CONECTARSE
NEWS & UPDATES
The 78th Annual Meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) will take place in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from 27–31 October 2025, bringing together scientists, fishers, policymakers, and international organizations to advance collaborative ocean solutions. The event, co-sponsored by IOC-UNESCO's Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (IOCARIBE) and the UNDP/GEF/UNOPS PROCARIBE+ Project, is an endorsed activity of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
Under the theme “Partnering for the Oceans: Merging Ocean, Climate, and Biodiversity Efforts Through Regional Marine Data and Innovation”, GCFI78 will provide a key platform to discuss sustainable fisheries, ocean observation, biodiversity conservation, blue economy, and marine governance in the Wider Caribbean and adjacent regions.
The event will feature participants from over 40 countries and territories, with a keynote address by Alison Clausen, Deputy Global Coordinator of the UN Ocean Decade at IOC-UNESCO, entitled “Ocean Knowledge for Action in the Caribbean – Looking Forward to the Next Five Years of the Ocean Decade”. (Check the Agenda here)
Throughout the week, the program will include technical sessions, thematic panels, and special events such as the Fisher Forum, the CineFish Film Festival, and the First Regional Partnership Forum “Our Sea – Our Source – Our Future”, highlighting cooperation among governments, academia, and coastal communities.
The main venue will be the historic Hotel Caribe, located in Cartagena’s touristic Bocagrande district, combining colonial heritage with modern facilities. Participants will have access to both in-person and virtual sessions through the Whova app, which enables networking, live interpretation, and digital interaction.
GCFI78 reaffirms a shared regional and global commitment to the sustainable management of marine resources, knowledge co-creation, and ocean governance, in alignment with the vision of the UN Ocean Decade.
For registration and details, visit the official conference website.
Learn more about PROCARIBE+ and IOCARIBE – IOC-UNESCO.
CURRENT NEWS ITEMS
Hurricane Dorian is the fifth tropical cyclone of the season in the Tropical Atlantic, the fourth to become a tropical storm and the first to become a hurricane in 2019.
...
On August 15 2019 for the first time an underwater glider was launched off the coast in Dominican Republic waters, 5 miles to the south of Bocachica. The glider will monitor...
On behalf of the UNDP/GEF CLME+ Project we are requesting the assistance of your membership for the completion of this short survey. ...
WMO Secretary-General, Petteri Taalas, and IOC Executive Secretary, Vladimir Ryabinin, signed new Letter of Agreement between their organizations.
Geneva: At a...
The IOC is an intergovernmental organization established in 1960. Its purpose is to promote international cooperation and to coordinate programmes in research, services and capacity-building, in...
In a ‘Global Change Biology’ paper, a group of scientists propose using “essential ocean variables” as part of a sustained Global Ocean Observing System. The authors argue such a method can...
The UNESCO and its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, released “...
A production of the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), the State of the Marine Environment (SOME) Report 2016 provides a scientifically...
The 29th Session of the IOC Assembly (Paris, 20-29 June 2017) paid tribute to Prof Mario Ruivo, who passed away early 2017. The remembrance...