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A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET
World Ocean Day Q&A WITH
Q&A WITH
John Henderson
Marie-Chantal Ross We spoke with Marie-Chantal Ross, Program Director of the National Research Council of Canada's (NRC) Ocean Program, to discuss the importance of ocean research and innovation, and what it can do to help towards the sustainable management of our ocean.
We sat down with John Henderson, Vice President of First Nations Fisheries Council of BC (FNFC), to talk about Coastal First Nations and their connection the ocean. Can you provide some insights into the significance of the ocean for First Nations communities?
Read more about the First Nations Fisheries Council of BC on page 2.
How does the NRC’s research contribute to our understanding of ocean ecosystems and their biodiversity?
The values that the First Nations have regarding the ocean is far reaching. The ocean and everything in it are vital teachers for Coastal First Nations. We have learned, from all the past generations, how to be elite fishermen and how to utilize everything in the ocean.
We have two areas of research — a bio perspective and a coastal resilience one. We work with phytoplankton as a tool to detect and understand environmental changes in the ocean that impact marine organisms. Phytoplankton are the photosynthetic microbes distributed throughout the Read the full interview ocean that provide roughly 50 per cent of the atmosphere’s with Marie-Chantal on innovatingcanada.ca. oxygen. Monitoring natural phytoplankton communities as biosensors will help us to quickly detect changes in the ocean resulting from broader climate change impacts. For coastal resilience, we engineer with nature by working with our collaborators in what are called nature-based solutions. When there's storm surges or erosion, rather than putting up these gray infrastructures (like breakwaters), we're now using things like living dykes. Living dykes can be seagrass, an island, or a trough. It’s about using nature and learning from it to help with these resiliency issues so we can adapt to climate change without having our infrastructure washed into sea.
How has the relationship between First Nations and the ocean evolved over time, and what are some of the key traditional practices associated with it?
Over time we have kept quite true to our traditional practices. However, due to no fault of their own, First Nations have been disconnected from traditional harvesting practices in their own territories, often having to acquire licenses or travel long distances. As the ocean has changed, there is a deep sense of displacement from what once provided food, teachings, and culture.
What are some of the current challenges faced by First Nations communities in maintaining their cultural connections to the ocean?
Can you explain any recent discoveries or breakthroughs in your field of ocean research? There are always breakthroughs in this space. The global research community has been studying microplastics in marine environments for quite some time. However, new technologies and predictive models must be developed to accurately measure the amount of plastics in the environment and better understand their impacts on marine life. Recently, most of the research has focused on using spherical plastic particles to understand the impact of microplastics. However, microplastics are not perfectly spherical beads in the real world and their unique characteristics have important effects on their behaviour and fate in the environment. So, we've been using zebrafish, a model organism used for research, to characterize and predict the bioaccumulation and toxicity of plastic debris.
The ocean is an important teacher for many First Nations people and the depletion of marine resources have limited access to teachings, culture, and traditional food sources. In the past we, as First Nations, worked together, went to the beaches, and provided for our communities. Now, in many cases, food is being trucked into communities whose territories can no longer provide for them. Being disconnected from our traditional harvesting practices, makes it harder for the youth to be involved and get the experience they need to continue to uphold these traditions.
Ocean Week Canada Celebrates our Connection to the Big Blue Planet Ocean Week Canada is back for its second year, with events being hosted across the country, helping get Canadians involved in and passionate about the protection of our ocean.
T
his week, individuals, organizations, and communities across the countr y are coming together to celebrate Ocean Week Canada and raise awareness about the significance of the global ocean and its vital role in sustaining life on earth. Ocean Week Canada is an annual celebration that started in 2022 and rapidly grew into a nationwide festival of events. Community-led events are the heart of the celebration because they reflect unique geographical and cultural connections to local waters. The Ocean Week Canada festival connects these regional celebrations to form a national movement of public engagement, knowledge sharing, and community action.
The wave is growing! There are over 160 registered events in 2023 and organizers expect over 500,000 people to dive into Ocean Week. The weeklong festival features a number of activities including a traveling giant ocean floor map/Augmented Reality experience, science talks and book readings, art exhibits and performances, water quality testing, shoreline tours and cleanups, film screenings, and more. One of the biggest events is hosted by The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Canadian Geographic at 50 Sussex Dr., Ottawa, which features an exhibit titled PRESSURE, showcasing James Cameron’s DEEPSEA CHALLENGER. A complete list of public events can be found on the Ocean
Week Canada website. Ocean Week Canada is organized by the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC), a national project office that coordinates multi-partner collaborations to advance ocean literacy in Canada. “Through these events, the goal is for Canadians to gain a deeper understanding of humanity’s relationship with the ocean. By creating spaces for public conversations and diverse pathways for engagement in conservation, we hope to draw attention to the urgent need for ocean conservation, through education, collaboration, and community action,” says Meghan Callon, Communications and Design Lead for COLC.
To find an Ocean Week event near you or to create your own, visit OceanWeek.ca. This article was sponsored by the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition.
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