Ottawa, Ontario - The Atlantic Ocean provides Canadians with food, jobs, energy, and recreation. Its ecosystems and resources are vitally important to our economy, environment and cultures. That's why Canada proudly collaborates with likeminded countries to take coordinated action to study the Atlantic Ocean and find ocean-based science solutions to help protect it.
Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier announced that Canada will host the 2024 All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA) Forum at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario, from October 8 to 10, 2024. The annual Forum will bring together representatives from the Atlantic community, including AAORIA partners like Argentina, Brazil, Cabo Verde, the European Union, Morocco, Norway, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. The 2024 Forum will focus on opportunities for collaborative science including coordinating efforts on ocean observation and increasing our understanding of the relationship between ocean and climate.
Minister Lebouthillier also announced the release of Canada's Oceans Now: Atlantic Ecosystems, 2022. The report, prepared by Fisheries and Oceans Canada with contributions from Environment and Climate Change Canada, gives an overview of the state of Canada's Atlantic Ocean. It is the Department's second Atlantic Ocean status report in a series informing Canadians on the state of Canada's oceans. The report has been endorsed as a United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development activity by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.
Our Atlantic Ocean is changing and having an enormous impact on the coastal communities that depend on it. By continuing to research and monitor Atlantic Ocean ecosystems with our partners, Canada is better equipped to contribute to the knowledge and solutions needed to inform sustainable ocean decisions and meet our commitments set through the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, and the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation.
