April 3, 2021
World Aquatic Animal Day: The Impact of Our Human Activities on Aquatic Animals
Our 2021 webinar featuring a day of educational speakers was recorded and links to each presentation are available under the “Schedule of Events” tab below and the Center for Animal Law Studies YouTube channel. Thank you to all who joined us to raise awareness for aquatic animals!
Resources from the second annual World Aquatic Animal Day on April 3, 2021: The Impact of Our Human Activities on Aquatic Animals
Thank you for making our second annual event a success! For an overview of the day, check out the student blog “Second Annual World Aquatic Animal Day Proves a Whale of a Time” by Mary Hofmann.
World Aquatic Animal Day 2021 — Resource Packet
World Aquatic Animal Day — Get Involved from Home
#worldaquaticanimalday
About World Aquatic Animal Day
World Aquatic Animal Day is an annual day dedicated to aquatic animals. The event—launched for the first time on April 3, 2020—is a project of the Aquatic Animal Law Initiative and the Animal Law Clinic at the Center for Animal Law Studies. Each year, we will raise global awareness about these often forgotten nonhuman animals.
Aquatic animals play a critical role in our societies and ecosystems. They are important not only as a group, but also as valuable and exciting individuals with intrinsic worth. By “aquatic animals”, we mean not only fish, but also a myriad of other animals that live in water for most of their life: amphibians, marine mammals, crustaceans, reptiles, molluscs, aquatic birds, aquatic insects and even animals such as starfish and corals. Despite this, aquatic animals are widely used and abused around the world and they face a multitude of different threats.
There is an urgent need to give aquatic animals the proper consideration they deserve. Through law, policy, education, advocacy and good stewardship of the earth, our efforts to raise awareness of the plight of aquatic animals must rise to meet the immense challenges they now face. We must also consider our interactions with aquatic animals, our treatment of them, and the often-devastating impacts we are having on them and their habitats.
On April 3rd each year, please join us in celebrating these creatures and calling for action to protect aquatic animals through education, law, policy, outreach and other avenues. With a different focus each year, we will, together, highlight these issues and elevate their status.
The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law attorneys and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter, with the most comprehensive animal law curriculum offered anywhere. In addition, CALS is the only program that offers an advanced legal degree in animal law and three specialty Animal Law Clinics, including the Aquatic Animal Law Initiative. CALS is a fully self-funded nonprofit organization operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and is only able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.