Deep Dives
Thought-provoking research providing extensive learning opportunities

B.C.’s marine tech sector is riding a wave of innovation

Dee Hon, BC Business Fisheries & Aquaculture Shipping & Ports

But our growing ocean economy faces stiff competition from overseas.

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Becoming #GenerationRestoration: Ecosystem Restoration for People, Nature and Climate

Dickson, B. et al., UNEP Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

To launch the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, UNEP has released this synthesis report as a call to action for anyone and everyone to join the #GenerationRestoration movement to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide.

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3,000 Shipping Containers Fell Into the Pacific Ocean Last Winter

Tim Lydon, The Revelator Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports

A rise in container-ship accidents adds to the growing marine plastic pollution problem and poses risks to ocean health, wildlife and mariners.

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The Second World Ocean Assessment (Volume II)

United Nations Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

The Second World Ocean Assessment (WOA II) is the major output of the second cycle of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the States of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects. It is the newest outcome of the only integrated assessment of the world’s ocean at the global level covering environmental, economic and social aspects.

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The Second World Ocean Assessment (Volume I)

United Nations Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

The Second World Ocean Assessment (WOA II) is the major output of the second cycle of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the States of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects. It is the newest outcome of the only integrated assessment of the world’s ocean at the global level covering environmental, economic and social aspects.

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The Potential of Zero-Carbon Bunker Fuels in Developing Countries

Englert, D. et al., The World Bank Energy Solutions Shipping & Ports

Across the maritime industry, there is general agreement that shipping must undergo a rapid energy transition. This implies a shift from fossil bunker fuels, such as the predominant heavy fuel oil (HFO), to a new generation of alternative bunker fuels.

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New age of sail looks to slash massive maritime carbon emissions

Andrew Willner, Mongabay Energy Solutions Shipping & Ports

Today, startup companies like Fair Transport (with its retrofitted wooden vessels Tres Hombres and Nordlys); modest sized proof-of-concept firms, with purpose-built vessels like Grain de Sail; and large cargo ship retrofits and purpose-built vessels like Neoline’s new large cargo vessels, are starting to address CO2 emissions.

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The Outlaw Ocean: Business and Technology Solutions that Address Illegal Fishing and Labor Abuses in Seafood Supply Chains

Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions (COS) and the Stanford Law School (SLS) Fisheries & Aquaculture Shipping & Ports

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a complex, systemic issue with impacts that resonate through global supply chains and can particularly harm those most vulnerable: the workers on fishing vessels. The millions of tons of fish stolen each year result in a huge loss to the economies of coastal nations and a threat to food security for the billion people who depend on fish for protein. Additionally, vessels that fish illegally often engage in labor abuses, including everything from substandard working conditions to modern slavery, prompting a human rights crisis.

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Three decades of trace element sediment contamination: The mining of governmental databases and the need to address hidden sources for clean and healthy seas

Richir, J. et al., Environment International Shipping & Ports

Trace elements (TEs) frequently contaminate coastal marine sediments with many included in priority chemical lists or control legislation. These, improved waste treatment and increased recycling have fostered the belief that TE pollution is declining. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of long-term robust datasets to support this confidence.

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Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad

President Joseph R. Biden Jr., The White House Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

The United States and the world face a profound climate crisis. We have a narrow moment to pursue action at home and abroad in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of that crisis and to seize the opportunity that tackling climate change presents.

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China’s plastic import ban increases prospects of environmental impact mitigation of plastic waste trade flow worldwide

Zongguo W. et al., Nature Communications Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports

Since the late 1990s, the trend of plastic waste shipment from developed to developing countries has been increasing. In 2017, China announced an unprecedented ban on its import of most plastic waste, resulting in a sharp decline in global plastic waste trade flow and changes in the treatment structure of countries, whose impacts on global environmental sustainability are enormous but yet unexamined.

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Transformations for a Sustainable Ocean Economy: A Vision for Protection, Production and Prosperity

The High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

We have a collective opportunity and responsibility to protect and restore the health of our ocean, and build a sustainable ocean economy that can provide food, empower coastal communities, power our cities, transport our people and goods and provide innovative solutions to global challenges.

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NOAA Report on the U.S. Marine Economy

Office for Coastal Management, NOAA Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

These reports examine the critically important economic contributions of the oceans and Great Lakes to the marine economy of the United States. 

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Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass

Emily Elhacham et al., Nature Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

Here we quantify the human-made mass, referred to as ‘anthropogenic mass’, and compare it to the overall living biomass on Earth, which currently equals approximately 1.1 teratonnes. 

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Ocean Solutions That Benefit People, Nature and the Economy

Martin R. Stuchtey et al., The Ocean Panel Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

This report lays out the contours of a new relationship between the ocean and humanity. Building on the latest scientific research, analyses and debates from around the world, the report showcases a balanced model for ocean management that simultaneously achieves effective ocean protection, sustainable production and equitable prosperity.

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Advancing Science for Sustainable Ocean Business: An Opportunity for the Private Sector

IOC-UNESCO / United Nations Global Compact Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports

Outlines the opportunities for the private sector to support the objectives of the Decade of Ocean Science (2021-2030). Developed in collaboration with the UN Global Compact and IOC-UNESCO to raise the awareness of the Decade among private sector partners and draw the private sector’s attention to the key role of ocean science in building the blue economy in a sustainable manner.

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Untraceable: The Consequences of Canada’s Poorly Regulated Supply Chain

Sayara Thurston, Oceana Fisheries & Aquaculture Shipping & Ports

Seafood is one of the most highly traded food commodities in the world. In Canada, a lack of transparency in seafood supply chains is masking hidden costs – to the economy, our fisheries sector, ocean health and global human rights.

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Coastal Development: Resilience, Restoration and Infrastructure Requirements

Andy Steven, et al., High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports Tourism

This paper highlights trends in coastal behaviour and comments on the dynamics that weaken and strengthen coastlines, including infrastructure, shipping, tourism, and future development plans. The paper makes an economic and security case for resilient coastlines, examines trade-offs between restoration and infrastructure development and recommends new models for shipping and tourism.

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The Outlaw Ocean: An Exploration of Policy Solutions to Address Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor in the Seafood Industry

Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions (COS) and the Stanford Law School (SLS) Fisheries & Aquaculture Shipping & Ports

Largely out of sight, criminals pillage the oceans. They steal millions of tons of fish each year. That is a huge economic loss to coastal nations, estimated to be somewhere in the tens of billions of dollars. It is an even larger threat to food security; a billion people depend on fish as their source of protein, and in many of the countries that are most dependent, one fish in three is stolen. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing undermines governments’ efforts to manage their resources and undercuts the millions of fishers who are playing by the rules.

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A Sustainable and Equitable Blue Recovery to the COVID-19 Crisis

Eliza Northrop, Manaswita Konar, Nicola Frost and Elizabeth Hollaway, World Resources Institute Energy Solutions Fisheries & Aquaculture Plastics & Pollution Shipping & Ports

This new Ocean Panel–commissioned report, ‘A Sustainable and Equitable Blue Recovery to the COVID-19 Crisis’, offers a timely and practical roadmap featuring five priority blue stimulus opportunities that are ripe for immediate investment of stimulus funding. For policy and financial decision-makers, these are ready-made solutions to unlock much-needed relief and resilience and build a fair, just and sustainable ocean economy fit for everyone’s future. 

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