We’re excited to announce the recipients of the 2026-2028 Community-led Research (CLR) Fund.
Recipients receive multi-year funding to support and strengthen long-term community-led initiatives addressing local priorities. The funded projects span Canada’s Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic coasts and address a wide range of priorities, from Indigenous fisheries stewardship and invasive species management to intergenerational knowledge transmission and Nation-led marine governance.
Read on to learn more about each project.
Preparing for a Traditional Haida Northern Abalone Fishery
Led by: Dan McNeill, Niisii Guujaaw and Candice St. Germain, Council of the Haida Nation
G̱aalG̱ahlyan (Skidegate Haida dialect) galgahl’yáan (Masset Haida dialect) Northern abalone are culturally significant to the Haida Nation, but gathering them has been prohibited since 1990. With signs that populations on Haida Gwaii are recovering, this 2.5-year project will co-develop a community and ecosystem-based stewardship plan, combining monitoring surveys and translocation experiments with a Haida knowledge working group of elders, youth, and knowledge holders to guide the work toward a future sustainable food fishery.
From Detection to Recovery: Community-Led Approaches to Managing Invasive Green Crab
Led by: Diana Chan, Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Integrated Resource Management Department, and Stephanie Green, University of Alberta
Invasive European green crab is disrupting coastal ecosystems and threatening shellfish fisheries on both coasts, with detection and removal currently falling largely to Indigenous communities. This project brings together the Haíɫzaqv Nation, academic researchers, and partner organizations to test new detection tools (eDNA, trap sampling, predator scat analysis), evaluate the impact of removal efforts, and examine how native predators help ecosystems resist invasion, with results shared across coastal stewardship networks.
Pride of the Trapline: Indigenous-led Coastal Living Labs for Stewardship, Knowledge Transmission, and Food Sovereignty in James Bay
Led by: Dr. Dante Torio, Chisasibi Eeyou Resource and Research Institute, and Thiyagarajah Thayaparan, Cree Nation of Chisasibi
This project establishes coastal “living labs” on Cree traplines in James Bay, where Elders share land-based knowledge with youth, including how to harvest from the land, recognize and document environmental changes, and care for and preserve ecosystems and resources. The overall goal is to strengthen intergenerational pathways for sharing knowledge that sustain coastal foods, cultural continuity, and community well-being while supporting the continued stewardship of a changing coastal environment.
Towards the Long-term Management of QEN,T, Tsawout’s Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area
Led by: Lais Chaves and Shae Harding, SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout) First Nation
This project advances the management of QEN,T, SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout) First Nation’s Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) through community-led ecological monitoring of key marine species, including clams, Dungeness crab, and rockfish. Monitoring results will help inform stewardship priorities and decision-making, while stewardship workshops and an IPCA Advisory Working Group strengthen community participation, knowledge sharing, and Indigenous-led governance. The project supports SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout) in exercising their role as primary stewards of their marine territory.
Community-led Research Using Two-Eyed Seeing for the Pems’ḵ Mawatasikl Ankotmukl Conservation Mosaic
Led by: Chris Miller, CPAWS Nova Scotia, and Melissa Labrador, Oceans North
This project supports an Indigenous-led conservation initiative in the Kespukwitk District of Mi’kma’ki (southwestern Nova Scotia), combining Indigenous knowledge with western science through two-eyed seeing principles. Underwater surveys, youth programming, and documentary filmmaking will help advance an Indigenous-led National Marine Conservation Area, building lasting local capacity for ocean research and stewardship.
IMB Marine Governance Plan: Caring for Our Waters with NEȾOLṈEW̱ / Nutsa Maat Shqwaluwun
Led by: Ryleigh Lightbourn, Indigenous Management Board, and Eryn Rogers, W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council
This Nations-led initiative will develop a Marine Governance Plan supporting 11 member Nations of the Indigenous Management Board in reclaiming their authority over the inner waters of the Salish Sea. Organized around five objectives, from strengthening Nation-to-Nation relationships to centering language and exploring the intersection of Indigenous law with colonial tools, the project builds both governance capacity and community research capacity in step.
MEOPAR’s CLR Fund supports multi-year, community-driven projects that strengthen resilience and respond to marine environmental challenges. The fund prioritizes Indigenous-led and community-led research, builds local research capacity, and supports partnerships that bring together scientific, cultural, and Indigenous knowledge systems – all grounded in MEOPAR’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility.
Each of these projects represents a commitment to research that is shaped by, and accountable to, the communities it serves. We look forward to sharing updates as this work unfolds over the next two and a half years.
