Overview

The UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF)’s envisions a world where the ocean, freshwater systems, and those dependent on it - from microbes to plankton, fish to marine mammals, and human populations – are healthy and their resources are used sustainably and equitably. With climate change, overfishing, and habitat loss destabilizing vital ecosystems, a transformative shift is needed to avoid a global ecological and economic collapse. The IOF brings together a community of Canadian and international experts in ocean and freshwater species, systems, economics, and issues, working to provide new knowledge, and insights into how these systems function. The IOF enables collaboration across a broad range of research and policy, and includes a growing global network of partners in governments, coastal communities, non-profit organizations, and peer institutions to address issues of local and international concern. Our integrated research programs span the natural and social sciences, including aquatic ecology, economics, zoology, anthropology, sociology, oceanography, marine geochemistry, microbiology, resource management, and international maritime law. Through a combination of research and outreach, we seek to understand and address the overall impacts of our changing global environment on marine and freshwater ecosystems, and ecosystem services.