Coastalcarbon.ai is a startup co- founded by Kelly Zheng, a 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30, whose PhD thesis work explores deep learning for spatiotemporal modeling, and she's spent the past three years developing Coastal Carbon’s AI models. This grant supports their work to segment and classify seaweed from remote sensing data to develop an AI that can measure underwater seaweed biomass. Currently, gathering information of this type relies on manually sampling, which is time-consuming, expensive, and involves significant manual labor which can be dangerous. Automating these measurements would allow for significant improvement in understanding and quantifying seaweed-based ocean restoration.

The project seeks to strengthen and promote the participation and leadership of women from the fishing community of El Ñuro, Peru, in sustainable economic activities other than fishing. These activities will contribute to the resilience of the fishing community of El Ñuro in face of the effects of climate change by providing alternative revenue streams for the women and their families. Trainings and workshops will be held on business plans with a circular economy approach, sustainable entrepreneurship alternatives, and climate change. 

Operating within a fish sanctuary in Jamaica, this project aims to educate and train local fishermen in the techniques of sea moss farming in order to provide an alternative livelihood, and thus reduce pressure on local fisheries. The fishermen will attend workshops to learn how to farm sea-moss sustainably and will be provided with the farming structures. Once harvested, the sea moss will be sold, creating an alternative food source for local consumers as well as an alternative income source for local fishermen and members of the White River Marine Association. 

Many countries and communities that rely on fish for food, employment, and revenue are experiencing the grave impacts of Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated (IUU) fishing. A big part of the problem is lack of visibility on human activities at sea. The vessels that conduct the most IUU fishing almost always stop broadcasting their locations. To ensure the sustainability of our fisheries, we need to see these "dark" vessels, capture explicit evidence of their crimes, and prosecute swiftly. Leveraging existing coastal radars and machine learning, we track these dark vessels in near real-time. This information is delivered to public sector agencies through our 'Dark Vessel Detector' web app to inform insightful responses, such targeted maritime patrols. To effectively capture explicit evidence of IUU fishing, we are also developing a fleet of autonomous drones, capable of flying over dark vessels and shedding light on their fishy business.

Joel Güity, a young man from the Garífuna community of San Antonio, Santa Fe Colón, Honduras is the current president of the SOA-Honduras hub. He holds a master's degree in Integrated Management of Coastal Areas from the University of Cádiz, Spain as well as a degree in Natural Resources and Environment from the National University of Agriculture of Honduras. He is the first Garífuna to hold dual degrees. As part of his PhD research, he is studying the coastal management practices of Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Honduras. This grant will fund his attendance at the Third Ibero-American Congress of Integrated Management of Coastal Areas in Argentina. This is the most important event promoted by the IBERMAR Network, and presents an opportunity to learn about the latest research and learn new methods applicable to his research, as well as further the involvement of Garifuna people in effective coastal conservation.

Kelp Forest Foundation (KFF) works with 20 research institutes around the world to understand the ecosystem and carbon implications of kelp cultivation and conservation. In Namibia, they currently support the research of six doctoral and masters students, and this SOA grant supports the work of one of them: Protasius Mutijda. With this grant, Protasius will purchase the titration kits necessary to measure the biogeochemical impact of cultivated giant kelp off the coast of Namibia, which thrives in the Benguela current, the most nutritious in the world. Giant kelp is among the fastest-growing of any organism, and represents a scalable solution in the realms of carbon sequestration, use as an agricultural biostimulant or feed, chemical pollution mitigation, and ecosystem halo effects (like creating habitat conducive to plankton spawning). The data Protasius collects will be integrated into other research being done at University of Cape Town, KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), and Cambridge in order to develop a comprehensive kelp Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) model. By supporting Protasius and other African scientists, KFF seeks to show Namibian youth that there are pathways for them to become custodians of their ocean.

Buyuni reef is a crucial nursery and breeding site for vulnerable fish species. Over the last 2 decades it's been severely damaged by climate change and destructive fishing practices leading to loss of diverse coral species and its economic and ecological function. In early 2022, 4000 sq. meters of Buyuni was designated as a locally managed area by the community. With this grant, Aqua-Farms Organization (AFO) will use a community based approach to restore Buyuni reef by replanting 1000 coral fragments across 400 square meters. Their goal is to restore 1 square kilometer by 2030. Project leader, Nancy Iraba, has been trained by Reef Resilience Network and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and is the first marine scientist divemaster to lead coral restoration in Tanzania.

Building off of previous SOA Support, Natura Sin Basura has extended their environmental education and direct restoration conservation to the Bay of Cadiz Natural Park, whose tidal marshes and seagrass ecosystems are critical for migrating and wintering waterbirds, as well as spawning and nursery habitat for fish species. Through a combination of environmental education, cleanups, and ongoing monitoring, they aim to raise awareness of the ecosystem services of seagrass and saltmarshes (like carbon sequestration) and reduce the impact of local pollution.

Since being forced into dormancy by colonization, the Marquesan language and culture has undergone an extraordinary renaissance, but threats remain to the local oceanscape and way of life. Marquesan islanders have long discussed the need for a tangible focus for local ocean conservation and protection of culture, traditions, arts and language. With this grant, The Cultural Sanctuaries Foundation will have the funds necessary to meet this need by building a community center on Nuku Hiva, to act as the heart of future revitalization and conservation and as a gathering and learning place for locals and visitors to all six inhabited Marquesan islands.