Oceana

Our Mission

Oceana, the world's largest international organization focused exclusively on ocean conservation, was founded in 2001 by a group of leading foundations concerned that although the oceans constitute over 70 percent of the earth's surface, an extremely small percentage of environmental funding was dedicated to protecting them.  Oceana's campaigns are designed to change that by forcing clear, identifiable policy changes with real "in the water" results, usually in three to five years.

Our international campaigns in North America, Europe, Chile, and Belize are focused on the actions agreed on by scientists throughout the world as necessary to preserve and restore marine life:

Protect seafloor habitat from destructive bottom trawling;

Set and enforce reasonable catch limits for commercial fishing;

Stop subsidizing overcapacity in commercial fishing fleets;

Stop marine pollution, particularly carbon dioxide emissions that are making the oceans more acidic;

Oceana sets annual goals toward achieving specific changes and holds itself strictly accountable to its Board, funders, and supporters.  Since inception, Oceana has achieved dramatic success in protecting the world's oceans in targeted, practical ways.