Ocean Wise

This week, I attended the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s inaugural Salmon Recovery & Resilience Conference. I was honoured to present my work in creating recommendations for sustainable BC salmon fisheries and our path forward towards more equitable assessments for small-scale fisheries at Ocean Wise — over two days of learning and connecting with others, these are my key takeaways: 1️⃣ Threats to wild salmon are growing, and changing quickly in the face of climate change and resource extractions from watersheds. Tackling these challenges will require all hands on deck. The collaborative spirit at this event was really inspiring—how can we continue building these bridges? 2️⃣ Continued monitoring is essential to track salmon health, but we need to balance the goals of restoring ecosystems to their “original” state with adaptive strategies that will be critical where restoration isn’t possible, while still ensuring basic needs for communities that depend on salmon. 3️⃣ Salmon conservation must centre First Nations leadership—Indigenous Knowledge is essential to long-term success. We must also create space in the conservation world for youth to participate in decision making and have their voices heard. I left feeling both challenged and hopeful. What role can each of us play in shaping resilient ecosystems and communities for pacific salmon?

Recently our Director of Ocean Pollution and Plastics, Charlie Cox, was invited to speak on a panel at the Canadian Science Policy Centre conference. Charlie was pleased to speak to how Ocean Wise leverages citizen science (and other) data to fight plastic pollution. Thanks to Environment and Climate Change Canada for organizing this panel!

Welcome to the December edition of the Ocean Matters newsletter! As 2024 comes to a close, we're looking back at some of our highlights from this year. We hope you enjoy your read! Questions or comments about this month's featured stories? Let us know in the comments.

Today our Fisheries and Seafood Science Lead, Samantha Renshaw is speaking on a panel at the Pacific Salmon Foundation BC Salmon Recovery & Resilience Conference in Vancouver alongside Scott Hinch, Amy Wakelin, Sonia Strobel, and Jeff Grout. The panel will focus on how we can transform Pacific salmon fisheries to become more selective and sustainable for the future. In 2024, B.C. salmon was a key focus for Ocean Wise. We launched the Salmon Advisory Panel and developed a new assessment process to identify 15 sustainable BC salmon options. We’re honoured to contribute to such meaningful conversations as we work together to protect this vital resource. Learn more about our B.C. salmon work here: https://lnkd.in/gGre_Xpt

We’re sharing this opportunity to support Sei Whale conservation. Ocean Wise focuses on action, but we encourage participation in all efforts to protect marine life. We're also pleased to collaborate with Whale Research Collective on their large whale work, which focuses on closing knowledge gaps on data deficient Atlantic sei whales through eDNA sampling to better understand their distribution

Ocean Wise Whales Initiative Director Chloe Robinson, PhD is a co-author of this study covered in #TheGuardian, which reveals the prevalence globally of whale-ship strikes. As part an international team, Chloe helped compile a dataset of 435,000 whale locations to generate global distribution models for four globally ranging species.    Ocean Wise is working to mitigate ship strikes with the Whale Report Alert System. The Whale Report Alert System (WRAS) is a cutting-edge conservation tool designed to protect whales from ships strikes and disturbance by alerting mariners to their presence in real-time. The WRAS is informed by a combination of local sightings networks and automated detections from infrared cameras and hydrophones. These data are transmitted to ships in real-time, enabling mariners to take proactive measures to avoid collisions with whales. Learn more at ocean.org/whales/wras. https://lnkd.in/gkJ3_8V5

The Oceana Canada annual Fishery Audit provides a progress report on the state of Canada’s fisheries. This document is a great reminder of the success and shortcomings over the previous year and provides recommendations for improvements in the year ahead. Here are our takeaways from this years’ report: - Still only 35% of Canadian fish stocks are considered Healthy. - Our understanding of species stock status has improved, thanks to increasing monitoring and management of key fish stocks and we are starting to see increasing incorporation of climate change consideration in fisheries decision making. - Rebuilding plans continue to be developed, but their uptake has been slow going. - Bright spots also include management decisions that follow scientific advice showing recovery progress – like Pacific herring (HG), select Atlantic herring populations, and Atlantic mackerel. - Continued need to improve integration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems We will use this Fishery Audit and its accompanying data to inform our rapid assessment recommendations for 2025. Stay tuned for these to launch in the new year! #WorldFisheriesDay #CanadianFisheries

Plastic pollution needs urgent attention and cohesive global policy with quantitative binding targets, not vague platitudes, writes Ocean Wise Director of Ocean Pollution and Plastics, Charlie Cox, leading up to INC-5. “Only an ambitious and quantitative goal to reduce production – or, at minimum, an agreement to set such a goal at a future date – can set up the deep, structural transformation our ocean desperately needs.” #INC5 #PlasticPollution #Microplastics #PlasticsTreaty

"By bringing the ocean to the children and showing them its wonders, we hope to inspire a new generation of ocean protectors. It makes it easier to understand the direct and indirect impact of every human action on ocean health if connections are made.” - Ocean Wise Manager of Mobile Programs, Mercedes Bosch Toca. The Ocean Wise Sea Dome is a portable, 360-degree ocean adventure, showcasing footage of marine ecosystems to bring kids of all ages up close and personal with the ocean! Learn more and book at ocean.org/education.

🌊 On National Philanthropy Day, we’re diving deep into gratitude! 🌊 Thank you for caring about the health of our ocean, making sure our shorelines are cleaner, and inspiring our youth to protect incredible marine life. 🐋 Board Member Rich Simons shares his family's passion for Ocean Wise. 🗣️ “We believe in the mission and vision of Ocean Wise. We need the ocean and the ocean needs us. Linda and I give to this remarkable organization because we have seen the impact the good work being done is having not only on our ocean but on our planet. Supporting Ocean Wise means supporting change for future generations.” Today, we celebrate you – Ocean Wise donors, supporters, volunteers and partners. Your generosity makes this all possible. Thank you for being the heartbeat of our ocean! We’d love to hear why you support the protection of the ocean. Let us know below.