The World Ocean Council (WOC) and Canada’s Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) Network are organising an international workshop to advance ocean industry data collecting and sharing in Canada.
The event will take place in Montreal from 27-29 May 2014, and will set the stage for an initial Canadian Atlantic pilot project on ocean observations by industry, in support of Canada’s commitment to trans-Atlantic research under the ‘Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation’, with potential for future expansion to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.
The workshop will bring together representatives from sectors including fisheries and aquaculture; shipping, oil and gas; marine technology; universities; oceanographic and metrological organisations and existing voluntary ocean observation programs.
The workshop objectives are to:
- Develop a common understanding between and across business and the scientific community on the scope, scale and intent of existing voluntary observation programs, especially those in Canada.
- Understand the key barriers to scaling up these programs, e.g. human capacity, resource needs, installation requirements, organisational structures, legal issues, etc.
- Develop the structure and process for advancing voluntary observations in Canada.
- Develop a strategic plan for the processing and sharing of the data.
- Develop the roadmap and work plan for a pilot project in the Canadian Atlantic.
People interested in giving a presentation relevant to the workshop objectives and draft program, or those interested in chairing a workshop session are encouraged to contact Paul Holthus at paul.holthus@oceancouncil.org
The draft workshop program is available on the MEOPAR website.
