Oak Foundation’s North American Marine Conservation Programme vision:

To use ecosystem-based approaches to build socio-ecological resilience and to promote sustainable use and conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems, especially in areas in the US and Canada with high biodiversity and a long-standing cultural heritage.

Key geographical areas:

Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea

High priority areas:

1. To build resilience through sustainable use initiatives that reduce over-fishing and foster community-based stewardship of ocean resources.

• Promote healthy fisheries by reducing by-catch, protecting sea floor habitat, and supporting innovative community-based conservation initiatives
• Build capacity of indigenous environmental stewardship programmes and efforts to implement co-management of subsistence resources
• Implement innovative market-based strategies that invest in triple bottom line approaches that yield substantive ecological, economic and social returns
• Abate large scale industrialisation of the region through effective advocacy and litigation

2. To increase marine environmental and subsistence harvest protection from large-scale industrialisation.

• Identify and prioritise important cultural and ecological areas by linking scientific and local ecological knowledge
• Advocate for cultural and ecological protection in design, planning and implementation within integrative management areas
• Monitor and adaptively co-manage protected area integrity using the best available science and local ecological knowledge

3. To improve ocean governance through integrated management approaches

• Support integrative management initiatives in key geographic areas
• Develop comprehensive marine spatial planning databases that promote adaptive management
• Advocate for policy reform that supports integrative management recommendations
• Participation in Arctic Council activities that promote environmental protection of marine resources

Bering Sea and North Pacific Programme Grants (2008)

• Alaska Marine Conservation Council

  To protect and conserve the marine ecosystem in the North Pacific by partnering with indigenous groups and small-scale fishing communities. Subsistence needs in the Bering Sea will be mapped to ensure protection from future bottom trawling. Fisheries conservation will be advanced through innovative bycatch reduction measures, seafloor protection and through support for the establishment of the Alaska Sustainable Fishery Trust with project partners, the North Pacific Fisheries Trust, and the Alaska Longline Fishermen Association. (Over three years)

• Aleut International Association, Inc.

  To provide support for Alaskan indigenous representatives to attend Arctic Council meetings and to contribute to projects aimed at protecting and conserving the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea marine environments. (Over three years)

• Bristol Bay Native Association

  To promote long-term marine conservation in Bristol Bay by documenting the seal population biology of subsistence harvest areas and to build capacity for marine mammal co-management in Alaska. The major objectives are: to conduct a traditional ecological knowledge project documenting harbour and spotted seal distributions, critical habitat, and subsistence harvesting areas; to build capacity for marine mammal co-management through the Indigenous Peoples Council for Marine Mammals; and to create partnerships and foster information exchange between Alaskan native organisations and NGOs around conservation issues of mutual concern. (Over two years)

• Ecotrust Canada

  To create a more sustainable seafood sector and alternative energy programme in Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia. Together with five First Nations groups, local businesses as well as local and regional governing management boards, Ecotrust Canada will contribute to the marine spatial planning process and will promote wild- caught local fisheries by linking seafood traceability to value-added market opportunities. The energy programme will develop carbon offset projects and engage the public in alternative energy planning. (Over three years)

• Environmental Law Institute (ELI)

  To assess the feasibility of developing integrated management areas in Bristol Bay and the Chukchi Sea in Alaska. To lay the foundation for implementing ocean and coastal ecosystem-based management through the development of integrated management areas. During a four-month planning project ELI will select the optimal region in which to conduct a pilot programme.

• The Heinz Center

  To establish a foundation for governance and policy action essential for managing the Arctic in a rapidly changing environment. The project will invigorate collaborative efforts within and among the Arctic states, indigenous peoples and key stakeholders through existing mechanisms such as the Arctic Council and contribute to the development of governance systems capable of meeting the conservation and geopolitical challenges of the coming era. (Over two years)

• Inuit Circumpolar Council-Alaska

  To articulate and share the observations, concerns and views of indigenous peoples on the impact and effects of global warming through convening a Global Summit on Climate Change, to strengthen their voices in passing national legislation in the US and Canada, and to influence the position of these countries in international negotiations. (Over two years)

• Living Oceans Society (LOS)

  To secure the Canadian government's political and financial support of the Oceans Action Plan to ensure the long-term health of the ocean and coastal communities on the Pacific coast of Canada. LOS will work to make certain that the structure of the integrated oceans management process is designed to engage stakeholders and includes ecosystem-based management measures and a network of marine protected areas in British Columbia and the Arctic. It will conduct analyses that illustrate the environmental impacts of ecosystem-based management practices and work to link the marine protected areas with international efforts for a system ranging from Mexico to the Arctic. (Over three years)

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