OA Day of Action 2026
- OA CoP
- 6 hours ago
- 6 min read
OA in Canada News and Resources
Today is OA Day of Action, held each year on January 8th to represent the current pH of the ocean (8.1). To celebrate the day, we're reflecting on Canada's participation in the OA events, actions, stories, and resources of 2025 from Canada and beyond!
Highlights:
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Upcoming event:
British Columbia Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Action Forum - March 3, 2026
On March 3, 2026, the BC Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH) Action Forum, hosted by the Tula Foundation, will be held at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in Nanaimo.
This gathering will unite scientists, government representatives, Indigenous groups, community members, and members of the seafood industry to reflect on progress made through BC’s OAH initiatives. Organizers aim to chart the next phase toward protecting the province’s marine ecosystems and coastal economies from ocean acidification and hypoxia, two major stressors associated with climate change.
Learn more and register for this free, hybrid event here.
OA in the News
Ocean acidification made global headlines this year when a new study showed that OA has crossed a planetary boundary, a scientifically defined reference level or "guardrail" to indicate the planet's health. OA is the 7th of 9 planetary boundaries to have been crossed as of 2025.
The study received coverage in many news outlets, including The Guardian (‘Ticking timebomb’: sea acidity has reached critical levels, threatening entire ecosystems – study), and made the BBC's list of top science stories of the year: The 7 most important (and weirdest) discoveries of 2025.
In Canada, the story of OA made the top list of CBC's Science Stories (Bob McDonald’s Top 10 Science Stories of 2025), and the original CBC news story featured expert commentary from several members of our OA CoP.
Later in the year, another new study found that conditions along the west coast of North America, including the coast of BC, are acidifying more rapidly than expected. This story was then picked up by Buisness in Vancouver (B.C.'s oceans are turning acidic faster than once thought, finds study).
Canada's International OA contributions
(UNOC, COP30, OA Week 2025)
Canada's OA Participation in UNOC
OA CoP Co-Lead, Dr. Helen Gurney-Smith, was part of the Canadian Delegation at UNOC in Nice, France in June. Dr. Gurney-Smith was a speaker for the "OA Information for Decision Making Framework" unveiling event hosted by Ocean Acidification Research for Sustainability (OARS) and the OA Alliance.
Learn more here: https://www.oars-community.org/guide
OA and Canada at COP30:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the OA Alliance co-hosted a side event at COP30 at the Canadian Pavilion at COP30 in November.
The event spotlighted actions taken across countries and emphasized the importance of addressing ocean acidification as part of the broader blue economy, including for seafood sovereignty and the sustainability of coastal livelihoods.
The event began with a viewing of the OA Alliance's short film, “Changing Waters: Time for Action on Ocean Acidification” and remarks from Associate Assistant Deputy Minister Michael Bonser, Environment and Climate Change Canada.
A panel discussion followed with:
🔷 Dr. Rushingisha George, Researcher, Tanzanian Fisheries Research Institute (TAFIRI)
🔷 Mr. Anthony Bitegeko, Natural Resource Policy Analyst, Makah Tribal Council Office
🔷 Professor Anjali Goswami FRS, Chief Scientific Advisor, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom
🔷 Dr. Chris Chilcott, Deputy Director Environment at CSIRO, Australia
OA Week 2025
OA Week 2025 was held Oct. 13 - 17. This year's theme was: Rising to the challenge of ocean acidification: using science and knowledge to drive action
The OA CoP participated in the GOA-ON North American Hub session, where Dr. Kristina Barclay, Coordinator for the OA CoP, will presented on the state of Canada's OA knowledge! OA CoP Co-Lead, Dr. Helen Gurney-Smith, also moderated the session.
New OA resources from the OA CoP
OA CoP Strategic Planning Resource: "What We Heard" Report
In April, 2025, the OA CoP held a strategic planning meeting with many members of our community. The goals of the meeting were to seek expert feedback on the future direction of the OA CoP, develop actionable priorities and recommendations for the OA Community in Canada, and suggest what role the OA CoP should have in the development of these priorities. After the meeting, we circulated an initial draft of the "What We Heard" report to meeting attendees for feedback that was then revised based on the feedback we received and circulated for one final round of comments. Here we present the finalized version of this community-led "What We Heard" report, with eight major recommendations from our community, and some notes on progress made towards these recommendations since April, 2025.
OA in Canada Species Impacts Series
The OA CoP has launched a new webpage and resource series on our current knowledge of OA impacts to important species and industries in Canada. These resources are intended not only to highlight concerning OA impacts on important species in Canada, but are also meant to act as catalysts to support filling the gaps in our knowledge of OA impacts to species across Canada.
Check out our new Species Impacts webpage to see more:
This is an ongoing series. Have a species you'd like to see featured? Please let us know!
OA in Canada Expert Database
In an effort to improve connections between OA researchers, community members, and OA resources, the OA CoP has created an online public database of OA experts across Canada. We would be grateful if you would consider adding yourself to this database!
What to expect: We have created a Google form for you to fill out your desired contact information and details on your areas of research/expertise. You have the option to include or exclude your email address. Once you submit this form, we will then add you to our public OA in Canada Expert database (available here: https://www.oceanacidification.ca/oa-in-canada-expert-database).
Please fill out the form to add yourself to our OA in Canada Expert database here:
OA in Canada Publications Database
The OA CoP has compiled a bibliographic database of publications concerning ocean acidification in Canadian waters (produced primarily by authors at Canadian institutions).
There are two main ways to access this database:
View, search, and export citations from a public version of this database available on Zotero (click here to view).
If you do not wish to use Zotero, you can view a Google Spreadsheet of the data (including links to DOI/URLs of the publications) directly on our website here.
The database is updated regularly, but if you know of a publication that you believe is missing from our database, please let us know!
New Blog Posts
Scientist Spotlight: Virginie Chalifoux, PhD student, UBC
In this Scientist Spotlight, we interviewed Virginie Chalifoux, a PhD Student at UBC studying how the ecology of Pacific salmon and herring 🐟 can impact their response to ocean acidification.
Research Recap: High sensitivity to ocean acidification in wild out-migrating juvenile Pacific salmon is not impacted by feeding success
We interviewed lead author, Dr. Andrea Frommel, who shared insights on a new study examining the impacts of ocean acidification and food availability on juvenile Pacific salmon 🐟, a critical life stage for salmon populations.
New research reveals storm intensity is linked to OA severity in BC
A new research paper led by OA CoP Co-Lead, Wiley Evans, examining the impacts of storm seasons on ocean acidification conditions along the west coast of British Columbia was recently published in Scientific Reports. The article was covered in a press release from the Tula Foundation and an article in the Vancouver Sun.
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