IOA Annual Report 2022

ANNUAL REPORT 2022

The Gulf of California Marine Program (GCMP): Supporting policy through research s part of a research project on ship-borne marine pollution stemming from ships’ scrubber technology , IOA developed a comparative assessment of regulations implemented across different locales in the Americas to curb this type of pollution. In October, IOA presented its results along with a series of recommendations in a working group with federal, state and local governmental authorities as well as civil society in the city of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. As part of this effort, the Gulf of California Marine Program (GCMP) produced a map of the Americas that highlights comparative regulatory differences across the region in both English and Spanish , as well as this 4-minute video capsule . Lastly, we evaluated and quantified air emissions and scrubbers’ washwater effluents of 10 large vessels that stayed at the La Paz Bay between January 2020 and June 2021. The report is available online in both English and Spanish. A

EC2’s Gulf of California Marine Program highlighted the role science communication plays in building collective knowledge

I n support of IOA’s Las Californias Blue Carbon initiative , GCMP also undertook work to quantify the value of carbon stocks both in Bahía Magdalena , in Baja California Sur, and in the Bay of San Quintín , in Baja California. Annual assessments of rocky reefs in the Gulf of California - which provide ecological information for other research regarding fisheries, tourism, marine protected areas and climate change - were also completed for 2022. Specifically, this data has been used to calculate tourism carrying capacity in Cabo Pulmo , and to update several marine protected area management plans. During2022, dataMares—theGCMP’s science communication initiative—celebrated its 8thyear anniversarywithagraphic book highlighting the importance of communicating science. It was presented at the Fondo de Cultura Económica´s Bella Época in Mexico City in October, and at the Guadalajara’s International Book Fair (FIL).

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