Oceans of Opportunity

Long in tune with the Salish Sea and beyond, UBC netted more recognition and funding for ocean research including a $2.6 million (US) grant from The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to the UBC Sea Around Us Project.

The grant provides policy-makers and NGOs working with South Asian, East and West Africa and Arabic nations with more accurate and comprehensive fisheries data to help those countries better analyze, support and manage their own marine resources and local ocean-dependent economies.

Next on the line, UBC received $2.5 million from the federal Social Sciences and Research Council (SSHRC) under the OceanCanada collaborative aegis to examine the future health and economic potential of Canada’s oceans and the effects brought on by climate changes, ocean acidification, pollution, fish migration and other factors affecting costal-dependent communities, including Aboriginal.

UBC Fisheries Centre professor and OceanCanada research director Ussif Rashid Sumaila said UBC researchers “will map out possible future scenarios for our coastal communities so we can prepare and plan for the challenges and take advantage of new opportunities.”