In January 2025, the West Coast Ocean Alliance and the West Coast Ocean Tribal Caucus convened for their annual summits, hosted by the Quinault Indian Nation in Ocean Shores, Washington.

In total, the Summits brought together 95 WCOA members, including representatives from 19 Tribal Nations, 3 Tribal organizations, 9 Federal agencies, and 11 State agencies.

• The Tribal Caucus Summit focused specifically on elevating conversations around Tribal rights, science, and stewardship strategies essential for maintaining traditional lifeways and fisheries.

• The WCOA Annual Summit provided a crucial forum for all members to discuss governance, exchange project ideas, and plan future programs.

The summits focused on elevating conversations around Tribal rights and stewardship , discussing governance , and exchanging ideas for upcoming projects.

Discussions produced several critical takeaways.

Tribes emphasized that true co-management means "shared decision-making from the outset," moving beyond inadequate consultation processes. Amid urgent threats like ocean acidification, hypoxia, and marine heatwaves , it was recognized that Tribal Nations are "experts and leaders on ocean health issues". Future collaboration must pair Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with conventional science. This focus on knowledge exchange was highlighted as the Quinault Indian Nation led a shoreline tour demonstrating coastal erosion impacts and razor clamming meetups emphasizing food sovereignty. The participation of six Quinault youth further underscored intergenerational knowledge transfer.

“There is so much value in coming together and learning from each other. WCOA provides space for Tribes up and down the coast to meet and come together around ocean issues where there is no space like that anywhere else.”

The summits concluded with clear actionable commitments. A working group will develop new draft governance protocols, anticipated by Summer 2025. Future funding proposals will prioritize investments in enhancing Tribal capacity and strengthening Tribal engagement. Additionally, WCOA will make more robust efforts to engage Tribal representatives in the development of the Ocean Health Dashboard.