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Evan J. Andrews and Ratana Chuenpagdee, Memorial University and the Ocean Frontier Institute Module I, have secured funding for a multi-year project, Moving Together for Marine Conservation in Newfoundland and Labrador (399k, 2022-2026). The project is funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, under the Oceans Management Contribution Program.

This article reviewed 137 case studies from 56 countries  to illustrate the wide range of factors that makes small-scale fisheries vulnerable. Vulnerability undermines the role of small-scale fisheries as providers of sustainable livelihoods, good health and wellbeing, food security, and economic development, thus hindering different targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the goals of Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries from being achieved. Having a complete view of all these factors (see Fig. 5 from paper) is likely helping decision-makers to adopt, adapt or rectify strategies to reduce social, economic and political marginalization of small-scale fisheries and promote their viability.

The recent UN Ocean Conference opened the floor for a global discussion about actions that can be taken around the world to help “Save the ocean and protect the future”. Local actions are also required, and connections need to be made at this level to recognize the relationships between marine conservation and our everyday lives, through work, food, song, art, and much more.

“The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want”

-   The vision of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)

The 4th World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress: North America took place on June 20-22, 2022 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Chaired by OFI Module I members Ratana Chuenpagdee, Evan Andrews and Paul Foley, the congress included three packed days with plenaries on topics such as ‘Getting Adaption Right’, ‘Making Connections to Get Small Right’, ‘Step Zero for Getting Marine Conservation Right’ and ‘Getting Future Right’.

The 4WSFC North America is co-hosted by Memorial University and OFI Module I, in partnership with TBTI Global and other key organizations.

Registration for the congress is open until June 10 (June 1 for those presenting).

The congress aims to discuss bold prospects and innovative ideas and strategies needed to address pressing issues for North America’s small-scale fisheries, and fisheries and ocean sustainability, set within the context of a changing ocean, the Covid-19 pandemic, and climate change, among other challenges.

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There is currently a large amount of ocean data being collected and stored in online dedicated databases, often open-source and these data are being used to aid in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) for resource extraction, marine conservation area designation and to secure boundaries for sovereign states economic exclusion zones. This data could lead to “Communities being related, connected and integrated into an emerging understanding of the ocean”, said Dr. Kevin St. Martin.

In other words, it can help create communities at sea.

What does it mean to get marine conservation right? 

The interdisciplinary team behind the ‘Getting Conservation Right’ platform has added several methods to engage with the discussion, one of which is  The Pairs Game. But it is really not a game as there is no winner or loser. In fact, there is no right or wrong answer in the game either.

This ‘In Focus’ piece highlights the recently launched website, Getting Conservation Right, that focuses on marine conservation in Newfoundland and Labrador. What does it mean to get marine conservation right? This platform offers a collaborative space for people to talk about this big question and sets the stage for learning about exciting prospects for marine conservation in Newfoundland and Labrador.

While there is growing recognition that diverse societal considerations need to be integrated into management to achieve sustainability, contemporary management approaches remain dominated by natural and physical sciences (Hector et al 2020; Bavinck & Verrips 2020). As a result, there has been a significant lack of capacity to integrate human dimensions into governance and management processes to achieve sustainability (UN 2009; Stephenson et al 2017). Furthermore, methods for analyzing access and benefits in the context of sustainability frameworks are lacking.

Local Indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge and perspectives have long been integral to the health of our ecosystems. However, the need to include these perspectives into the decision-making process for conservation has only been recently recognized in Canada. Local perspectives come from generations of lived experience within these marine and coastal spaces. These insights can be invaluable when directing efforts of marine conservation that will work effectively to protect ecologically diverse areas while also catering to the needs of coastal communities who rely on these areas for their livelihoods.

This ‘In Focus’ piece will discuss the recent announcement of the Marine Conservation Targets and how early collaboration with coastal communities is a vital step in successfully reaching these targets, especially for the Atlantic province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Pursuing systematic change in the fisheries sector or interested in the preservation of marine resources? Join us for this virtual book launch by author and professor Rashid Sumaila and engage in a discussion on his new book, Infinity Fish: Economics and the Future of Fish and Fisheries.

Thursday, February 10, 2022

12:30 pm - 1:50 pm PT

Zoom webinar

Please register in advance

Speaker: Dr. Rashid Sumaila, University Killam Professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs; Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, UBC

Discussant: Farha Guerrero, Host of The Blue Hour, UBC's CiTR 101.9FM 

On January 19, during the OFI People and the Ocean Speaker Series, Dr. Kraan talked about the role and relevance of marine social scientists in today’s world seas and oceans governance. She presented the ongoing developments such as the attention on the ‘social dimension of fisheries’ in the UN policy and the increasing number of marine social science research and provided examples of the applied social science work she was involved in within the European context. She also talked about the role of marine social scientists as a bridge between policymakers and academic scientists and the urgency to act. In her talk, she posed a question: how can we as marine social scientists become as relevant as possible to make a difference before it is too late?

Small-scale enterprises play a key role in anchoring fisheries wealth and employment in rural regions of the province and their ongoing strong presence in the Newfoundland and Labrador fisheries is testimony to their resilience. However, relatively few younger harvesters have entered small-scale fisheries in recent decades and the existing cohort is aging rapidly pointing to a looming recruitment problem.

This past December María Andrée López Gómez, a former OFI Module I postdoctoral fellow, gave at talk as part of MIGS seminar series in which she presented research done in the Sub-module I-2 that aims to identify trends in recruitment, training and retention of the workforce in fisheries in the region of NL and understand the processes and dynamics surrounding training and retention in fisheries.

“You are entering a COVID-19 Zone. No docking without permission”. In early 2021, this is a sign you might find if you are a seafarer landing in Taiwan after possibly years away on a distant water fishing vessel. On December 9th, Dr. Melissa Marshke (University of Ottawa), on behalf of Dr. Peter Vandergeest (York University), discussed vulnerabilities brought on and revealed by COVID-19 for seafaring migrant fish workers in Asia and the implications for Atlantic Canada in a presentation, “Seafarers in Industrial Fishing: Examining Migrant Worker Precarity”. 

As the Omicron variant intensifying globally, understanding COVID-19 in the seafood industry remains a timely and critical topic both near and far from the North Atlantic Ocean. In focus in this month’s newsletter are key points, discussion, and prospects from Marshke and Vandergeest’s presentation, during the latest seminar from the Ocean Frontier Institute Social Science and Humanities Working Group (OFI SSH) - People and the Ocean Speaker Series.

OFI Module I is hiring a Postdoctoral Fellow, based at the Department of Geography at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL Canada. The fellowship is for one year, beginning as early as possible.

On December 15, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Joyce Murray, announced a national Call for Proposals process to support the achievement of Canada's Marine Conservation Targets through outreach, monitoring and stewardship, and capacity building.

Every year, the Society of Policy Scientists meets for its annual Institute. Lillian Saul and Evan Andrews (OFI - Module I) participated in this year’s Institute themed Policy Sciences for Complex Problem-Solving. Learn about their transdisciplinary approach to research, which helps strengthen how the problem is framed and how the research is conducted.

As a contribution to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), a knowledge-sharing platform is being created to learn about who's doing what in ocean-related research and to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and partnership.