Current Projects

Established in 2013, the Global Ocean Commission (GOC) is an independent body of global leaders that was formed to address the principal threats facing the global ocean, and in particular the high seas (i.e. that area which lies beyond the 200 mile national jurisdiction of countries, constituting nearly 50% of the planet, yet is currently unmanaged and unregulated).

As influential advocates for global ocean health, its seventeen commissioners include former Heads of State and Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Defense and Environment, and global business leaders. The Commission is administered by an independent Secretariat based at Somerville College, Oxford University, with oversight from its three Co-chairs: José María Figueres (former President of Costa Rica and currently the President of the Carbon War Room), Trevor Manuel (former Minister of Finance, and the Presidency, South Africa) and David Miliband (former UK Foreign Secretary and currently President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

Since its launch the Global Ocean Commission worked alongside representatives from science, business, NGOs, academia and industry to form politically and technically feasible recommendations to address issues on the high seas. This work culminated in the release of a concise report in June 2014, “From Decline to Recovery: A Rescue Package for the Global Ocean”, that presents eight strategic proposals the Commission believes will stimulate ocean recovery:

• Securing a stand alone UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for the ocean;
• Reforming and strengthening high seas governance;
• Ending harmful high seas fishing subsidies;
• Combatting and ending illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing;
• Reducing plastic pollution;
• Establishing new international safety standards for the offshore oil and gas production sector;
• Establishing an independent Global Ocean Accountability Board;
• Promoting high seas regeneration zone(s); and,
• Placing the ocean at the heart of the climate change debate.

The Global Ocean Commission is now in its implementation phase where over the next year it will engage key stakeholders, global leaders and policymakers in order to build coalitions and high level action around each of the proposals that will lead to the ocean change the Commissioner seeks.

Oceans 5 supported the Antarctic Ocean Alliance and the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition in their campaign to secure several large new marine reserves in the waters around Antarctica. This campaign resulted in the creation of the largest marine protected area on the planet, in the Ross Sea.

Antarctica is home to a wide variety of fish and wildlife, including whales, penguins, seals and sea birds.  An international treaty for peace and science protects the terrestrial continent of Antarctica.  However, the vast and remote waters of the Southern Ocean remain open to exploitation by fishing fleets from nations throughout the world.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) governs the international waters around Antarctica.  It is comprised of 24 member nations plus the European Union.  In 2009, CCAMLR pledged to create a series of marine protected areas by 2012.  However, CCAMLR operates by consensus, requiring that all members either approve—or not object to—the designation of marine reserves.

With Oceans 5 support, the Antarctic Ocean Alliance built an international coalition of leading organizations with capacity in each of the CCAMLR member nations. Coalition leaders include WWF, Greenpeace, The Last Ocean, and Pew Charitable Trusts.  The coalition conducted research, published reports, engaged the media and advocated conservation objectives to governments.

Oceans 5 supports the High Seas Alliance, a partnership comprised of more than 37 organizations working to improve protection of the nearly 50 percent of the planet that is the high seas. As the region of the global ocean that is beyond national jurisdiction, the high seas includes some of the most biologically important, least protected, and most critically threatened ecosystems in the world.  Currently, there are few legally binding mechanisms for establishing marine protected areas outside States’ territorial seas, or for undertaking environmental impact assessments.

This project aims to ensure that an intergovernmental conference taking place at the United Nations from 2018-2020 for the development of a new legally binding treaty under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, results in robust protection for marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, including a framework for establishing marine protected areas and reserves in the high seas. This is the first global treaty process related to the ocean in over two decades and the only one targeted specifically at the protection of marine biodiversity in ABNJ. The High Seas Alliance is committed to working with States towards the adoption, ratification and implementation of this comprehensive treaty to protect the world’s ocean beyond national jurisdiction. 

Every year at least 8 million tons of plastic enters the ocean, with single use plastic and plastic packaging being the largest part of the problem. Recognizing that the best way to protect ocean ecosystems is to stop the plastic ending up in the ocean in the first place, Oceans 5 has contributed to the Plastic Solutions Fund, a funder collaborative aimed at stemming the tide of plastic pollution.

Eighty percent of the plastic ending up in the ocean comes from land. The Plastic Solutions Fund supports projects aimed at reducing production of single use plastic and packaging at the top end of the supply chain. This includes projects that help change the way companies and brands deliver products to consumers, the way cities, particularly in Asia, manage plastic waste and that change the stories people hear and tell about plastic.

If successful, the Plastic Solutions Fund will decrease the amount of plastic pollution by supporting projects that ensure:
● Companies innovate products and delivery systems such that single use products become the exception rather than the norm.
● Cities recognize and promote the environmental and financial benefits of zero waste systems.
● A culture of cringe rather than a culture of convenience accompanies the use of single use products; and
● A large, vocal, high profile, successful global movement emerges.

Oceans 5 is supporting the Washington, D.C. based think tank, the Stimson Center, to research and understand the geostrategic impacts and implications of distant water fishing (DWF) fleets across the globe. The project aims to identify and assess the impact of the top ten largest fleets by country, develop a deeper understanding of fleet operations, pinpoint geographical hot spots where DWF fleets are fishing, as well as uncover the strategic significance of DWF fleets for a host country’s food, economic and geopolitical security.  

Distant water fishing fleets have roamed the oceans for centuries—as far back as Norwegian fishermen plying the New England coast for cod. However, in recent years, globalization has enabled DWF fleets to become more efficient in their operations. With this increased capacity to capture more fish, DWF fleets take advantage of the lack of governance and enforcement of fisheries quotas, further exacerbating depleted fish stocks. Countries around the world are feeling the impact from these fleets, and many have reacted in forceful ways to deter their operations in territorial waters. DWF fleets and the reaction to them have become a source of geopolitical tension. This project seeks to understand multifaceted impact of DWF fleets on local populations, their role as a geopolitical tool for countries, and how they exacerbate tensions between states.

The Stimson Center’s Environmental Security program is uniquely poised to answer these questions, and will develop a publicly available, interactive online map of DWF fleets, as well as release a final report that analyzes their findings at the end of the grant period.

Oceans 5 is supporting the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) in a project to create a system of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean by 2020. Building on the success of the Ross Sea MPA in the fall of 2016, ASOC will seek the designation of three additional MPAs in the East Antarctic, the Weddell Sea, and the Antarctic Peninsula. This system will be the first of its kind in the high seas, and will ensure that millions of penguins, whales and seals will receive long-term protection.

In 2009, the countries that form the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) made a bold commitment to put in place a system of MPAs in the Southern Ocean by 2012. However, because CCAMLR requires consensus from its Members (24 countries and the European Union) to make decisions, no MPAs were designated until 2016, when the Ross Sea MPA was agreed. The final MPA includes the nearly 500,000 square kilometer Ross Ice Shelf as well as 1.55 million square kilometers of open ocean. With the exception of limited research fishing strictly controlled by CCAMLR’s Scientific Committee, the MPA is off-limits to commercial fishing.

This was an historic achievement now stands as the largest marine reserve on the high seas. However, the Ross Sea represents only a small fraction of the entire Southern Ocean and further protection is needed to ensure that Antarctica’s unique biodiversity is protected and can be resilient in the face of climate change and increasing human activities in the polar regions. The East Antarctic, Weddell Sea and Antarctic Peninsula are all areas of major ecological significance, with thriving colonies of seabirds and seals and underwater gardens of colorful starfish and sea sponges.

The project will focus on working with CCAMLR Members to develop robust MPA proposals and build consensus for MPA creation, as well as on conducting outreach to the public about the need to conserve Antarctica’s unique biodiversity. Scientific research confirms the high conservation benefits of MPAs with large no-take areas, and ASOC and its coalition members, which include The Pew Charitable Trusts, Greenpeace and WWF, will advocate strongly for Antarctic MPAs to include large highly protected areas.

Oceans 5 is a member of the Shark Conservation Fund (SCF), which is a philanthropic collaboration with Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Paul M Angell Foundation, Helmsley Charitable Trust, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, and Moore Charitable Foundation. The SCF is focused on halting the overexploitation of the world’s sharks and rays, reversing declines, restoring populations, and preventing extinctions.

Sharks and rays represent one of the oldest and most diverse group of animals on earth. These cartilaginous fish play important ecological, cultural and economic roles in our oceans and coastal communities. One quarter of all shark and ray species are threatened with extinction and millions are killed annually for their fins, meat, leather, liver and gills. This crisis represents a growing threat to the health and well-being of the oceans and the billions of people that rely on them for food and employment.

The SCF recognizes that major investments are needed in conservation science, policy, advocacy, communications, and capacity-building to reduce mortality of sharks and rays and ensure their recovery, and sustainable management.  Its objectives are to:
● Ensure the protection for the most endangered sharks and rays.
● Ensure that targeted shark and ray fisheries are sustainable.
● Reduce shark and ray bycatch in fisheries where they are not the target.
● Utilize marine protected areas to protect shark and ray aggregations, nurseries, and other essential habitats.
● Reduce demand in key global markets for shark and ray products.
● Ensure transparent and regulated global trade in shark and ray product

Oceans 5 supports the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), a Netherlands-based nonprofit organization comprised of more than 70 like-minded groups worldwide. The 3-year project aims to enhance transparency and further regulate the current exploratory and potential extractive deep sea mining processes in our oceans.

The deep seas are hot spots for biodiversity with many unique habitats including deep water coral, seamount and hydrothermal vent ecosystems. Sparse information exists to understand the repercussions of disrupting these deep ecosystems through mining. However, exploration for deep sea mineral deposits in these habitats is well underway, with the first commercial deep sea mining operations likely within the next few years. The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the UN body established to regulate mining in the international areas of the world’s oceans, has begun drafting a set of commercial mining regulations. Much of the ISA discussion is dominated by the financial, technical and legal agendas of countries and companies interested in deep sea mining; it will be important to ensure that potential environmental impacts are properly assessed and regulated effectively.

The DSCC project will work alongside the ISA with activities including strengthening the emerging seabed mining regulations, improving transparency in decision making at the ISA, and securing no take mining areas in the international areas of the world’s oceans to protect biodiversity.

Oceans 5 supports an international collaboration, the Great British Oceans campaign, which is calling on the British government to protect 1.75 million square kilometers (676,000 square miles) of ocean in three overseas territories—the Pitcairn Islands, Ascension Island and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

The United Kingdom (UK) has the fifth largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world when its Overseas Territories (UKOT) are included.  Over 94% of the UK’s unique biodiversity is found in the UKOT, including unique habitats and endemic, rare and threatened species.

At over 500,000 km² (193,000 square miles), a marine reserve around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands would be the largest in the Southern Ocean. Uninhabited by humans, these volcanic islands host huge concentrations of wildlife, including vast penguin colonies and significant whale populations.

At over 440,000km² (170,000 square miles), Ascension Island’s waters are one of the few remaining hotspots for Atlantic megafauna including turtles, tunas, marlins and sharks.

A marine reserve in the Pitcairn Island group was announced in 2015. Once legislated, it will offer protection to some of the most pristine waters and coral reefs on earth. At 834,000km² (322,000 square miles), this would be the largest fully protected marine reserve on earth.

The campaign is a collaboration between the Blue Marine Foundation, Greenpeace UK, Marine Conservation Society, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas, Pew Charitable Trusts, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Zoological Society of London.

Oceans 5 joins the Waitt Foundation in supporting the implementation of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), the first large marine reserve created by a small island developing state.

The PIPA resides in the Republic of Kiribati, a nation of approximately 100,000 residents on 21 inhabited islands, with a total landmass of just 800 km2. In total, 32 atolls and single raised coral island are spread across 3.5 million km2 of Pacific Ocean, home to some of the most pristine waters on the planet. The PIPA encompasses 400,000 km2 of Kiribati’s EEZ, an area almost the size of California, and includes eight islands, two underwater reefs and several seamounts, all of which became fully protected in January 2015.

To operationalize the full closure of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, together with the Waitt Foundation, Oceans 5 is partnering directly with the Government of Kiribati and the PIPA Trust, which was created in 2009. Oceans 5 funds will support implementation of the fully protected area, including management, surveillance and enforcement.

Oceans 5 is supporting four organizations as they work to reform how transshipment is governed in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO).  The transshipment of tuna, which commonly involves both purse seine and longline vessels transferring fresh fish to large carrier vessels, both at sea and in port, for transport back to shoreside processing hubs, is an important part of the tuna supply chain.  However, lack of monitoring and regulatory oversight of this activity, especially at-sea transshipments involving longline vessels, means that over $142 million USD of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) product is linked to transshipment in the WCPO each year.

While data and information on transshipment activities are collected by both vessels and independent observers, no single management body has access to the range of documentation necessary to create a full and complete picture of the transshipment activities that occur in the WCPO region. A thorough and complete study and analysis of this activity is needed in order to clearly identify inconsistencies and gaps in the reported information and identify key regulatory needs and reforms.

The Oceans 5 grant supports The Pew Charitable Trusts, WWF, the Australian National Centre for Ocean Governance and Security (ANCORS), and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) whose members include: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The organizations are cooperating to conduct a comprehensive review of transshipment monitoring and regulation in the WCPO and then develop and implement high quality standards for the governance of transshipment. Oceans 5 is providing three years of funding that began in summer 2017.

Oceans 5 supports The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to improve electronic monitoring of longline tuna vessels in the Pacific.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a serious threat to sustainability in fisheries across the planet, including in tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. Despite the area providing roughly two-thirds of the global tuna supply worth as much as $7 billion annually, studies have estimated that almost half of the WCPO tuna catch is IUU. While illegal, “dark target” vessels receive significant attention globally, it is well understood that vessels legally permitted to fish in the region’s waters are a significant contributor to IUU, representing the vast majority of annual losses. The region’s longline fishery accounts for more financial losses from IUU activity than any other gear type, due in large part to the exceptionally low rate of human observer coverage on vessels. IUU fishing robs Pacific Islanders of critical income, creates threats to fishery sustainability and has been linked to global security challenges.

Electronic monitoring—the use of video cameras, sensors, and GPS aboard fishing vessels—offers new prospects for ending the “wild, wild, wet” era in our oceans and shining the bright light of transparency on at-sea activities. Oceans 5 is supporting The Nature Conservancy’s technical assistance to Pacific Island governments to deploy electronic monitoring and implement complementary policy reforms aboard longline fishing vessels operating in their waters to achieve the common objective to combat IUU fishing. 

Oceans 5 supports local non-profit Tofia Niue, in partnership with Government of Niue in the Niue Ocean Wide (NOW) project to conserve and sustainably manage Niue’s waters.

Niue is the largest raised atoll on earth. Nestled between Tonga and the Cook Islands, the little-known Polynesian country is concerned that the current paradigm for piecemeal ocean management is not optimal nor reflective of its true value. In 2015, Niue launched the NOW project, aiming to improve livelihoods of Niueans through the conservation and sustainable use of the entire 316,584 km2 exclusive economic zone (EEZ). By creating tightly-managed resource use zones and a world-class marine reserve, Niue’s global profile as a pristine eco-tourism destination will rise, as will its contribution to global marine conservation.

The project expects to strengthen the partnership between the Government of Niue, civil society and the private sector. Activities include stakeholder consultations, scientific analysis, educational workshops and development of marine management and enforcement/compliance plans.    

In October 2017, at the Our Ocean Conference, Niue announced its intent to fully protect 40 percent (126,000 km2) of its EEZ. The Niue Government is expected to finalize the sustainable management plan and protected area by the end of 2019.

Oceans 5 supports a local conservation organization and traditional Maori leaders working to create a large marine park in the Southern Cook Islands. If successful, the project could result in one of the largest marine reserves in the South Pacific, providing long-term benefits to the people of the Cook Islands.

In mid 2012, Cook Islands’ Prime Minister Henry Puna established a 1.1 million square kilometer marine park in the Southern Cooks, simultaneously outlining a vision for the sustainable management of the nation’s large exclusive economic zone (EEZ).   He had previously established a marine park Steering Committee to help shape the establishment and designation of the park.   The Committee is comprised of representatives of civil society, traditional leaders and government agencies.

Oceans 5 supports the steering committee through the Marae Moana Establishment Trust, a local organization of respected community environmentalists.  Project activities will focus on consultations with traditional leaders and outer island communities; developing appropriate administrative and legal frameworks; and designing communications strategies to engage Cook Island residents.

Oceans 5 expects to provide funding for three years beginning in 2013.

Oceans 5, in cooperation with the Waitt Foundation & Institute, is working with the Government of Tonga by supporting the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Oceania Regional Office (IUCN-ORO) and the Vava’u Environment Protection Association to transform the management of Tonga’s entire ocean.

The country of Tonga comprises 98 percent ocean and its seas cover an area the size of USA’s state of Texas (about 700,000 km²). Tonga’s marine resources are, therefore, very important in terms of food security, coastal protection, commercial fisheries, livelihoods, tourism and carbon sequestration. Just some of these values are estimated to sum to over US$20million annually—more than the annual value of Tonga’s exports (US$13 million).

But Tonga’s marine resources are under threat: from competing uses, overuse in some areas and conflicts between uses and the ecosystem.

Recognizing this, the Cabinet of Tonga, in response to the first-ever multi-Ministerial Cabinet Paper, decided in July of 2015 to implement the Pacific’s first marine spatial plan (MSP). The overall goal is to achieve ecologically sustainable social and economic development of Tonga’s ocean for the benefit of all Tongans. Also, the government has committed to 30 percent network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the MSP.

The Oceans 5 investment will allow for the:

1. Conduct of a national ocean awareness program.
2. Conduct of national consultations to gain input to, and build ownership of, the MSP.
3. Preparation of a draft MSP, including a network of 10-30% MPAs.
4. Conduct national consultations on the draft MSP.
5. Revision and finalization of the MSP including drafting of regulations.
6. Implement the MSP in law.
7. Conduct consultation and awareness to inform people about the new MSP.

The MSP process is expected to result in adopted regulations by 2020.

Oceans 5 is supporting the Wildlife Conservation Society to ensure biodiversity and fisheries-associated livelihoods are secured through the development of new marine managed areas in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. The project builds on the commitments by both governments under the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security to protect marine biodiversity and sustain fisheries.

High levels of population growth and increasing fishing pressure in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are creating concern that local populations will be unable to meet their food security needs from fisheries by 2030. Recent evidence from a decade long tuna tagging program from the region indicates that industrial purse-seine fisheries are potentially impacting artisanal and subsistence fisheries. Integrated area-based management that considers how best to simultaneously achieve the objectives of local communities, government and industry is being undertaken to plan for future needs of all stakeholders.

The Wildlife Conservation Society is working with provincial government, local communities and industry in areas of high biodiversity in the Bismarck-Solomon Seas Ecoregion to achieve consensus on and formal recognition of tiered zoning schemes within large-scale marine managed areas. In parallel, sustainable financing options are being explored to incentivize compliance by industry and local resource users. By 2020, the work supported by Oceans 5 will enable endorsement for integrated management covering up to 25,000 square kilometers in Papua New Guinea and 5,000 square kilometers in Solomon Islands.

Oceans 5 is supporting the Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT) and its partners on a campaign to extend the commercial fishing exclusion zone around all islands in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) from the current 12nm zone to 24nm. Expanding the current no commercial fishing zone to at least 24nm for each country will result in 10 percent protection of waters in both the FSM and RMI (over 298,000 and 259,000km², respectively). FSM completed the expansion in 2017. In addition, this project is working towards the development of Protected Areas Networks (PANs) and sustainable financing mechanisms for the FSM and RMI. The goal of the PANs are to afford both countries access to their 5 percent share of the Micronesia Challenge Endowment Fund, which provides long-term revenue streams of revenues for long-term conservation efforts.

The grant to MCT supports the Micronesian jurisdictions in achieving their Micronesia Challenge goals. The Micronesia Challenge is a regional commitment by the governments of the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (CNMI), and the U.S. territory of Guam to put under effective protection 30 percent of their nearshore marine resources and 20 percent of their terrestrial areas by 2020. When achieved, the Micronesia Challenge will have placed 14,000km² hectares of nearshore/coastal and terrestrial areas under effective protection. See (www.micronesiachallenge.org) for more information.

Oceans 5 expects to provide four years of funding from April 2016.

Since 2014, Oceans 5 has supported WWF-Russia’s efforts with partner organizations to expand the network of marine protected areas in the Russian Arctic. As a result, the New Siberian Islands were designated as the second federal protected area in Russia and the nation’s largest nature reserve. In addition, four new marine protected areas are pending approval from the federal government, and the importance of marine protection is being discussed at the highest levels of Russia’s government.

The project will build on past support from Oceans 5 to improve protection for the most important areas of marine biodiversity in the Russian Arctic from increased shipping, unsustainable fishing, and other anthropogenic activities that threaten the integrity of the marine environment. Continued efforts to create marine protected areas, develop the enabling legal conditions for marine conservation, and reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing will help protect marine biodiversity and resources, and support the people who depend on them.

Oceans 5 is supporting a partnership between the International Pole & Line Foundation, the St Helena Government, the St Helena Fisheries Corporation and local partners to establish a conservation area in St Helena’s 447,000 km² maritime zone. The project will ban the use of destructive fishing gear such as baited longlines, purse seine nets and bottom trawlers, allowing only responsible fishing methods which enable tuna to be caught one at a time, thus creating the world’s first one-by-one only tuna fishing zone. This initiative will shield a vibrant ocean area from harmful fishing activities, protecting dolphins, whales, sharks and turtles. The project will also bolster the returns to this remote island community to provide valuable protection for the local low-impact, socially responsible tuna fishery.

Oceans 5 expects to support the project for three years. Project activities will focus on creating policies to promote and protect St Helena’s unique ecosystem, as well as the sustainable small-scale tuna fishery that has been part of island community for decades. It will provide a model for low-impact fisheries and marine conservation to capture a global audience and inspire governments and coastal communities.

This project seeks to limit overfishing, recover fish stocks and protect critical habitat by promoting new “Fisheries Restricted Areas” (FRAs) in the Adriatic Sea. The project also will promote stringent fishing capacity and control measures, including requirements for vessel authorizations and satellite tracking. A Steering Committee comprised of leading marine conservation organizations in Italy—MedReAct, Legambiente, and Marevivo—Stanford University and the Marche Polytechnic University oversee the project.

The Adriatic is characterized by high biodiversity with the largest area of continental shelf in the Mediterranean Sea, including almost half (49 percent) of all Mediterranean marine species. It is one of the most productive fishing areas in the Mediterranean and subject to intense bottom trawling and dredging. Fish stocks are chronically overexploited, particularly bottom-dwelling species.

Adriatic fisheries are managed by the European Union and by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM. The EU recently launched a high-level initiative to stop overfishing, seeking to implement the 2020 deadline in the Common Fisheries Policy. The GFCM is similarly engaged in tackling overfishing, including the establishment of FRAs. The Steering Committee will help develop the scientific, economic and legal justifications for the FRAs, including formal submissions to the GFCM. This work will include engaging decision makers, scientists, relevant stakeholders and implementing a communications, outreach and advocacy campaign. 

Oceans 5 support allows CIES, KFEM and APIL to form a network and implement a collaborative program of work that will attain improvements to transparency in South Korea’s distant water/domestic fishing fleets; achieve benchmarked improvements to the legal framework for fisheries control and labor conditions in Korea’s distant water fleets in line with international best practice; implement fisheries (both domestic and distant water) and labor legislation in Korea; and get Korean industries incorporate IUU fishing and human rights risks into their due diligence processes.

This proposal was developed in collaboration with the Oak Foundation and multiple international and national NGOs in Korea.

Oceans 5 supports the Kemitraan Partnership in efforts to both conduct a compliance audit of over 600,000 domestic fishing vessels in Indonesian waters, and to also secure a new transparent compliance monitoring program for about 4,000 of the largest fishing vessels operating in Indonesian waters.

Indonesia contains the world’s highest marine biodiversity and is among the world’s top five seafood producers.  Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo created a ministerial-level IUU Task Force in 2015, directed by Minister Pudjiastuti of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.
Initial priorities of the Task Force included combatting illegal fishing by foreign-owned
vessels, halting new licenses for foreign-built vessels and prohibiting new licenses to large
Indonesian vessels. High-profile Indonesian Minister Susi Pudjiastuti’s IUU Task Force requested Oceans 5 support to conduct a large compliance audit of fishing vessels and develop a new regulation to strengthen compliance of the domestic fleet.This project will cement a legacy of improving fisheries compliance in the world’s largest archipelago (over 17,000 islands) and fourth most populous nation (250 million).

Oceans 5 supports the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to promote sustainable management of China’s domestic fisheries.

This is a two-year China Domestic Fisheries Reform project with funding going to the Natural Resources Defense Council which has an office in China.  China is one of the world’s largest fishing nations, with a significant portion of its catch coming from within its own waters. Some changes have been made to improve its domestic fishery management; however, many species are depleted and the composition of catch is increasingly of smaller and younger fish.

The project’s goal is to provide legal and technical support for the revision of China’s fisheries law, which is undergoing the first major change since 2000. To this end, NRDC is working with key officials, academic institutions, and NGOs to recommend approaches for improved catch monitoring and control systems.  Information and analysis concerning the applicability of fisheries management approaches utilized in the U.S. and elsewhere are also being provided.

If the project is successful, China’s domestic fishery management system will be strengthened leading to healthier domestic capture fisheries. Enhancing China’s ability to achieve its food security goals through more robust fisheries management within its own domestic waters could in turn help to reduce the need for distant water fishing which puts pressure on fish populations in developing countries and on the high seas.

Oceans 5 is supporting Seafood Legacy and GR Japan to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Japan. IUU fishing is estimated to account for 13-31% of global fish catches, exacerbating the already depleted status of fish stocks, and lowering the confidence and effectiveness of stock assessments—which are critical to ensure sustainable fisheries.

Seafood Legacy and GR Japan seek to accelerate Japan’s efforts to fight IUU fishing. The project will research the economic impacts of IUU seafood imports entering Japan. Through strategic coordination with Japanese non-government organizations, the project will engage multiple stakeholders including the Japanese government, fisheries industry, seafood market players. This will involve sub-granting to some of the organizations to support their activities.  

Oceans 5 supports a collaborative project between the Smithsonian Institution, Wildlife Conservation Society (Belize) and Center for Marine Studies (Honduras). The project aims to improve fisheries data collection and usage along with improved marine surveillance and enforcement at a national scale in Honduras and Belize.

Spanning four countries, the Mesoamerican reef stretches over 1,000 kilometers from the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico to the Bay Islands in Honduras.  It is the dominant ecological feature in the Caribbean and home to a remarkable array of marine life, including some of the world’s largest remaining populations of manatees and turtles. Nevertheless, a paucity of accurate fisheries data is an ongoing barrier for effective marine management. Further, the threat of illegal fishing and the limited control and monitoring systems in place to regulate fishing activity undermines the ability of reserves to contribute to sustainable fisheries production.

This project will improve management of small-scale commercial fisheries by implementing electronic licensing, vessel tracking and catch documentation systems and improving the use of these data for monitoring fisheries management efficacy. Additionally, the project aims to identify and secure long-term public financing to support country-wide fisheries data collection and the use of these data for ongoing monitoring and management decision making.

Oceans 5 supports The Nature Conservancy, The Bahamas National Trust, and The Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation to ensure an effective marine protected area network in The Bahamas.

Consisting of 700 islands and cays scattered across 259,000 km² of turquoise and deep blue waters, The Bahamas is known for stunning beauty and diverse ecosystems that host an array of marine wildlife. The Bahamas currently protects ten percent (10%) of its coastal and marine territory. A national stakeholder process is underway to determine the next priority areas to add to The Bahamas National Protected Area System. By the year 2020, The Bahamas aims to develop a network of marine protected areas that covers at least 20 percent of both nearshore and deep ocean habitats.

However, enduring marine protection requires more than simply setting aside acreage. Effective implementation and management of protected areas is also critical to fulfill national conservation targets and mitigate projected climate change impacts. This project will also develop by-laws and management plans for national parks and sustainable finance mechanisms for protected area management. 

Oceans 5 supported Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the Nicaraguan Foundation for Sustainable Development (FUNDENIC) to eliminate destructive fishing practices from Nicaragua’s southern Pacific coast.

The Pacific coast of Nicaragua is of global importance for sea turtles, with important habitat for four of the seven species: Olive Ridley, Green turtle, Hawksbill and Leatherback. For the Olive Ridley Nicaragua has two of the ten mass nesting beaches in the world, for the critically endangered Eastern Pacific Hawksbill it has over 40% of all documented nesting activity, while for the Eastern Pacific Leatherback, which is in critical state, it is one of the few locations where the species is clinging on. With a rich, seasonal area of upwelling in the south, it is also important for whales, large pelagic fish and other marine biodiversity, and supports artisanal fishing and tourism, which are vital for local livelihoods. As in much of the Eastern Tropical Pacific, this marine life is threatened by destructive fishing methods and overfishing.

This project helped conserve marine biodiversity, especially sea turtles, through collaboration with government, coastal communities and the growing tourism industry. The project campaigned for compliance with a ban on blast-fishing, and seeked agreement on controlling bottom trawling along Nicaragua’s Pacific coast. The project worked to establish effective, collaborative management of the two existing marine protected areas, and to establish a new marine protected area. FFI, FUNDENIC and other partners, notably Paso Pacífico, workedwith government and communities to strengthen compliance with fisheries regulations and introduce management tools such as zoning, while enabling sustainable artisanal fishing and tourism-related activities. Lastly, the project helped build capacity to implement basic monitoring of fisheries and biodiversity in this area.

Oceans 5 supports Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI) and Causa Natura in a two-pronged approach to improve fisheries management in Mexico. Mexico has recently created several very large protected areas. However, these areas have multiple uses and most of Mexico’s exclusive economic zone is open to fishing. COBI has a long history of working with fishing communities to create fully protected marine reserves, and during the project COBI will promote the inclusion of science-based design principles and citizen science in the national fish refuge agenda, whilst continuing to increase the number of fish refuges created through bottom-up, participatory processes. Fish refuges foster the conservation marine habitat and fisheries resources—including the different stages such as reproduction, recruitment, migration, and growth.

A recent evaluation by the Superior Audit of the Federation highlighted that part of the problem of the persistent fishery deterioration in Mexico is that policies are poorly designed and monitored. This includes policy areas such as fisheries subsidies and combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Causa Natura, through the use of open tools, web platforms and big data set analysis, will work with a community of stakeholders from government, researchers and civil society to increase transparency and accountability in these key areas of fisheries policy and decision making.

Oceans 5 will support this project for three years to improve management, transparency, participation and science-based decision making at the local and national level.

Oceans 5 is supporting The Nature Conservancy’s plans to assist Grenada, Dominica, and Saint Lucia in brokering their debt restructuring with commercial creditors, in return for the countries making conservation and policy. Grenada, Dominica, and Saint Lucia, like many Small Island Developing States, have very high debt burdens, limiting their ability to invest in much needed conservation and climate adaptation activities. 

Working collaboratively with the Government of Grenada, the Government of Dominica, and the Government of Saint Lucia, The Nature Conservancy has designed a debt conversion to address this predicament, thereby allowing the countries to redirect a portion of their current debt payments from external creditors to fund these much-needed conservation and climate adaptation activities on the ground, including the creation and management of approx. 22,000 km² of new marine managed areas and no take fish replenishment zones in these three countries.

Working collaboratively with the Government of Grenada, the Government of Dominica, and the Government of Saint Lucia, The Nature Conservancy has designed a debt conversion to address this predicament, thereby allowing the countries to redirect a portion of their current debt payments from external creditors to fund these much-needed conservation and climate adaptation activities on the ground, including the creation and management of approx. 22,000 square kilometers of new marine managed areas and no take fish replenishment zones in these three countries.

The Nature Conservancy with the support of Oceans 5 is pursuing these debt conversions with the aim of realizing greater conservation outcomes and creating on-going funding for climate adaptation and marine conservation activities. To achieve these outcomes in a manner that ensures they address both the ecological as well as the social and economic aspects of the affected areas, The Nature Conservancy will use a marine spatial planning process. The plan will also identify and address the policy holes in marine, fisheries, and coastal zone management that need to be addressed.

In the Central Eastern Tropical Pacific (CETP), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama are responsible for planning and managing an extensive marine territory (2,150,976 km² of Territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zones). This area is much larger than the land area of the four countries combined (1.610.272 km2). Considering the size of the CETP and the available resources, it is nearly impossible to effectively control activities in the area unless there is closer collaboration and transparency at a regional scale between the institutions that are responsible for regulating and controlling the use of marine resources.

For this reason, a key programmatic area of PACIFICO’s five-year strategic plan is to work on regional initiatives to coordinate compliance management efforts in the CETP.  Given the sensitivity of the issues, this task must be tackled at the highest levels of the four governments. Accordingly, with this grant, PACIFICO is supporting the efforts of the Ministers of Public Security-Defense and the Ministers of Environment of the region to develop a Regional Marine Strategy on Compliance Management for the CETP and to introduce transparency as a key aspect of the Strategy by encouraging data sharing between countries and the public availability of information such as vessel databases, license requirements and vessel locations. 

Oceans 5 supports Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) work with Cuba partners to rebuild fish populations and promote sustainable fisheries that support vibrant coastal economies and healthy marine environments in Cuba.

Overfishing in Cuba is threatening once pristine coral reef systems and thriving fish populations. Commercial fisheries are critical to the economy and food security, but managers often require additional data and expertise to set science-based measures—and fishing is on the rise to meet a spike in demand for fresh seafood from the booming tourism sector. Moving forward, any strategy to secure healthy and resilient marine ecosystems in Cuba will require getting fisheries right and strengthening Cuba’s impressive network of MPAs.

With EDF’s support, Cuba has embarked on a path toward science-based fishery management aimed at increasing food production and improving fishing livelihoods. EDF is collaborating with Cuban agencies, research centers, seafood enterprises, NGOs and fishing communities to: (i) improve fisheries science and build technical capacity; (ii) create strong management institutions and political and stakeholder support at every level (national, provincial, local); and (iii) promote and facilitate key policy and rule changes that will result in science-based and community-based fisheries plans and programs. EDF coordinates their work on sustaining fisheries with Wildlife Conservation Society and Cuban institutions to ensure that Cuba’s impressive network of MPAs is well-managed, financed, and integrated with fisheries management programs.

In Cuba, Oceans 5 is supporting the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its partners in their efforts to strengthen and expand the country’s marine protected area (MPA) system.

Cuba is one of the last remaining countries in the insular Caribbean to still have vast tracts of intact wild places. Of its 200 proposed protected areas, 120 (70 terrestrial and 50 marine) have been enacted and operationalized as of 2017. Cuba’s MPA system spans a combined surface area of 15,000 km², representing 21.5 percent of the country’s marine territorial waters, including depths of up to 200 meters below sea level. Altogether, the MPAs encompass approximately 30 percent of coral reefs, 24 percent of seagrass beds, and 35 percent of mangrove forests found in the country’s territorial waters. Cuba’s MPAs host some of the region’s healthiest coral reefs, highly diverse fish assemblages, and charismatic mega-fauna such as sharks, manatees, cetaceans, and sea turtles.

As many MPAs around the world, Cuba’s MPAs face multiple challenges, including overfishing, insufficient financial support, and rapidly increasing tourism. WCS is collaborating with Cuban partners to develop mechanisms for sustainable financing, effective protection, and creation of new MPAs. These efforts focus on two existing MPAs of extraordinary marine biodiversity, Gardens of the Queen and Zapata Swamp national parks, as well as a newly proposed MPA in the area of Los Colorados Archipelago in northwestern Cuba.

Oceans 5 supports the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), a regional nonprofit organization that works in the Americas using international environmental law to protect sensitive ecosystems and the people that depend on them. This three-year project seeks the legal protection and effective management of herbivorous fish and fish spawning aggregations in seven countries to ensure the conservation of coral reefs and the marine organisms they sustain.

Parrotfish and other herbivorous fish are present wherever healthy coral reefs are found, keeping them healthy by feeding on the algae that compete with corals for
oxygen, light and space. Despite their importance, overfishing and the inadequate regulation of fisheries threaten these key species. Various studies have found that Caribbean reefs, where the most significant decrease in parrotfish populations has occurred, are being suffocated by algae; in areas where the recovery of parrotfish has taken place, coral versus macro-algae coverage has improved significantly. The
protection and recovery of parrotfish proves to be essential for coral reefs to survive and adapt to rising ocean temperatures and acidity.

The project will focus on supporting communications and legal advocacy for ecosystem-based management to conserve herbivorous fish and fish spawning aggregations in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Panama. AIDA will work to raise awareness among national and international decision-makers and encourage the creation of legal protections for these fish and better manage fisheries to sustain healthy ocean habitats. 

Oceans 5 is supporting three organizations in a coordinated project to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing within the national waters of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador, including a particular focus on the marine reserves of Coco’s, Coiba, Malpelo and Galapagos Islands.

The Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) is an area of immense ecological value that is plagued by illegal fishing.   Three of the region’s four countries have been identified by the United States as candidates for sanctions because of illegal fishing.  One country was similarly cited by the European Union.   Recently, the Presidents of two countries pledged significant new actions to combat illegal fishing, while officials in the other two also made substantial commitments.  All countries pledged to implement a new international treaty designed to combat IUU fishing activities.

Oceans 5 is supporting Conservation International, MarViva, and Forever Costa Rica to strengthen enforcement at established marine reserves and implement the new Port State Measures Agreement.  The construction of a radar facility has been approved on Coco’s Island National Park.  Other activities include supporting policy improvements, establishing vessel registries and implementing communications strategies to maintain public support.

Oceans 5 expects to provide 3 years of funding, which began in 2012.

The Southwest Atlantic has one of the world’s richest marine environments. Dozens of species depend on its health to survive, from marine mammals, such as dolphins, elephant seals and sperm whales, to sea birds such as penguins and albatrosses, along with sharks and many other species of fish. Nevertheless, it is also one of the main global hotspots for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing—which is closely linked to overfishing and human rights abuses.

Even though Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America, the Port of Montevideo supports a significant amount of the overfishing and IUU fishing in the South Atlantic. Reefers and fishing vessels dock regularly at the Port of Montevideo, and some of these vessels have been previously denounced or prosecuted by other countries because of IUU fishing, human rights abuses, and other illegalities. According to Global Fishing Watch, Montevideo is the second most visited port by reefers after transshipment—a practice used to hide IUU catch and human trafficking.

Oceans 5 is supporting the Organización para la Conservación de Cetáceos and the Gaia Foundation, to facilitate dialogue on IUU fishing solutions, foster better port controls in Uruguay, promote sustainable fishing, and raise awareness, especially among Uruguayan youth, about ocean conservation.

Oceans 5 supports the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence to ensure an effectively managed system of regional marine protected areas in Argentina and Chile.

The Patagonian Sea comprises a vast area around the Southern Cone, it is uniquely populated by a diversity of wildlife and charismatic megafauna, from right and blue whales to several species of albatrosses and penguins, sea lions and elephant seals. The iconic areas include, in the Atlantic, an extended continental shelf and slope that sustains a commercial squid fisheries, and, in the Pacific, the extraordinary Chilean fiords, threatened by aquaculture of introduced salmon species. The Patagonian Sea is not pristine. Extinctions have not yet been recorded, but threats to biodiversity have been well-identified. Argentina and Chile have increased their marine protected area (MPA) coverage over the last few decades. Yet, there are critical habitats to protect and there is a strong need for effective MPA management and finance.

The Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea is an alliance of conservation NGOs that builds synergy among organizations to tackle collaborative efforts with scientists, the Government, and relevant stakeholders. The Forum aspires to expand the area of marine habitat being protected and effectively managed. Oceans5 will help the Forum to establish capacity development initiatives, guidelines for national strategies on MPA creation, governance and financing and designation of new areas in Chile and Argentina after sound, participative processes that ensure cooperation from key stakeholders. We expect that this project will enhance the resilience of the systems against climate change pressures.

Oceans 5 is supporting four organizations seeking to combat illegal fishing and improve accountability for fisheries conservation. The project seeks to develop regulations in the United States to ensure that all seafood is legally sourced and fully traceable “from bait to plate.”  By closing one of the world’s biggest seafood markets to imports of illegal fish, the project aims to drive global standards for seafood traceability and well-monitored fishing.

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to average at least twenty percent of the global catch, with a value of $10-23 billion per year.   IUU fishing interests hide behind one of the world’s most opaque supply chains, and are directly associated not only with fisheries depletion but with a host of other crimes including drug smuggling, human trafficking, and even terrorism.  Without good seafood traceability, neither consumers nor retailers can readily know where the fish they buy and sell really comes from.  The result is that pirate fishers today can easily bring their stolen fish products to market, mixed invisibly into legitimate seafood supplies.

This project builds on a new approach to halting trade in IUU products spearheaded by the European Union, which now requires certifications of legal origin for imported seafood.  It also builds on a set of new international norms and tools to strengthen fisheries monitoring, improve information flow, and restrict IUU activities.

The four grantees include Oceana, World Wildlife Fund, Marine Fish Conservation Network, and Greenpeace.  Each organization has a series of deliverables that support the common objective of initiating new rulemaking in the United States. Oceans 5 expects to provide funding to the four organizations for two years beginning in 2012.

Oceans 5 supports the Bering Sea Elders Group in their work to protect the northern Bering Sea. The Bering Sea Elders Group comprised of tribal representatives designated by 40 tribal councils on the coast of the Bering Sea.

The northern Bering Sea and Bering Strait region is globally significant and ecologically rich. It is home to one of the largest seasonal marine migrations on the planet as animals take advantage of Arctic summer productivity. More than 60 federally recognized tribes in the region live a traditional way of life that is inextricably tied to this rich marine ecosystem. However, the rapid warming of the northern Bering Sea and the associated loss of sea ice threaten hunting and fishing opportunities and overall food security. The northern Bering Sea is now ice-free for longer periods than ever before, opening windows for more shipping, fishing and drilling.

The Bering Sea Elders Group seeks to build community resilience, mitigate the risks posed by climate change, and protect the traditional culture of this globally significant place. Decisions that affect the tribes of this region must be based on science, stewardship, and traditional knowledge and must be made in collaboration with the tribes of the Northern Bering Sea to ensure that their culture and way of life is protected.  Therefore, the Bering Sea Elders Group is seeking protection for the northern Bering Sea in a way that addresses the impacts of climate change, ensures food security, reinforces tribal self-determination, supports local economies, and achieve meaningful marine conservation.

Following on a successful project that supported the expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument announced in 2015, Oceans 5 supported an effort to continue this work to protect additional sites in U.S. waters.

On August 25, 2016, President Barack Obama announced the expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, making it the largest strongly-protected marine reserve anywhere on the planet. And on September 16, 2016, he established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument roughly 240 kilometers off the coast of Cape Cod, the first protected area of its kind anywhere in the waters of the continental United States. The expansion and designation of these three sites means President Obama protected over 2.1 million square kilometers of ocean space

Oceans 5 supported the Center for American Progress to help organize a coalition of ocean non-governmental organizations to streamline advocacy and support carefully orchestrated campaigns around key areas in need of protection. This group, known as the National Ocean Protection Coalition, was comprised of more than 30 organizations operating at the national and regional levels, and coordinated effort with local businesses, academic institutions, faith-based groups, fishermen, and environmental organizations to generate support for monument designations and expansions. 

Oceans 5 supports an initiative working alongside the Inuit communities to create a network of marine reserves between Canada and Greenland.

Canada’s Northwest Passage is home to thousands of Inuit living in dozens of communities who have rich spiritual connections to the land and sea.

The loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic is opening the Northwest Passage to the commerce, creating economic opportunities for those who live along the shipping routes including the control of resources, which may be profitably exploited and exported. This change creates a grand, if fleeting, opportunity to chart a new course in Arctic conservation, by fully engaging Inuit and anticipating changes in the decades ahead.

The Oceans 5 grant supports the Northwest Passage Arctic Marine Habitat Initiative in the creation of a network of marine protected areas in Canada and Greenland from the Beaufort Sea to Baffin Bay. These areas were identified by Inuit to sustain the Arctic fish, bird and mammals upon which they rely. If careful planning can replace grab-and-go opportunism and traditional practices can be valued in parallel to mineral wealth, then Inuit can help guide development instead of being “developed,” and Arctic societies can sustain their natural wealth, while allowing for innovation and growth.

As a result of coordination and collaboration between Canada’s marine conservation organization, in 2015 the Canadian government committed to achieving the Convention on Biological Diversity Aichi Target 11—to protect at least 10 percent of coastal and marine environments by 2020. With three oceans, the opportunities are significant—but when this commitment was made less than 1 percent of Canada’s marine ecosystems were actually protected. With the longest coastline in the world and historically seen as an environmental leader, it is about time that Canada turned its attention to living up to its international commitments.

In order to ensure that the target is reached and ideally exceeded by 2020 Oceans5 has funded a collaborative project that includes lead by Oceans North the Ecology Action Centre, together with the David Suzuki Foundation, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and West Coast Environmental Law. Together these organizations will focus on ensuring that protections are meaningful, lead to long-term conservation and increased resilience of Canada’s oceans.

Focusing on key areas of high biodiversity on the Pacific and Atlantic costs, engaging in government lead processes to ensure that a high level of protection is awarded, and working directly with other ocean industries and stakeholders, the four organizations will leverage their individual strengths and work together through a shared communications and outreach strategies. Through exploring improvements to Canada’s Oceans Act to get protections in place in under a faster timeline (marine protected area processes in Canada can take 6-8 years from identification to protection), to including Indigenous Protected Areas and minimum protection standards, the organizations will work to set the stage for a strong legislative agenda. Much work is to be done at the provincial level where the ocean agenda is often only focused on exploitation—rather than an understanding that protections are needed to ensure sustainable ocean industries.

In August 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Arctic to announce two new marine protected areas created in partnership with the Inuit communities. The addition of these new MPAs brings Canada to a total of nearly 14% of its EEZ in protection.

The WILDOCEANS’ MPA Campaign is a collaborative one, with a goal of achieving 10 percent protection of South Africa’s oceans within MPAs by 2020. The campaign iswill building support amongst public and ocean stakeholders for marine protected areas (MPAs), by creating awareness of their value for provision of ecosystem services, ocean risk mitigation, food security, ecotourism benefits, moderation of climate change and improving resilience to impacts of other global stressors.

This campaign will counter the positioning of the oil and mining sector (hydrocarbon and mineral extraction) as a viable and important driver of blue ocean economies, that are in competition with MPA’s, by exposing the risks and impacts of these activities on social, economic and environmental resilience of developing countries.

In October 2018, the South African Cabinet approved 20 new or expanded MPAs and the Government finalized these protected areas in early 2019. This new network of protected areas totals 50,000 km2 or 5 percent of South Africa’s continental EEZ.

Ultimately WILDOCEANS hope to lead the way to a regional movement for increased protection across all African national waters and Africa’s Southern Ocean territories, aimed at meeting the current MPA target of 10 percent by 2020, but paving the way to African states supporting a global target of 30 percent strongly protected by 2030. 

Oceans 5 is supporting Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT) to shine a light on industrial fisheries operations in and adjacent to African waters and assure coastal States have better access to, and understanding of, relevant fisheries intelligence in their waters and regions. Working in cooperation with Global Fishing Watch, the focus is on developing a comprehensive overview of fishing operations active in sub-Saharan African EEZs that have beneficial ownership outside sub-Saharan Africa, examining the legal, business and operational structures that are utilized by international fishing operators, and identifying where the risks exist for illegal fishing and related fisheries crimes.

High levels of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the waters off sub-Saharan Africa threaten local livelihoods and food security, national security and marine ecosystems. With limited resources available for fisheries surveillance and enforcement, it is challenging for these coastal States to identify and prosecute the industrial fishing vessels and companies that fish illegally in their waters. Information transparency, sharing and access to high quality fisheries intelligence can significantly enhance capacity to tackle IUU fishing, enabling authorities to clearly identify where vessels are permitted to operate and focus limited resources on monitoring and control of high risk vessels and companies. 

TMT will also work with the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea and the West Africa Task Force to strengthen the Regional Fisheries Body’s capacity to share and make publicly available national and regional legal frameworks, regional conventions, vessel registers, and other relevant material, through its website and other communication platforms.