© Shutterstock Tide rolling on to the beach

Ocean

The ocean is in a state of crisis caused by shipping traffic, pollution, overfishing, poor management and climate change. Thankfully, it’s not too late to return the ocean to a healthier state.

Healthy Ocean, Healthy Communities.

Canada has the world’s longest coastline — bordering the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans — and is responsible for one of the largest ocean areas of any country in the world. The ocean feeds us, regulates our climate, provides us with medicine and fills us with inspiration.

The ocean produces more than half of the oxygen that sustains life on the planet. Its ability to absorb carbon dioxide helps protect all life from the harsh impacts of climate change. The ocean is also the main source of protein for about one billion people around the world. In fact, more than 200 million people fish for a living. It is also considered the aquatic highway that connects nations and makes global trade possible – over 80 per cent of all traded goods are transported by ships from around the world.

Meet Our Experts

    Photo-of-Hussein-Alidina-WWF

    Hussein Alidina

    Lead Specialist, Marine Conservation

    Hussein Alidina

    Lead Specialist, Marine Conservation

    Hussein has worked on marine conservation initiatives in Canada and abroad. Now in Canada’s Pacific, He implements WWF’s conservation partnership with the Gitga’at Nation and works with partners to reduce the impacts of shipping on whales and advance marine protected areas. Hussein holds degrees in Environment & Resource Science and Marine Management.

    Sam Davin

    Senior Specialist, Marine Conservation & Shipping

    Sam Davin

    Senior Specialist, Marine Conservation & Shipping

    Sam supports WWF-Canada’s Wildlife and Industry team through engagement with government, industry, ENGOs, Indigenous partners, and the International Maritime Organization. Drawing on his research and environmental consulting experience, Sam provides an evidence-based perspective on vessel-source pollution and voyage planning. Sam holds a PhD in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

    Chelsea Boaler

    Senior Specialist, Resilient Habitats

    Chelsea Boaler

    Senior Specialist, Resilient Habitats

    Chelsea contributes to WWF-Canada’s Resilient Habitats team by supporting Indigenous partners, regionally in Newfoundland and Labrador, with their conservation priorities by engaging communities, government agencies, other ENGOs, industry, and academic institutions. She further supports our Global Arctic Program on the international stage through her Observer participation on the Central Arctic Oceans Fisheries Agreement. Chelsea has significant academic and professional experience in habitat restoration, fisheries management, and grass-roots-based conservation and protection initiatives. Chelsea is currently a PhD Candidate in Fisheries Science with the Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research at the Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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© Kevin McNamee / WWF-Canada Moresby Island, British Columbia, Canada

The ocean is in crisis

Centuries of overuse and neglect threaten to leave us with a vast blue wasteland. It’s time to change how we see the ocean from a place where we take what we want and dump what we don’t, to a shared resource of immense value and fragility.

Once considered inexhaustible, the ocean is now in a state of global crisis as demands accelerate. Shipping, tourism, overfishing and bycatch, oil and gas exploration and extraction, renewable energy, pollution and the increase of coastal development — all of these take a toll on ocean habitats and species. What’s more, climate change is changing ocean temperatures and causing the ocean to become more acidic.

As the ocean warms and arctic sea ice melts, previously impassable areas are opened to shipping traffic, exposing wildlife to new stressors and impacts. For example, underwater noise in the Arctic more than doubled from 2013 to 2019.

As for Canada’s east and west coasts, already-high levels of shipping continue to increase at around two to three per cent each year. More ships mean more noise, more discharged waste and greater chances of lethal strikes on marine mammals.

We urgently need smart ocean management plans that will protect important ecosystems and keep the ocean healthy. This includes a strong network of area-based protection measures with consistent and sufficient regulations to effectively protect marine ecosystems while supporting the communities that depend on these ecosystems. Additionally, protection, sustainable management, and restoration through nature-based climate solutions can provide benefits for biodiversity, the climate and even our own well-being.

What WWF-Canada is Doing

The ocean is becoming more crowded. As ship traffic and other industrial activities increase, whales and other marine life are losing the habitat and quiet they need to survive. It’s not too late to bring the ocean back to a state of health and resilience. We are working to change the tide, driving protection and sustainable management so the ocean can have a vibrant future. WWF-Canada is advocating for protection in priority regions, working with industry on lasting solutions and supporting global agreements like the 30×30 initiative and High Seas treaty.

© DFO Dolphins in the Gully

Advocating for Marine Protected Areas

WWF-Canada believes a healthy ocean depends on a network of marine protected areas (MPAs), which account for ocean currents, species migration and other ecological connections. We are working in partnership with other groups to advocate for enhanced MPAs that include better management and fewer industrial activities — such as oil and gas extraction, mining and vessel discharges — within their boundaries.

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Clare Wark WWF-Canada Carbon Sampling Work In Peawanuck

Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs)

WWF is supporting Indigenous-led conservation efforts through the Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) Support Fund. This enables First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across the country to consider, establish or maintain IPCAs. This fund helps these communities to overcome hurdles and support capacity for long-term implementation of priorities guided by Indigenous knowledge.

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© Frank Parhizgar / WWF-Canada

Improving Shipping Practices

With marine traffic on the rise, we need to embrace sustainable shipping solutions now more than ever. WWF-Canada is working with partners to better understand the risks posed by shipping, like operational discharges and the impacts of underwater noise to marine animals. Through partnerships and conversations with government and industry, such as ports and vessel owners and operators, we are finding ways to mitigate those risks and advocating for low-impact shipping practices in the ocean.

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© Shutterstock Shipping

Understanding the impact of shipping in MPAs

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are one of the key mechanisms that provide strong protection for marine biodiversity in Canada. WWF-Canada and its partners have worked together to provide a comprehensive toolkit which outlines ways to help safeguard wildlife and habitat and reduce shipping’s impacts in MPAs.

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Learning how to manage blue carbon

Coastal ecosystems can help us in the fight against climate change because of their ability to store an incredible amount of carbon while supporting wildlife and coastal communities. WWF-Canada is working with Indigenous Peoples throughout Canada who have long-standing knowledge and expertise of these ecosystems to better understand and explore blue carbon and how these ecosystems are threatened by stressors like marine pollution, resource extraction and coastal development.

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What You Can Do

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Adopt an Orca

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Turn down the volume on underwater noise

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Shoreline Cleanup Participants

Volunteer

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