Fogo Island and Change Islands designated as Regional Hubs for Ocean Week

Every June, Ocean Week Canada encourages community members to celebrate their connection to the sea. At Shorefast, it provides an opportunity to share our environmental and foodways initiatives through themed events and activities.  

This year, these initiatives gained a national platform when Fogo Island and Change Islands were designated an Ocean Week Canada Regional Hub by the Centre for Ocean Literacy Canada (COLC). 

Becoming a Regional Hub 

As a living lab with a mission to build an ocean-engaged society, COLC relies on collaborative partners across Canada for their research, engagement, and leadership projects. One of these projects is Ocean Week Canada, an annual celebration that raises awareness and inspires action to ensure a healthy ocean. Regional Hubs are designated to strengthen community engagement in a specific area through a team of partner organizations. 

Shorefast was proud to be chosen as Hub Coordinator, which meant our team, led by Manager, Project and Initiative Development, Gabbie Ledesma and Program Operations Administrator, Kaitlin Penney, were responsible for mobilizing the community around Ocean Week events, with important contribution from our anchor partners, the Town of Fogo Island and the Town of Change Islands. 

On why both islands were chosen as Regional Hub this year, COLC’s Communications & Design Manager, Meghan Callon, says: 

“Fogo Island and Change Islands have a remarkable ability to bring together their community around something that matters. That cross-sector engagement is exactly what we look for in a regional hub. They bring their own roots, relationships, and ways of knowing to the week, and that local grounding is what keeps Ocean Week Canada growing in a meaningful way. A community that lives alongside the ocean every day doesn’t need to be convinced of its importance, but Ocean Week gives an opportunity to celebrate that connection, deepen it, and share it with others. That local resonance is what makes the week meaningful, and what makes it last.” 

Engaging the Community 

According to Gabbie, this was the first time COLC designated such a rural Regional Hub. With smaller audiences than other urban hubs like Halifax or Toronto, this meant the team had to embrace different ways of organizing beyond events. They engaged community businesses and asked them to participate how they wished. Many restaurants created Ocean Week specials: cod cakes from Uncle Benny’s Snack Bar, Butterfly Pea Flower Italian soda from Punch Buggy café, seashell- and fish-shaped treats from Loaf Land bakery, kelp-inspired ice cream from Growlers ice cream parlour, and a mussels special at The Storehouse restaurant. 

Community members were encouraged to track their participation through an Ocean Week Passport, a new addition to our annual celebration on Fogo Island. The passport listed every participating spot where you could collect a sticker. Beyond the specials offered at businesses, it included events like Trap Berth Day at Punt Premises, ocean-themed craft sessions at the Fogo Island Public Library, and an Ocean Week Photo Scavenger Hunt, which encouraged taking photos of fishing stages, nets on a wharf, anchors, and more. Kaitlin, who spearheaded the project, says: 

“The passport gave people a fun reason to get out and explore during Ocean Week. Seeing people excited to collect stickers while visiting different communities and taking part in local events and features made all the work worthwhile. It was great to hear so much positive feedback and that people are already looking forward to doing it again next year.” 

Cleaning & Celebrating Together 

One of the long-standing traditions of Ocean Week Canada is the Community Clean-Up Day. While caring for our coast happens year-round, this day provides an opportunity to showcase the collective effort. On Change Islands, residents collected more than 1,000 pounds of debris from their beaches, trails, and roadsides, while Fogo Islanders cleaned up a total of 663.5 pounds. Among the debris collected were rope, fishing lines, plastic, clothing, and shotgun shells. On both islands, litter was weighed together to demonstrate the bulk and impact of the clean-up, which was followed by community BBQs, hosted by the Fire Department on Change Islands and the RCMP on Fogo Island.  

Another tradition is the World Ocean Day celebration at Fogo Island’s Iceberg Arena, organized by the Town of Fogo Island. Shorefast contributed many interactive activities and booths to the family-friendly event, from face painting offered by the Fogo Island Arts team and cookie decorating organized by Fogo Island Inn’s culinary team to an environmental station with a touch tank led by Kiley Best, Fisheries Biologist from the Marine Institute of Memorial University. In the tank were invasive green crab to stir conversations around prevention and monitoring.  

Reflecting on the week, Gabbie concludes that being designated a Regional Hub elevated our region and amplified our work by connecting it to other hubs across Canada. Ocean Week Canada inspires collaboration between the pillars of our community, between municipalities, businesses and organizations, and Shorefast, brought together by a mutual care for the future of the ocean on which our future depends.