Students produce a concise summary of a ocean conservation and sustainability issue, the policy options to deal with it, and some recommendations on the best option. The policy brief is aimed at government policymakers and others who are interested in formulating or influencing policy.
[updated 5 May 2023]
2023 (2022W) Policy briefings
Benefits of ropeless fishing gear for BC whales and marine mammals
Illegal fishing is baloney when it comes to BC Abalone
Protect Pacific Herring in British Columbia
Unchartered waters: the urgent need for Canada to ban deep-sea mining
People don’t like loud noises, so why would oysters?
The tragedy of privatizing the commons – BC ITQs
False Creek Urban Marine Park
Women are key for sustainable fisheries and marine conservation
Recreational Fishing Licensing in BC: A missed educational opportunity
Eelgrass conservation: a critical consideration
Teamwork makes the Dreamwork: Collaborative management of Vancouver’s Intertidal Ecosystem
Sweeping destruction: why bottom trawling must be banned
The unrecognised, overdue rights of nature
Got ghosted? Ghost fishing is harming our oceans
Owner operator fisheries needed in BC
Open net aquaculture is not environmentally sustainable
How to handle sea level rise
Marine fish in deep water
The urgency of kelp forest maintenance and restoration in BC
To Dive or Not to Dive Ecotourism’s the Question
2021 (2020W) Policy briefings
Fishing for Feed. By Miranda Andersen
Plastic pollution: a polymer herring. By Dilraj Atwal
Paper parks fail to protect marine life. By Fiona Beaty
Is that the fish you ordered? Think again. By Michele Co
Glass sponges need further protection in Howe Sound. By Alexander Dungate
Blue hwales vs vessles. By Jennifer Fisher
Australian mangrove restoration. By Adalynn Mai
Make Room For Mangroves in Myanmar. By Melanie Man
The conspirasea around marine plastics. By Theresa Nguyen
Riparian buffer subsidies. By Samantha Ramirez
Coral reef restoration: viable way to respond to coral loss? By Ariel Shatsky
Glass sponge reefs are biting the dust. By Jade Shivak
Stop coral reef mining. By Jennifer Tang
Altering alternatives: a re-look at Alternative Livelihoods. By Nathaniel Walker
Plastic straws are not the “Last straw”. By Kellan Woo
Strengthen coastal wastewater dumping regulations for cruise ships. By Owen Yin
Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture: a new era for aquaculture in Canada? By Megan Yu
2020 (2019W) Policy briefings
Targeted seaweed co-cultures to mitigate acidification
by Phoebe Wu
Control ballast water to prevent economic loss
by Emily Wong
Artificial reefs: a mitigation strategy to anthropogenic activity?
By Kelsey Wong
Carb! Restocking just isn’t enough
By Nuno U
Ballast water exchange and ballast treatment: a powerful duo
by Leah Marie Roldan
Dam removal: what the oceans have to say
by Polina Orlov
Free the rivers… for the sake of the ocean
by Rebecca McDonald
The trouble with transplantation
by Anna Madsen
An alternative to alternative livelihoods
by Bowen Liu
The price of coral transplantation
by Carmen Leung
We need to sea kelp!
by Angela Li
Clean-up the beaches or clean-up our act?
by Lexynn Kwan
Alternatives needed for alternative livelihood projects
By Heather Kwok
Conservation translocation
by Jihyun Kim
Are beach plastic clean-ups an effective way to combat marine plastic pollution?
by Jess Kennedy
Ranching of marine invertebrates
by Eddy Kapp
Towards a sustainable and inclusive future: Participatory monitoring of Marine Protected Areas
by Adrianne Holland
Protect and restore the UK’s seagrass beds!
by Taylor Justason
Reef enhancement units: the future of coral reefs?
by Emma Gangbar
Combating secondary spread of invasive species via domestic shipping
by Allison Fung
Participatory monitoring
by Nela Djordjevic
Can we sea ranching as an option?
by Melanie Chapman
2019 (2018W) Policy briefings
Relive pressures on BC’s herring stocks!
By Ana Pozas
How Will the Recovery of Sea Otters Impact BC’s Coastal Resources?
By Graham Brownlee
Let’s get (L’O)REAL about the sources of microplastics
By Gavin Gao
A better way to farm fish in Sechelt Inlet
By Eugenie Jacobsen
Putting your best fish forward
By Elizabeth Smith
Closing the Georgia Strait Herring Roe Fishery
By Charlotte Matthews
Caring about Herring: Sustaining Key Forage Fish
By Kaylie Higgs
No luck for Irish fish
By Kately Nikiforuk
Fight for the Bight” Big oil needs to back off
By Jasmine Keller
A Sanctuary for the Southern Residents
By Holly Fellowes
The Dangerous Route Home: another call for an end to open net-pen salmon farming
By Hanno Southam
Swindled by Seafood: Canadians need seafood products to be more traceable
By Zaynah Khan
MPA: More Protection ASAP – Ban Extractive Activities in Canada’s Marine Protected Areas
By Tamara Walton
Sustainable, Really?
By Russel Chiong
Stop Cheap Shrimp
By Arvin Bahrabadi
Oil and water don’t mix, neither should bottom trawling and EU MPA’s
By Karen Ballantyne
Banning Plastic Bags from the UBC Campus
By Pablo Madrigal
Don’t kill them with kindness: Re-evaulating marine ecotourism
By Nick Hseih
Invest in Future (Fisheries) Stock – Improving Protections for Canadian Marine Fishes
By Megan Fass
Putting the “Protected” back in Canada’s Marine Protected Areas
By Linnea Morgan
2017 Policy briefings
Ban the Boom! Seismic surveys threaten Canadian marine life
by Karyssa Arnett
Saving Big Eddy
by Hannah Avenant
Swamped with value: Recommendations for coastal wetland conservation in projects under Federal Environmental Assessment Review
by Maya Guttmann
On the Right Track: but it is Time to Fully Protect BC’s Sea of Glass
by Linnea Harder
Ban the Butts
by Brian Hendriks
Tax the Tails
by Elizabeth Herbert
Ban coral-harming sunscreen
by Francine Josephine
Mangrove Conservation In The Philippines
by Cherri Lau
Defining Protection in Canada’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
by Julia Lehn
The Pawns of Thailand’s Prawn Industry
By Cheryl Liu
Ghosts of the Sea
by Kevin Matsuo
Canada’s Northern Cod Fishery Moratorium
by Brittany Ng
A place on the precipice: the Southern Strait of Georgia
by Erin Pippus
Microbead Ban: No Longer Optional
by Gabriella Schauber
Do you know what you’re eating? Immediate improvements needed to seafood product labeling in Canada.
by Siena Smith
[Note There was no course in 2016 as it changed from a Fall course in 2015 (Sept to Nov) to a Winter course (Jan to March) for 2017.]
2015 Policy Briefings
Preventing a Pickle with Cucumbers
by Daphne Austin
Microbeads: a Macro Problem
by Maggie Bell
BC’s Herring Fishery
by Blaire Cameron
Iron Fertilization: few should not decide the fate of many when risks remain uncertain
by Claire Cameron
The Necessity of Montreal’s Untreated Sewage Discharge
by Cody Carlyle
Who Controls the Arctic?
by Peter Cheng
Humpback whales: more than just a special concern
by Sandra Emry
Phoenix Rising from the Ashes: Reviving Dead Zones
by Richard Gao
Seabed Mining: Impacts of Experimental Deep Sea Mining
by Tamara Harris
Take a Stand for Whales, not Whaling
by Mark Henry
Banning the sale of Red-Listed seafood is the green choice for Canada
by Virginia Hermanson
Little shrimp, jumbo impact: why Canada should ban farmed shrimp imports
by Sarah Keller
Key Stakeholder in Fisheries Management neglected: Women fishers need to be considered
by Hilary Low
Look, Don’t Touch. Protecting Florida Manatees
by Lori Ludwig
Mercury: An Industrial Meal
by Donny Mackintosh
Open-Ocean Net-Cage Salmon Farming in BC
by Daniel Millerd
Turning Down the Volume on Growing Ocean Noise
by Simon-Luc Noel
Horrors at Sea: Calling on the Thai Government to take immediate action against the Human Trafficking crisis
by Sachiko Ouchi
Plastically speaking
by Thea Rachinski
Defusing the Territorial Dispute in the Spratly Islands
by John Shannon
Yes or No to GMO: should Canada be involved?
by Brock Staller
‘Whale’ You Turn That Down?! Noise Pollution and BC’s Southern Resident Killer Whales
by Michelle Stevens
Canada-Wide Adoption of the Seafood Watch Program’s Seafood Recommendation Labels
by Erik Toren
2014 Policy Briefings
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing
by Theodore Back
Deep sea mining: an ocean odyssey we need to take?
by Toby Buttress
No sewage treatment is unacceptable
by Eva Chu
Sink or swim
by Sarina Clay-Smith
Bad Habits, Bad Habitats Canada’s weakened Fisheries Act fails to protect marine species
by Brittany Derrick
Keep British Columbia Beautiful. Pipe Up Against Enbridge
by Natasha Dudley
Shark Finning in Thailand: You can’t afford NOT to stop!
by Jake Dytnerski
Don’t use the Ocean as a toilet
by Salar Fazeli
LNG on Lelu Island?
by Hannah Fiegenbaum
Would you poop in this harbor?
by Rebecca Fiorito
Fishing with poison: cyanide fishing in the Philippines
by Ivan Gill
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna: This is Your Next Move
by Aimee Guile
Shifting from Atlantic salmon aquaculture to Arctic Char closed-loop farming
by Steve Healy
Mercury is swimming on your plate
by Mary Kassis
Harmful: Cruise ship sewage disposal
by Shannon Keffe
Competition with Whales: A Myth
by Josephine Ling
Reduce pressure on threatened trophy fish through policy change
by Jeremy Mayer
Pipe up for the BC coast
by Kate McGivney
Fight from the Coastlines Front Line
by Liria Nair
Say NO to Shrimp Slavery in Thailand
by Tiffany Nam
Shark Finning: A social science approach that works
by Eva Regehr
Protecting Caribbean Coral Reefs
by Manreet Sangha
Prevent Arctic oil spills: dangerous and destructive
by Jemma Titheridge
Let’s Ban Plastic Bags!
by Kelsey Webb
2013 Policy Briefings (links to pdf)
Save the Reefs in the Philippines… Save their Souls
by Bernard Lee
Stopping Captive Dolphins from Performing in Aquariums!
by BingLu Zhang
“Big Eddy” – The Juan de Fuca Eddy Ecosystem.
by Cassandra Girdlestone
Ocean Acidification: The Importance of a Proactive Management Plan for Canadian Fisheries.
by Chris Ketcheson
What’s for dinner? Lionfish! How eating lionfish can help coral reefs.
by Courtney Graham
For the Love of Humans, Fish and Biodiversity
by Emma Jackson
Closed System Aquaculture: the future of sustainable salmon farms
by Erica Hunter
Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture in Canada
by Jarred Cacnio
Equality Among All Fish
by Jennifer Sun
Marine Parks: No-Take Marine Protected Area’s In Canada
by Kalie McGratten
Womens’ roles in fisheries: Changes to improve their futures
by Kristen Walters
Marine Debris: Taking Back What is Ours
by Logan Makaroff
Who is Canada’s Species At Risk Act Protecting? Necessary Amendments to the SARA
by Megan Eadie
Vegetarian Fish: Dietary Phytase: A potential solution to reducing the costs and pollution associated with aquaculture
by Megan Webster
To Dredge or Not to Dredge?
by Melanie Ang
Shifting Gears in Pacific Fisheries
by Piper-Lynn Brady
Bottom Trawling has no place in a Sustainable Ocean
by Reed Lannan
Sea Waste Disposal: Cause For Concern
by Shari Mang
Renovating Fishing Policy to Prevent Potential Fishery Collapse
by Takuhiro Someya
Too Valuable to Protect: Socioeconomic Factors Hinder Listing of Marine Species Under SARA
by Vivian Hui