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

Marine Artic and North Pacific Programme Grants (2009)

• Alaska Conservation Foundation

  To provide Alaska Native organisations in the US with the capacity to take action on environmental issues that affect them and their communities and to engage effectively in environmental policy-making at state, national and international levels. The proposed Alaska Native Learning Institute on Private Philanthropy will provide important training for Alaska Native organizations to secure grants from private foundations. USD 110,924 (Over three years)

• Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association

  To support sustainable fishing practices and viable fishing communities in Alaska through incentive-based strategies that reward fishermen for meeting conservation objectives. The project will also provide fishermen with timely information, effective tools and access to preferred seafood markets to meet sustainable harvest objectives. USD 200,025 (Over three years)

• Crag Law Center

  To provide strategic legal and advocacy services to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) regarding offshore oil and gas proposals in the Arctic Ocean. The ultimate goal is for AEWC, with Crag’s support, to secure permanent protection for the bowhead whale and its habitat in the Arctic Ocean and the subsistence practices of the Inupiat people. USD 150,288 (Over three years)

• Environmental Law Institute

  To empower local communities in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas region of the US to develop and use legal and institutional tools to maintain a sustainable and resilient ecosystem. The project team will work with the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the North Slope Borough to develop regional ocean governance to assure that Arctic residents can continue their subsistence lifestyle and long-standing traditions. USD 236,304 (Over three years)

• National Fisheries Conservation Center

  To create a human aerial art event involving fishermen from Homer in Alaska to raise awareness of ocean acidification and build support through national and global action. The project will advocate for strong US carbon policy during the run-up to COP 15 (Copenhagen climate conference) in December 2009 and promote the strongest possible climate accord by mobilising fishing, seafood and community leaders to make their case to US and international delegations involved in the negotiations. USD 55,000

• Native Village of Gambell

  To complete a strategic plan for the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to safeguard the bowhead whale population and subsistence hunting by involving the whaling captains and advocating on behalf of the bowhead and its habitat through US state and federal law. The AEWC will organise Commissioners Training seminars, monitor legal compliance and, if necessary, challenge offshore oil and gas development. The AEWC website will be enhanced as an educational and outreach tool to educate the public at large. USD 42,780

• Pacific Environment

  To protect Alaskan ecosystems and communities from the impact of industrialisation, improve ocean governance and foster the long-term capacities of indigenous communities to address environmental issues and work in partnership with the conservation community. The three main objectives of the project are to build capacity among Alaska Natives to protect the Arctic from oil and gas development; protect Arctic seas and the Aleutian Islands from under regulated shipping; and empower Alaskan natives to undertake their own environmental advocacy campaigns. USD 325,000 (Over two years)

• Pew Charitable Trust

  To protect large Arctic marine ecosystems by preventing the expansion of industrial fishing in both the US and Canadian Arctic, limiting and strictly regulating new offshore Arctic hydrocarbon development in the US and examining policy options and mechanisms to impose appropriate Arctic shipping safety and oil spill standards. USD 300,000 (Over three years)

• Turning Point Initiative

  To develop and initiate a monitoring process that prescribes and implements a set of indicators for monitoring community and regional socio-economic, cultural and ecological health within the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area in the US. USD 144,767 (Over three years)

• Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation

  To explore the meaning and utility of traditional knowledge in the Arctic, outline cases in which it is being employed, use the literature and, where possible, conversations with indigenous people to glean traditional knowledge that could be applied in Arctic governance in years to come. The intent is to show how traditional knowledge can contribute to decision-making in forums and international discussions regarding Arctic governance. USD 50,000

• World Wildlife Fund, Inc.

  To secure support from the Obama Administration for withdrawing Bristol Bay from oil and gas development and to gain its permanent protection. WWF will garner support from local communities and educate government leaders and agencies on the economic and biological value of the Bay’s unique marine environment, the risks that oil and gas development pose for their long-term viability, and the shortcomings of the public process to date. It will also conduct strategic outreach and communications to brand Bristol Bay as a cultural and natural treasure for the world’s largest run of wild-caught salmon. USD 250,000 (Over two years)

• Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association (YRDFA)

  To reduce the bycatch of salmon and other species in the Bering Sea pollock fishery so that salmon can return to the rivers in sufficient numbers to provide for subsistence and commercial harvests. The grant will also increase the capacity of YRDFA and other Western Alaska groups to participate in the Regional Fishery Council management process and successfully protect vital marine resources. USD 89,499 (Over three years)

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