Ocean protection funding announced by federal government
Posted February 6, 2023 2:07 pm.
A new multi-million dollar program has been launched by the federal government in an effort to better understand and protect the oceans surrounding Canada.
The $46.5 million in funding, announced at a news conference in Vancouver, will go to the Oceans Network Canada (ONC) run by the University of Victoria.
Federal oceans and fisheries minister, Joyce Murray, says the money will come from the $3.5 billion Ocean Protection Fund.
“It’s imperative that Canada better understand our oceans in terms of how they’re changing, how we can support their ecosystems, and how we can sustainably manage resources,” Murray said at the announcement.
The minister adds that people’s understanding of the marine environment is “relatively meager” given oceans cover 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface.
Canada’s advancement of ocean sciences & innovation goes strength-to-strength w/ the expansion of our world-leading deep-sea and coastal ocean observatories & partnerships w/ the support of Canada’s #OceanProtectionPlan.
Read more https://t.co/KdF6YqaF5R@uvic @FishOceansCAN pic.twitter.com/P4jy8jy2Ra
— Ocean Networks
Kate Moran, CEO of ONC, says the money will be used to gather data about the deep ocean for scientific research, government decision-making and to support Canada’s ocean industries.
She adds the group will study currents, marine safety and incident response, ocean sound information to mitigate the harm of human noise on marine life and ocean monitoring for coastal communities.
“This new funding strengthens important national priorities that make the connection between ocean science and communities a real one,” Moran said.
