In its annual meetings, the Steering Group for the ASCOBANS Recovery Plan for Baltic Harbour Porpoises (Jastarnia Plan) and the Conservation Plan for the Harbour Porpoise Population in the Western Baltic, the Belt Sea and the Kattegat (WBBK Plan) will review progress under the action plans, learn about complementary initiatives, and aim to move implementation forward.
Online meeting.
Register before 24 April.
The International Symposium on Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (SOFAS) was set to be held from 25 to 27 May in Trabzon, Turkey. However, it has officially been postponed to a later date considering the continuous Covid-19 situation all around the world.
The theme of the United Nations World Oceans Day in 2021 is "The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods" - a celebration to shed light on the wonders of the ocean and how it is our lifesource, supporting humanity and every other organism on Earth.
The purpose of the World Oceans Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world's oceans. They are a major source of food and medicine and a critical part of the biosphere. In the end, World Oceans Day is a day to celebrate together the beauty, the wealth and the promise of the ocean.
On 25 June 2021, OSPAR will hold a ministerial meeting hosted by the Government of Portugal in Lisbon.
The meeting had originally been planned for June 2020 but was postponed in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the on-going uncertainty around COVID-19, the arrangements for the meeting will be kept under review.
The meeting will look back at OSPAR's 2010-2020 strategy and celebrate successes. It will also look to the future with the launch of a new 2020-2030 strategy and work towards what still needs to be done to achieve OSPAR's vision of "a clean, healthy North-East Atlantic, used sustainably".
The date is tentative due to the pandemic. The seventh Our Ocean Conference will draw partners globally to identify solutions to sustainably manage marine resources, increase the ocean’s resilience to climate change and safeguard its health for generations to come.
This meeting was originally scheduled to take place in December 2020 in Palau. It has been postponed, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The six areas originally selected for the focus of the conference are as follows: climate change, marine pollution, marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, sustainable blue economy, and maritime security.
The sixth Our Ocean Conference took place in Oslo, Norway, from 23-24 October 2019. A SDG Knowledge Hub Summary is available here. Summaries for previous years are also available for: 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014.
Website
The Government of Slovenia has generously invited the International Whaling Commission to return to Portorož for its next meeting in 2021. The venue will be the Grand Hotel Bernardin and Conference Centre in Portorož, Slovenia
Under the theme of "Aquaculture for Food and Sustainable Development", the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs cordially invite governments, business, academia and civil society to the Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium +20.
The programme contains a forward-looking agenda that addresses emerging issues and opportunities, ranging from traditional family farming to cutting-edge technology. Nine thematic sessions will cover a full range of key issues impacting the future of aquaculture. The Shanghai Declaration, a key output from the GCA +20, will represent a road map to optimize the role that aquaculture can play in achieving the 2030 agenda and meeting the pledge of "leaving no one behind".
Shanghai, China