of all aspects of fisheries and aquaculture economics and seafood trade. Members include academics, fisheries managers and policy makers, seafood industry members, international organizations and national government representatives.

Themes for IIFET 2018 include the following:

• Economics of Aquaculture
• Seafood Markets and Trade
• Certification of Fisheries and Aquaculture
• Economics of Recreational Fisheries and Tourism
• Fishery Governance, Policy and Management
• Governance and Management of High Seas and Straddling Stock Fisheries
• Rights-based Fishery Management and Co-management
• Economic, Bioeconomic and Ecological-Economic Modeling
• Ecosystem-based Management and Integrated Assessments
• Marine Spatial Planning and Multiple Use Management
• Spatial Management and Marine Protected Areas
• Interdependency of Fishery Management and Seafood Markets
• Understanding Small-scale and Developing Country Fisheries
• Managing Small-scale and Developing Country Fisheries
• Management Challenges of a Changing Environment.

In addition, we will have an exciting group of closed special sessions as well as the following Open Sessions to which abstracts can be submitted:

• Game Theory and Fisheries Management
• Modelling social-ecological systems: methods and tools for scenario development and prediction
• Bringing Gender Discourse in Fisheries Economics and Trade. Gender economics research in fisheries and aquaculture: new challenges and opportunities
• Economic and social impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture
• Economics of Protected Marine Species
• Sustainable management of coastal fisheries and aquaculture with a holistic approach: identify knowledge gaps and concrete frameworks
• Tools for Stock Assessment, Economic Fishery Analysis, and Risk Assessment for Sustainable Management Strategies of Data Poor Stocks in Mixed, Small Scale and Indigenous Fisheries
• Northern fisheries: Adapting to a changing world
• Next generation RFMO governance: Climate change, allocations, and privatization, oh my!
• Different approaches and priorities for modeling fisher behavior
• Barriers to fisheries markets and trade in the developing world
• Special session in honor of the contributions of James Wilen to marine resource economics
• Financing, Incentive Structures, & Sustainability
• The economics of fisheries conflict.

Thank you very much for your interest in IIFET 2018.  We are trying to create one of the best conferences ever and your participation will help make it happen!

Seattle Local Organizing Committee:

Chris Anderson, University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Science

Alan Haynie, NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Dan Holland, NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The 4th International Symposium will bring together experts from around the world to better understand climate impacts on ocean ecosystems – and how to respond.

The Symposium will:

• Highlight the latest information on how oceans are changing, what is at risk and how to respond;
• Identify key knowledge gaps;
• Promote collaborations; and
• Stimulate the next generation of science and actions

The Symposium will include:

• Great sessions, presentations, and posters
• Opportunities for pre- or post-meeting workshops
• Special events for early career scientists
• Sponsorship and Exhibit Opportunities

KEY TOPIC AREAS

Key topic areas of interest to the Symposium Organizers to help inspire and guide proposals for sessions and workshops:

Characterization of ocean changes and the climate-ocean system

The role of oceans in the climate system. Detection and attribution and synergies of climate-related changes in oceans.
Projected implications of climate-related change on the ocean physical environment. Includes topics such as issues of chronic and lingering change including changes in circulation systems and flow fields, changes in polar regions including loss of sea ice and cryosphere change, and ocean heat transport.
Projected implications of climate-related change on the coupled bio-geochemical ocean environment. Includes a broad scope of potential changes including ocean acidification, carbon uptake by oceans, and changes in dissolved oxygen and others.

Extreme and abrupt changes in ocean systems

Observed and projected rates of sea level rise. The special case of small island developing states.
Disaster management: Studies of the predictability of extreme weather events and environmental tipping points. This topic could include studies of heat waves, ENSO, hurricanes, and storminess.
Potential indirect effects of extreme weather on environmental disasters (e.g, oil spills and pollution).

Impacts of changing climate on ocean physical, chemical and biological conditions

Understanding the impacts of changing climate, ocean acidification and ocean deoxygenation on ocean productivity.
Projecting impacts of climate-related changes on ocean lower trophic levels including the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton and zooplankton under multiple environmental stressors.
Understanding and projecting impacts of changing climate, ocean acidification and ocean deoxygenation on ocean higher trophic level marine resources. This includes a broad range of topics including climate-related impacts on the quality and quantity of marine habitats, the distribution and productivity of marine species (e.g., range shifts, phenology, recruitment, vital rates) and scope for species adaptation.

Impacts of changing climate on ocean-dependent sectors, societies and economies

Understanding social and economic impacts of climate-related changes in ocean conditions including impacts on marine resource dependent sectors and communities, food security, societal health and well-being, and economic and cultural considerations.
Projecting future ocean scenarios using techniques such as coupled bio-physical-socio-ecological, end-to-end models to project climate change impacts, assess the scope for adaptation, and evaluate the social and economic results of potential management responses.

Responding to climate-related changes in ocean conditions – Governance, institutional and sectoral adaptations

Responding to climate-related changes in ocean ecosystems: Governance, institutional, sectoral or societal efforts to adapt to climate-related changes in ocean conditions. Includes examples and options for building and maintaining resilient marine resources (e.g., fish stocks), resource-dependent sectors and communities and food security (e.g., fisheries and marine-related food production systems).
Tools and approaches for planning for and mitigating climate-related impacts on ocean ecosystems including restoration and resilience of natural systems, and the development of conservation strategies that incorporate impacts of climate change and ocean acidification.
Mitigation options and risk reductions. The role of oceans in mitigation of climate change including blue carbon and the blue economy.

Advancing methods to project climate-related impacts in ocean ecosystems

Innovations and improvements expected in sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) experiments.
Modeling ocean variability (e.g., El Nino Southern Oscillation and other climate models) within the context of a changing climate.
Quantifying scenario, parameter, and structural uncertainty in models of different levels of complexity.
Tradeoffs in formally tracking species interactions, the human dimension and their feedbacks.
When and how to apply ensemble approaches and bias corrections.
Development of a global ocean ecosystem observational and modelling network. Essential Ocean Variables (EVOs) to improve and inform management and the public.
Techniques for evaluating implications of shared socioeconomic pathways. Techniques for management strategy evaluations.

Attend in Person or Join us on Facebook Live!

Small-scale fisheries are vital to the nutrition and food security of coastal communities around the world. Very little data is collected on these fisheries, which means socio-economic contributions are often overlooked by policymakers. Why are these harvests hidden? What would it take to bring them to light? Join experts from the Nereus Program, Duke, World Fish and FAO for a talk and panel discussion followed by networking, drinks and light appetizers.

To watch on Facebook Live, go to the Nereus Program Facebook page at 12:00 PST on 5/31. Participate in the Q & A session by submitting your questions in the Facebook Live comments; they will be read aloud and answered by our expert panel.

Speakers:

Xavier Basurto, Duke University

John Virdin, Duke University

TBD, FAO

Yoshitaka Ota, Nereus Program

Join us for this unique gathering to explore how local communities are engaging in environmental conservation that supports their local economies and livelihoods, and how government policy can best support local initiatives.

The conference will bring together indigenous, community, university, government, and NGO people from around the world, aiming to produce lessons of relevance to communities, policy-makers, researchers and a range of organizations – at all levels, from local to global.

Using both standard and non-conventional formats, the meeting will provide plenty of ways to share knowledge, to build partnerships and to shape the future linkages of communities, conservation and livelihoods.

Please click “Learn More” below for more information about keynote speakers and the location of the conference.

Join the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (PWIAS) and the Changing Ocean Research Unit (CORU) for a discussion on Ocean-Based Climate Solutions. This event will bring together leading Canadian experts across disciplines currently investigating solution-oriented research on climate change effects on coasts, oceans, and dependent human communities. Refreshments will be available.

Panelists:
Sybil Seitzinger – Executive Director, Pacifc Institute for Climate Solutions
Catalina Lopez-Correa – Chief Scientifc Ofcer and Vice President, Genome BC
Rashid Sumaila – Professor, Fisheries Economics Research Unit, UBC

When: Friday May 25, 2018, 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm
Where: Peter Wall Institute, Seminar room, 6331 Crescent Rd., Vancouver, B.C.

For further information contact:
William Cheung w.cheung@oceans.ubc.ca
Colette Wabnitz c.wabnitz@oceans.ubc.ca

The Ocean Research in Canada Alliance (ORCA) is a new initiative in its formative stages. The successful 2017 workshop recommended initiatives to move the Canadian ocean science and technology community towards coordination of research efforts, programming, and associated infrastructure. ORCA 2018 addresses these challenges and opportunities by facilitating knowledge exchange and outcome-oriented sessions focused on action to drive collaboration. The goal of ORCA 2018 is to bring Canada’s ocean science and technology community together to create a successful culture of collaboration that can deliver an aligned and co-ordinated path forward for oceans science and technology.

If you wish to contribute to this goal and you are engaged in ocean research or ocean-related scientific and technical work in an occupation focused on oceans science and technology, consider attending ORCA 2018. Attendees will address questions like …

• How do we improve Canada’s capacity to perform science at sea?
• How do we increase public understanding about the importance of healthy oceans?
• How do we strengthen the linkages in the ocean science innovation sector?

Sessions are focused on sharing ideas and knowledge about:

• Aligned Efforts, Plans, and Funding Around Shared Priorities;
• Advancing the Sharing of Infrastructure;
• Science in Support of Public Policy, Regulation, and Decision-making;
• Encouraging Innovation and the Commercialization of Knowledge and Technology;
• Communicating Ocean Science and Technology and Building Canada’s Ocean Literacy;
• Working Towards a Cohesive Voice for the Ocean Science Community in International Fora, and;
• Identifying opportunities for collaboration.

The meeting is open to active members of the ocean-focused scientific research and technology innovation community in all its diversity, from those whose occupations engage them in Traditional Ecological Knowledge, to earth observation of phytoplankton, to benthic ecosystem studies or seabed mapping, and all the ocean topics in-between.

There is no cost for registration but you must pre-register in order to attend. The program, materials and details are available through registration.

Please click the link below for more information, or here to register. Registration closes April 6th, 2018.

We look forward to working with you to advance ocean science and technology in Canada!

The shorelines are dynamic environmental, social and economic spaces in British Columbia.

With a lens on the Saanich peninsula (W̱SÁNEĆ Territory), we have invited a diverse range of stakeholders to speak about nearshore restoration, protection and conservation.

Join us as we explore success stories, partnerships, and ways forward through short presentations and a panel discussion.

Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Free parking is available in the lot off Mills Rd and underground off Resthaven Dr.

This event is organized by World Wildlife Fund and its partners in the Victoria area, and co-sponsored by OceanCanada.

RSVP to Anne Marie at a.goodfellow@oceans.ubc.ca

Click on Learn More for details.

Speakers and Panelists:

• Erica McClaren | BC Parks
• Nikki Wright | SeaChange
• Ian Bruce | Peninsula Streams
• Kitty Lloyd | Capital Regional District Green Shores Local Government Working Group
• Kerry Finley | Friends of Shoal Harbour
• Sydney McCabe | Eagle Wing Tours
• William Collins | Resident of Reay Creek
• Lorne Underwood | Tsawout Nation

Local Artists:

• Helen Watt
• Pamela Wootten

Scientists have been working to make fisheries environmentally sustainable for decades. But startling exposés of human rights violations (particularly the widespread use of slave labor) in the seafood industry in the past few years have highlighted the need for governments, businesses, and nonprofits to start working together to address human rights and social issues in the sector – including access to resources and markets, food security, and livelihood security. Conservation International recently spearheaded a working group of environmental NGOs, social responsibility NGOs, academics, and business leaders to develop a framework for social responsibility and offer concrete recommendations to businesses, governments, and NGOs for ensuring that social responsibility is enforced throughout the seafood supply chain. These recommendations will help businesses reduce reputational risks in their seafood supply chains. They will help governments better regulate marine resources and their national seafood industries. And they will also help nonprofits and donor organizations determine the best ways to direct their resources to address critical social issues. Learn more at http://stories.conservation.org/a-sea-change-for-seafood. Webinar hosted by the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe).

Monthly Lectures

The Ocean Matters lecture series will explore how all facets of modern society affects, and is affected by, climate change and our oceans.  It will concentrate on significant, but under-reported aspects of sustainability and climate change and demonstrate that, not only is it important that we tackle human-induced environmental changes, but that it is vital to that we do so in the most effective way we can. It will take into account the social, cultural, political and biological factors that influence the world’s ecosystems, and the complex interactions between these factors, using science and evidence-based studies are our guide.

January Lecture Information

Speaker:  Kai Chan
Title: Seeking Justice Amidst Complexity: Sea Otters, Poachers, Kelp, and Coastal Communities
Date: January 23, 2018
Time: 7 p.m. (doors at 6.30 p.m.)
Ticket Price: free (register now)

This lecture will concentrate significant, but under-reported aspects of sustainability and climate change and demonstrate that, not only is it important that we tackle human-induced environmental changes, but that it is vital to that we do so in the most effective way we can. It will take into account the social, cultural, political and biological factors that influence the world’s ecosystems, and the complex interactions between these factors, using science and evidence-based studies are our guide.

Kai Chan will be our first speaker. Kai Chan is a professor in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at University of British Columbia. He is an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented sustainability scientist, trained in ecology, policy, and ethics from Princeton and Stanford Universities. He strives to understand how social-ecological systems can be transformed to be both better and wilder (‘better’ including considerations of justice). Plus, it is his internship funding that got me the money to work at the Aquarium over the summer.

He will talk about his work on the reintroduction of sea otters off Vancouver Island, the trophic cascade this initiated and the consequences of this on both the aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities it has affected. In addition, he may talk a little bit about what motivates him and perhaps an anecdote or two about what it is really like to be a biologist on the ground doing real research.