Sustainability Now! | Nicole Ebert | Ocean Legancy Foundation | Coastal Clean-ups | 9-24-23

On this week’s Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, takes a dive into the ocean with Nicole Ebert, Senior Project Administrator at Ocean Legacy Foundation, joining us from Vancouver, Canada. The Ocean Legacy Foundation has just received funding for ghost gear collection and processing technology following severe Atlantic storms.

The Ocean Legacy Foundation is an internationally recognized organization that develops and implements worldwide plastic pollution response programs. They have received $551,270 in funding from the Ghost Gear Fund, a federally funded program led by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The funding will be used to expand existing networks across Maritime provinces, develop infrastructure, and increase local material management capacity with skill-based training for marine plastics within Atlantic communities. Ocean Legacy will establish rope shredding and bailing capacity in Truro, Nova Scotia, in partnership with Scotia Recycling, support Coastal Action and partners in performing outreach and material collection as well as work with Full Circle Plastics to continue developing lumber products made from materials collected during cleanup efforts.

“Strategically managing marine plastic waste and pollution across Canada while developing local capacity is absolutely critical in restoring sensitive coastal habitats, preserving vulnerable aquatic species and stimulating socio-economic development in communities recovering from natural disasters,” said Chloé Dubois, co-founder, Ocean Legacy Foundation. “Catalyzing solutions which decarbonize Eastern Canada’s economy will continue to cultivate the necessary global leadership to curb the detrimental impacts of global atmospheric carbon emissions. We are grateful to have received this funding and will continue to collectively make the largest impact we can with local community.”

The Ghost Gear Fund is a federally funded program led by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, intended to support Canada’s commitment to prevent and mitigate the risk of ghost fishing and encourages the development of sustainable fishing practices, particularly as it applies to abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) domestically and abroad. This work is being carried out as part of the Government of Canada’s broader commitments to support national and international efforts to reduce plastics in our oceans and the use of plastics in government operations, as well as to reduce the occurrence and effects of ghost gear around the world. To date, the Ghost Gear Fund has funded 91 projects, for a total of $26.7 million.

This funding from the Ghost Gear Fund will be utilized by March 31, 2024.
For more information about OLF, visit https://oceanlegacy.ca/
For more information about the Ghost Gear Fund, visit https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/management-gestion/ghostgear-equipementfantome/program-programme/index-eng.html

As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW!

Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org

The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com