In December 2019, the OceanObs'19 Community White Paper on "Multidisciplinary Observing in the World Ocean’s Oxygen Minimum Zone Regions: From Climate to Fish — The VOICE Initiative" was published. The Variability of the Oxycline and its ImpaCt on the Ecosystem (VOICE; http://www.ioccp.org/voice) initiative, supported by IOCCP since its beginning in 2017, aims to demonstrate how societal benefit applications drive the need for integration and optimization of biological, biogeochemical, and physical components of regional ocean observing related to eastern boundary systems (EBSs). VOICE chose to focus on the upper oxycline (transition between high and low oxygen waters) which is fundamentally important for the ecosystem structure and can be a useful proxy for multiple observing (and modelling) objectives connected to EBSs that neighbour oxygen minimum zones. In this paper, we present a first readiness level assessment for ocean observing of the oxycline in EBS around the globe.

The paper can be accessed openly and freely at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00722/full 

The International Ocean Deoxygenation Conference (https://conference.sfb754.de/event/1) was held from 3-7 September 2018 in Kiel, Germany. The conference was organised by the Collaborative Research Center (SFB 754) which addresses the threat of ocean deoxygenation, its possible impact on tropical oxygen minimum zones and implications for the global climate-biogeochemistry system. The conference brought together the global scientific community working on Ocean Deoxygenation and aimed to identify drivers and consequences of ocean deoxygenation in the past, present and future. IOCCP was represented by Véronique Garçon and Maciej Telszewski. 

One outcome of the conference is the 'Kiel Declaration', in which the scientists call for more marine and climate protection and more international awareness of oxygen depletion. The declaration can be signed HERE.

The 2^nd VOICE (Variability of the Oxycline and its ImpaCt on the Ecosystem; http://www.ioccp.org/voice) Science Plan workshop took place on 8-9 September 2018 in Kiel, Germany, in conjunction with the International Conference on 'Ocean Deoxygenation: Drivers and Consequences – Past, Present and Future', held on 3-7 September 2018. The main point on the meeting agenda was to perform the readiness level assessment based on information collected from the various Oxygen Minimum Zone demonstration regions all over the world. During the meeting, we reviewed the results of analysing the answers to spreadsheet questionnaires that were distributed among the VOICE regional champions in order to collect information on current status and gaps in requirement setting, observing capacity and data and information product management. The main outcome of this workshop will be the submission of VOICE Community White Paper in response to an invitation from the OceanObs'19 Conference Program Committee. IOCCP SSG member Véronique Garçon is a Co-Chair of VOICE, and IOCCP Project Office is providing support for this international initiative. To learn more about VOICE, please see our page dedicated to this project: http://www.ioccp.org/voice. 

IOCCP SSG member Véronique Garçon and IOCCP Director Maciej Telszewski are members of the Global Ocean Oxygen Network (GO₂NE) Executive Council since its establishment in 2016 as an IOC-UNESCO Working Group. GO₂NE is committed to providing a global and multidisciplinary view of deoxygenation, with a focus on understanding its multiple aspects and impacts. The Network offers scientific advice to policy makers to counter this concerning trend and to preserve marine resources in the presence of deoxygenation. Currently, the members of the core working group represent 21 institutions in 11 countries.

A major outcome of GO₂NE was an article published in Science in December 2017 on "Declining oxygen in the global ocean and coastal waters." GO₂NE Executive Council has recently held their annual meeting on September 2, 2018, in Kiel, Germany, just prior to the Ocean Deoxygenation International Conference. To learn more about the current and planned activities of GO₂NE, please visit their website at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/ioc-oceans/sections-and-programmes/ocean-sciences/global-ocean-oxygen-network/