Montreal set to host World Ocean Summit

In this April 10, 2008 file photo, three North Atlantic right whale tails emerge from the water off Provincetown, in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. Marine conservation organizations say that the North Atlantic right whale, an endangered species, had a disastrous year in 2017 due to accidental deaths. It is estimated that no more than 500 of these giants of the sea remain. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, Archives)

UN officials, elected representatives from countries whose economies depend on the ocean, corporate executives and scientists are set to gather in Montreal in the coming days for a global ocean summit.

What trade-offs must governments, industries and communities accept to protect and restore the health of the oceans? How can businesses and investors continue to turn a profit while respecting biodiversity protection agreements?

Those are among the questions that some 800 attendees will try to answer at the Palais des congrès on Wednesday and Thursday for the World Ocean Summit & Expo.

“This annual summit is usually held in major cities — Abu Dhabi, Lisbon, Tokyo — big global maritime hubs,” noted marine mammal ecologist Lyne Morissette in an interview with The Canadian Press. “If it’s being held in Montreal, it’s probably because Canada is also seen as a strategic hub.”

Morissette will be participating in the summit, whose goal is to “reconcile the economy with the protection of our planet.”

Innovation in the service of whales

Morissette will take part in a panel on the use of innovation and artificial intelligence in fishing gear. She will discuss Canadian technologies that use “on-demand buoys,” which reduce the risk of whales becoming fatally entangled in fishing equipment.

• READ MORE: Montreal company recognized for AI tool to track whales from space

The vertical ropes used by fishers to haul crab traps to the surface have killed several whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent years. On-demand buoy systems use acoustic signals from fishing vessels and software to trigger the retrieval of traps, limiting the use of rope lines that entangle cetaceans — particularly North Atlantic right whales.

“It allows fishers to work in areas where there are whales without having curtains of rope strung throughout the environment,” Morissette said. “It really makes a difference — the number of entanglements has gone down significantly.”

Wide-ranging threats to ocean health

Surangel Whipps Jr., president of the Republic of Palau — an island nation whose existence is threatened by climate change — is the only head of state among the summit’s guests.

The World Ocean Summit & Expo is an initiative of the British group that owns The Economist magazine. The event will bring together business leaders and industry representatives whose livelihoods depend on the oceans, alongside scientists and environmental advocates.

“I could spend my whole life wanting to protect whales, but if I’m not working with the fishers who get up every morning to make a living — the people who have the greatest potential for positive or negative impact on these species — nothing will change,” said Morissette. “And if I only attended scientific conferences where researchers passively describe what’s happening in the oceans, that wouldn’t move things forward either.”

The threats facing ocean health, she notes, are numerous: climate change and its effects on water temperature and species migration; overfishing, which pushes many species to the brink before it’s too late for them to recover; noise pollution; and the loss of biodiversity.

“Human activity is always at the heart of these threats, and the issues are all interconnected. Being able to discuss them at a summit and explore how we can adjust human behaviour to limit our impact on the oceans — that’s more important than ever.”

Canada committed to protection and conservation

Federal Liberal MP Nathalie Provost, also Canada’s Secretary of State for Nature, is expected to attend. Her office was unavailable to discuss her participation but provided a written statement: “Canada’s role at the World Ocean Summit reflects our commitment to the protection, conservation and sustainable management of our oceans. Under the 30x30 goal, we aim to protect 30 per cent of our oceans by 2030.”

Provost will sit on a panel examining how to mobilize capital for marine conservation projects and sustainable ocean industries while delivering benefits to communities and returns for investors.

Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard Minister Joanne Thompson will also be in attendance and is scheduled to deliver the opening remarks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 3, 2026.