Milestones

The World Ocean Council (WOC) has been invited to organize a session on "Corporate Ocean Responsibility: Regional Ocean Industry Collaboration" at the Middle East and North Africa Seafood Summit (17-19 November 2013, Dubai) http://www.seafexme.com/.

The region's marine ecosystems support marine fisheries and aquaculture that provide important economic value, livelihoods and food security - and are a critical source of fresh water. In addition to fisheries, aquaculture and desalination, these same waters host an increasing level of many other economic activities - oil and gas, shipping, ports, dredging, coastal development, tourism, and other ocean uses - which collectively create challenges to maintaining marine ecosystem health and productivity in the region.

The WOC session on "Corporate Ocean Responsibility: Regional Ocean Industry Collaboration" seeks to bring together representatives from these sectors to begin cross-sectoral dialogue on industry leadership and collaboration to address marine ecosystem health, inter-industry conflicts and synergies, and industry's role in ensuring responsible multiple-use of the marine environment.

A coordinated, multi-industry approach can result in business benefits, such as savings through collaborative research and monitoring, improved collection and sharing of data, accelerated development and sharing of best practices and science-based solutions, and reduced risk of costly, unplanned operational restrictions due to accidents or cumulative environmental impacts.

The WOC invites senior representatives from fisheries, aquaculture, desalination, oil and gas, shipping, ports, dredging, coastal development, tourism, and other ocean users to participate in engaging across the sectors to explore the opportunities and value of regional ocean industry collaboration that can support environmental improvements and continued responsible business operations. The discussions in Dubai build on the WOC experience in bringing together industries in other regions, e.g. the Arctic.
To participate in the WOC session on "Corporate Ocean Responsibility: Regional Ocean Industry Collaboration" on 17 November at the Middle East and North Africa Seafood Summit, please contact paul.holthus@oceancouncil.org