Green Marine Strategy
& Educational Materials

Marine-friendly port operations

As Canada’s Ultra Atlantic Gateway, the Port of Halifax connects Canada’s industries with more than 150 countries with an annual impact on the Province of Nova Scotia of over $4 billion dollars. The Port manages large volumes of containerized, bulk, and project cargo with its natural, deep harbour and big ship infrastructure.

With its long-standing commitment to sustainable development, the Halifax Port Authority (HPA) recognizes its relationship to the local environment, including the underwater habitats and thoroughfares for migrating sea life. The HPA became a member of Green Marine in 2011, using the Green Marine’s Underwater Noise performance indicator as best practices. Green Marine is an environmental certification program for the North American marine industry. It is a voluntary, transparent, and inclusive initiative that addresses key environmental issues through its 13 performance indicators.

In 2020, luuceo worked with the HPA to assess and improve the Port’s strategy and approach to addressing underwater noise considerations in the Halifax Harbour and its approaches. We reviewed HPA’s current performance under the Green Marine Underwater Noise indicator, researched best practices employed by other ports, and engaged with relevant stakeholders (including academics, researchers, specialists, and government). Based on the information gathered, our luuceo team developed educational materials that include how to report marine mammal sightings, species to look out for in the Halifax Harbour and its approaches, the impacts of underwater noise on marine mammals, and best practices to mitigate the impacts of underwater noise on marine mammals.