On January 23-24, the SCCA attended the 2024 Salish Sea Symposium, held at the Vancouver Convention Center. The team had split roles, attending both virtually in-person to diversify our outcomes and gain the most information we could. The theme of this year’s symposium was “building on our past, advancing our future”.
The symposium was held in hopes to:
- Raise awareness of existing ocean protection/marine-transportation related work in the Salish Sea
- Highlight successes, best practices, and re-ocurring challenges
- Share information and knowledge-based products, tools, and learning that can better improve decision-making and support
- Identify partnerships or collaborations that could improve outcomes of initiatives
- And, share stories to understand the importance of the Salish Sea for all of its patrons ‘
For context, the Salish Sea is a body of water encompassing a series of coastal waterways located between the southwestern tip of British Columbia, Canada, and the northwestern tip of Washington State, United States. It is one of the world largest inland seas, and hosts several networks of coastal inlets, fjords, and islands, including Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The Salish Sea is known for its rich marine biodiversity, including orcas, salmon, seals, and a variety of other marine life. It’s also culturally significant to indigenous peoples, including the Coast Salish First Nations, who have inhabited the region for thousands of years; the Salish Sea has provided food, medicine, and travel for generations.
Within the Salish Sea, coastal communities, Indigenous Peoples, industry, and various levels of government have taken hundreds of actions to protect the environment and support economic activity. The goal of the Salish Sea Strategy is to establish understanding between economic and environmental planning and decision-making. Together, we are working to protect these waters while supporting necessary economic growth.
This year’s symposium hosted 13 different seminars over the two days, addressing various topics from shipping traffic to clam garden restorations. The layout included panel discussions, presentations, fireside chats, workships, information boots, and networking opportunities! The seminars included speakers from Indigenous Peoples, various Marine Response Programs and Initiatives, Transport Canada, and the Port of Vancouver.
The SCCA has drafted this report as a synopsis of information given at the event, and share our findings based on information we learned! We hope that this information can be inspiring to those interested in getting involved and learning more about environmental protection measures in the Salish Sea.