Waitt Institute

The Waitt Institute conducted work related to sustainable ocean management in nine countries in 2023: azores, antigua and barbuda, bermuda, federated states of micronesia, fiji, maldives, samoa, tonga, and vanuatu. These jointly-funded programs provided financial and technical support to our government partners, who additionally provide in-kind support to achieve joint program goals as outlined in our mous with each government.azores: we worked with the government and local team to support submission of the offshore marine protected area network and the proposed law and continued to build capacity by hiring four local staff to support the work. We also drafted a fisheries summary document characterizing the azorean fleet, main fishing activities, and overlap with mpas. Antigua and barbuda: we continued to support capacity building for barbudango, a local ngo that works on a variety of environmental issues throughout barbuda. (see continuation below)

Bermuda: we refined the blue prosperity plan which included a marine spatial plan that protects 20% of bermuda's waters. We advanced the creation of the ocean fund (formerly the blue investment facility) to support long-term financing of sustainable ocean management. We supported extensive community and stakeholder engagement through focus group sessions, regular newsletters, and a variety of media outlets. Federated states of micronesia: we worked with the government and local team to endorse the draft offshore marine spatial plan. There was an election and we worked with the new administration to get up to speed on the program components and resubmit the msp bill. We also supported an expedition to gather data on fsm's nearshore environment. Fiji: there was a change in administration, and we worked with the new government on an amended memorandum of understanding for the program. (see continuation below)

Fiji (cont. ): we conducted an archipelago-wide expedition to support a baseline understanding of fiji's nearshore marine environment. We hired several local team members to support the program and progress marine spatial planning. Maldives: we supported the government in drafting a marine spatial planning bill and progressing the offshore marine spatial plan. We supported an expedition to gather data on the nearshore environment. We worked with local partners to create a short documentary highlighting the blue economy sector in the maldives. Samoa: we supported the revision of the marine spatial plan based on feedback from public consultations and conducted an analysis of fishing activity in samoa's eez. We also worked with the government to support drafting of legislation related to marine spatial planning. (see continuation below)