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| A number of families enjoying the interactive touch tank during last year's World Oceans Day event at St Francis Xavier University. |
Happy World Ocean's Day
World Oceans Day was a Canadian initiative at the Earth Summit in 1992 that has since grown into a worldwide movement with thousands of events being held annually in over 140 different countries. The objective of World Oceans Day are simple. To engage the public on the wonder and beauty of the oceans that connect and sustain us; and to call for sustainable management of these global resources.
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| Ella Hunter getting fly casting instruction from Jim Logan Cheticamp Salmon Run last year. This was just one of the events in NS associated with World Oceans Day 2019. |
In NS and PEI alone there are usually dozens of events to mark the day that happen in early June. Regardless of your interests you are sure to find an event to your liking as these events range from beach hikes and cleanups to interactive displays and tours to film screenings and guest speakers. There are even a few fun runs and beverage tastings thrown in here and there as well. Many of our affiliates and partners are heavily involved in participating. I know that they put considerable efforts into making their part of World Oceans Day fun, educational, and exciting so I encourage you to get out and partake in the experience
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| People listening to some speakers (upper) and mingling (lower) at an Ocean Week Halifax event last year at the Kieth's Brewery |
Unfortunately this year because of Covid-19 many of these events have been postponed or modified from previous years. I personally looked forward getting out with our local Scout group at the beach and participating in St. FX's World Ocean's Day event but both of those were unfortunately cancelled. Despite Covid, there are still some events happening. I encourage to check out the events listed on Ocean Week Halfiax's website (
http://www.oceansweek.ca/2020-events-oceans-week-hfx) or visit the World Oceans Day website (
https://worldoceansday.org/events) to see what online and virtual events you can participate in. You can also check in with indigenous organizations, or your local watershed and environment groups as they may be involved with smaller local events that are happening this year. Check out the
Nova Scotia Salmon Association Adopt-A-Stream website or the
PEI Watershed Alliance website to find a list of some of these organizations near you.
Oceans and Salmon
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| Dr Jon Carr , ASF's Vice President of Research, speaking at the screening of Artifishal during an Oceans Week Halifax event last year. Jon is leading ASF's charge to find out what is killing Atlantic Salmon in the ocean. |
My blog wouldn't be complete if I didn't make a connection between World Oceans Day and Atlantic Salmon. As you may know salmon abundance globally have declined significantly. To the point that many of our populations especially those furthest south are endangered or at the point of extinction. This collapse in salmon populations stretches back decades but had a major decline in the late 1980's/early 1990's. The exact cause of this decline is still unknown but it has been linked to at sea mortality during the period when salmon leave their natal streams and head to the ocean to feed and grow. One of ASF's strategic objectives is to determine what is killing salmon in the ocean and offer solutions. Our research team, led by Dr. Jon Carr, are involved with tracking work and research with a number of different partners to meet this objective. While the explanations and solutions are complex we do know that some human activities in the ocean have more of an impact than others. Open net pen aquaculture is particularly problematic. To visualize this impact I recently tried to correlate aquaculture production and estimates of prefishery abundance (an estimate of how many salmon are in the North Atlantic Ocean before harvest). I got the aquaculture production statistics from DFO's website (
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/stats/aqua/aqua-prod-eng.htm). The prefishery abundance estimates I got from the
annual report the Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon (WGNAS). WGNAS is a committee of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), consisting of delegates from 14 North Atlantic Nations including Canada. With the usual caveats about correlation not meaning causation I think these graphs are telling.
World Oceans Day 2020 - How can you help?
According to the official World Oceans Day website, the aim for 2020 World Oceans Day is growing the global movement to call on world leaders to protect 30% of our blue planet by 2030. This critical need is called 30x30. By safeguarding at least 30% of our ocean through a network of highly protected areas we can help ensure a healthy home for all! If you would like to get involved check out their website (
https://worldoceansday.org/). Of course you can also always support ASF's work too. Find out more at
asf.ca
