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Oceana Staff
James F. Simon Chief Executive Officer
Kathryn Matthews, Ph.D. Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President
Liesbeth van der Meer, DVM Senior Vice President
Daniel Olivares Senior Vice President
Joshua Laughren Senior Vice President
Matthew Littlejohn Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives
Christopher Sharkey Chief Financial Officer
Janelle Chanona Vice President, Belize
Dustin Cranor Vice President, Global Marketing and Communications
In this issue, we celebrate Andrew Sharpless, Oceana’s longtime CEO, who retired this summer. For 21 years, I had the privilege and pleasure of working for and alongside Andy as Oceana’s President. We’re grateful for his leadership, which was instrumental in achieving hundreds of campaign victories around the world to protect and restore our oceans. On page 10, we honor his legacy and hear from Andy in a vivid conversation about how Oceana delivers results.
Now as Oceana’s new CEO, it is my turn to write this letter introducing the Fall edition of our magazine. A recurring theme you’ll see in this issue is how our campaigns not only achieve global impact, but also improve the lives of people in coastal communities, with whom we ally and whose voices we seek to elevate.
Turn this page and you’ll read about the powerful victories we’ve achieved working with coastal communities. In Brazil, we campaigned with small-scale lobster fishers to protect their primary source of income by getting the country to set the first science-based
limits for this catch — and indeed, among the first limits for any catch in the country. In Peru, we won a law to reduce illegal overcapacity in the fishing fleet, which is driving overfishing and threatening the livelihoods of artisanal fishers. In Chile, we won the best law in the world to protect kelp forests, preserving an incredible ecosystem that is also an important income source for small-scale harvesters. You should feel proud of these campaign results because your support makes them possible.
I encourage you to read our feature “Where Fish Matter the Most” on page 18, which underscores the historic challenges artisanal fishers face in the world’s tropical belt. In Ghana, Senegal, Malaysia, and the Philippines, climate change and overfishing pose significant risks to the abundant oceans that coastal communities rely on for food and livelihoods — and we hear directly from fishers about the changes that are due. Healthy oceans are important for the health of humanity. For people in coastal communities, especially children, fish is an essential source of protein and micronutrients.
Oceana is currently raising funds to campaign with small-scale fishers and local communities in Ghana, Senegal, and Malaysia to ensure the abundance of local fish. In our Supporter Spotlight on page 29, you’ll hear from our former Board Member Heather Stevens — a key supporter and ally — on why she provided the initial investment to help Oceana launch a campaign team in Senegal.
You’ll also find exciting in-the-water perspectives throughout this issue. Our Q&A with ocean photographer Álvaro Herrero offers a moving glimpse into what it’s like to interact with whales — and his encounter with a particular whale illustrates our responsibility to protect these important species from dangerous fishing gear. Oceana scientist Dr. Mariana Reyna provides a behindthe-scenes look into what happens on Oceana expeditions, underwater explorations that help us make the case to protect important marine habitats, like Bajos del Norte National Park, the largest marine protected area in the Gulf of Mexico. And in “News and Notes,” you’ll find a recap of one of Oceana’s most recent expeditions, an exploration of the waters off Southern California’s Channel Islands.
It’s because of your support that Oceana is continuing to win policy change in coastal communities around the world. You are advancing our shared vision of an abundant and biodiverse ocean.
I look forward to continuing to report to you on our progress to fully realize this vision.
Oceana and its allies achieved eight new victories to help protect and restore the world’s oceans
New law in Chile protects kelp forests
Chile’s Congress passed the Benthic Law, which will improve the management of kelp forests — an important and intricate ecosystem that supports numerous marine species and over 16,000 artisanal fishers. This new law comes in response to increasing illegal harvesting of kelp, which is sold as a popular thickener used in food, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. The new law regulates how kelp can be harvested and establishes rules to determine which species and areas should be protected and where recovery plans must be put in place. It also covers more than 50 commercial species that live on the seafloor like sea urchins, crabs, and clams.
Four New Victories on the US West Coast
Oceana wins lawsuit to rebuild US Pacific sardine fishery
Oceana and Earthjustice won a court judgment that the National Marine Fisheries Service had failed to meet its legal obligation to rebuild the U.S. West Coast Pacific sardine population after it collapsed. The United States federal district court ruled that the Fisheries Service must develop a new sciencebased plan to rebuild the sardine population, which has been mismanaged for more than a decade.
Oregon safeguards protected areas
Oregon state lawmakers passed a bill to strengthen and fully fund its system of five marine reserves and adjacent protected areas. The bill will also better facilitate engagement with coastal communities and Native American tribes.
Chile’s kelp forests support numerous marine species and over 16,000 artisanal fishers.
Brazil establishes science-based catch limits for lobster
Brazil’s government approved new science-based catch limits for the red spiny lobster and the green lobster to help the populations recover during the 2024 fishing season. The campaign was supported by artisanal fishers, who rely on lobster fishing as a primary source of income.
New law in Peru criminalizes illegal construction of fishing boats
Because Peru’s fishing fleet has grown at an unsustainable rate in recent years, Peru’s government enacted a law that criminalizes the illegal construction of new fishing vessels. Oceana campaigned with artisanal fishing allies to enact this law, which will support the livelihoods of law-abiding artisanal fishers and give prosecutors better tools to tackle illegal fishing and overfishing.
Mexico creates Bajos del Norte National Park
The Mexican government created Bajos del Norte National Park, a marine protected area (MPA) in the Gulf of Mexico that covers more than 13,000 square kilometers (5,000+ square miles) off the coast of Yucatán. The new MPA will conserve coral reefs, help species including groupers, octopus, and spiny lobster recover, and protect migrating species like sharks and turtles.
California funds efforts to prevent marine animal entanglements
The California Ocean Protection Council authorized new funding to help keep whales and sea turtles from becoming entangled in commercial crab fishing gear, including funds to test and develop innovative “ropeless” fishing gear.
California protects endangered whales
The U.S. state of California put measures in place to protect humpback whales from becoming entangled in commercial crab fishing gear by reducing the number of crab traps off the state’s central and southern coasts. This action followed excessive whale entanglements and many humpback whale sightings.
Artisanal fishers catch lobster at a beach in Icapuí, Ceará, Brazil.
News & Notes
Aiming to call on governments to address the most pressing threats facing our ocean, Oceana sent a delegation of leaders, headed by Oceana Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President Dr. Kathryn Matthews, to Greece for the ninth annual Our Ocean conference. During the event, Oceana participated in plenary sessions featuring Oceana Senior Advisor Alexandra Cousteau, who moderated a panel about effectively managing marine protected areas, and Dr. Dana Miller, Oceana’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, who spoke on a panel about confronting plastic pollution. The global event featured a major announcement by Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that Greece is banning bottom trawling in all its national marine parks and protected areas — making it the first country in Europe to do so.
As shrimp consumption rises in the United States, India’s mangroves and rice paddies are being rapidly transformed into shrimp farms, raising environmental and labor abuse concerns. The Associated Press investigated India’s shrimp farms teeming with toxins and shrimp processing sheds where workers, almost all women, are paid less than $4 a day ($2 below minimum wage) to work in harsh conditions. Workers peel, cut, and grade shrimp covered in crushed ice without gloves to protect their hands from frostbite, workers told AP. The U.S. imports
nearly $2 billion worth of shrimp from India, its largest shrimp supplier. Dr. Marla Valentine, who leads Oceana’s illegal fishing and transparency campaign, told AP
that American consumers “can use [their] dollar to make a difference.” The Global Seafood Alliance says that it is actively investigating allegations made against shrimp producers in India.
Workers sort and peel countless shrimp by hand.
Kathryn Matthews, Oceana Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President (far left), joined by Melissa Wright, Bloomberg Philanthropies Senior Associate, Environment Team; Ambassador Julio Cordano, Director of Environment, Climate Change and Oceans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile; and Peter Bryant, Director of the Oceans Program at Builders Vision, at the Our Ocean conference.
Investigation finds forced labor in Indian shrimp industry
In May 2024, Oceana completed its first of three research expeditions off Oceana explores California’s Channel Islands
Southern California’s Channel Islands in partnership with Swiss watchmaker Blancpain. The expedition team, which included scientists, divers, and photographers, explored and
2024 Olympics serves beverages in reusable packaging
For the first time ever, 100% of the beverages sold at the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year were served in reusable cups. While more than nine million of these beverages were poured into cups from soda fountain machines or reusable glass bottles, over six million beverages were poured from single-use plastic bottles, drawing criticism from environmental groups and Olympic attendees. According to Oceana Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Matt Littlejohn, “Coca-Cola and event organizers around the world need to commit to reusable packaging — in the right way — at future Olympic Games and other large-scale events, and offer this option to all their customers around the world.” Oceana also joined Sailors for the Sea and over 100 leading NGOs, Olympians, and
documented the biodiversity that gives these waters their reputation as the “Galápagos of North America.” Scientists identified and quantified species and habitats — including gorgonian corals and kelp forests — at nine locations around the Islands. They also collected water samples for environmental (e)DNA analysis, which will allow Oceana to identify virtually all ocean life inhabiting and traversing these waters. Oceana and Blancpain plan to utilize the imagery and scientific information from the expedition to advocate for regulating set gillnets in these waters, an indiscriminate fishing gear that can entangle ocean animals including whales, sea lions, sharks, and other fish. (For more, read “The Net Consequence” in the Spring 2024 issue of Oceana Magazine).
elite athletes in sending a letter to Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, and Pepsi, calling for
more reuse at future major sporting events.
The Paris 2024 Olympics featured sustainability measures like reusable cups, but came under criticism as beverages were being poured from single-use plastic bottles.
Oceana scientists observed gorgonian corals in the waters surrounding California’s Channel Islands.
Álvaro Herrero, who goes by the name Mekan, is an acclaimed photographer originally from Spain. Herrero has been diving for over 18 years and has taught underwater photography masterclasses around the world. He and his work have been recognized by prestigious international photo contests such as GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Underwater Photographer of the Year, Ocean Photographer of the Year, Siena International Photo Awards, Asferico International Photo contest, and others. He is currently working in Mexico as a cave photographer.
Q&A with Ocean Photographer Álvaro Herrero
Tell us about your career as an underwater photographer. How did you get started?
AH: I grew up in Madrid, Spain. When I was five years old, my grandfather, who lives on the coast, gave me a pair of fins, mask, and snorkel. Since then, I’ve been passionate about the ocean. I spent all my spare time going to the east coast of Spain and diving there. I worked as a diving instructor starting at age 22. When I was 27, I wanted to explore the world beyond Spain and decided to go with a colleague of mine to Thailand. I brought a compact camera along with me.
We went to a liveaboard in the Similan Islands. A liveaboard is basically a diving center on a boat, where you eat, sleep, and dive. I took photos there, and the manager of the boat really liked them. He invited me to live on the boat for free in exchange for my photography. I was already passionate about photography, but just hadn’t found a stable opportunity to do it for a living. He gave me a job and allowed me to sell my photos at the same time.
What was life like on the liveaboard?
AH: You wake up, have coffee, then dive into the water. When you come up, you have breakfast, take a nap, and jump back in again! After lunch, it’s time for another dive. It’s super fun, and you can go to
remote places that aren’t possible to reach on day trips. I worked on the boat for three years and visited many places off the coasts of the Philippines, Indonesia, Polynesia, and Mexico.
You’ve photographed many species. Why were you especially drawn to whales?
AH: I’ve been drawn to whales ever since seeing them in documentaries on TV. I took my first trip to Tonga in 2010 to see whales. I was impressed by how smart they are, how they feel and perceive emotion, how they look directly at you...They are sentient animals.
In 2020, I left Indonesia to go back to Spain, but I struggled living in Madrid, always longing for the ocean. I received a message from a friend who used to live on an island in Indonesia telling me that the whale watching season was beginning. I used all my savings to move there and was able to find a job. I spent nine months photographing whales up close. Wow, talk about getting eye-to-eye with a whale. It’s remarkable.
Can you tell us more about the experience of interacting with whales?
AH: Whales aren’t aggressive but sometimes they get curious and just want to observe you. So they come very, very, very close. Then they stop. They look at you from
head to toe. Sometimes they even go vertical, turn, and dance around a little bit. That interaction is truly magical. The babies are very playful and sometimes the mothers allowed us to play with their calves.
You captured some heartbreaking footage of a particular whale. Tell us about that day.
AH: It was a February day in 2022, off the coast of Baja California. It’s always exciting when you set off because you don’t know what to expect — sometimes you’ll see killer whales, turtles, dolphins, and even sharks. We left at about 7 a.m. Halfway through the day, we saw something floating on the surface of the water. It was a humpback whale severely entangled, with a buoy and fishing line wrapped around her tail. The buoy was later confirmed to come from California’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery.
The whale was super, super skinny. She was covered in sea lice — millions of them all over her body. And her spine was bent because she was trying to compensate for her injured tail. She had probably been struggling like that for weeks, if not months, judging by how skinny she was. She was using her pectoral fins to get to the surface, breathe, and then go back underwater. It was incredibly sad.
The whale came very close to us. I think she was asking us for help. She looked in my eyes, and I felt her sadness. Her tail was completely rotten. It smelled like death. She was dying in a very slow, painful, anguishing way. My colleagues worked quickly to set the whale free from the fishing line wound tightly around her tail, but it was too late — the whale was too injured to survive. Emotionally, we felt it in our chests. I couldn’t sleep after that. I kept calling people, trying to figure out if there was anything else we could do.
For me, this whale’s suffering represented what we’re doing to our planet.
Why did you title your photo of this whale “Hopeless”?
AH: Because she died shortly after that. We’re pretty certain of it. Just two or three weeks after we saw her, someone filmed a carcass of a whale being eaten by sharks close to that area.
I think “Hopeless” also speaks to a larger story. It’s not only about this whale. We’re destroying the ocean and the planet. We must face this reality.
Everyone loves whales. They’re big animals that represent the ocean. They’re significant to many different cultures. For me, this whale’s suffering represented what we’re doing to our planet. We’re slowly killing it with suffering, distress, pain. This icon of the seas — the biggest animal in the ocean — is dying slowly. We as humans are also losing part of ourselves. We must help protect nature, not only because it’s beautiful, but because we can’t live without it.
What is your aim for this photo?
AH: I felt like I had to take this photo to show the world what’s happening in our oceans. I was in the right place, at the right time, so I took it. But I’m not proud of it. For me, the goal of this image is to help people see what we’re doing to the oceans, think about it, and then take action.
Álvaro Herrero captured this photo of a severely entangled humpback whale off the coast of Baja California, which he entitled “Hopeless.”
Oceana’s retiring CEO reflects on 21 years at the helm and what’s next
Interview by Sarah Holcomb
You’ve led Oceana for over two decades. Why have you dedicated so much of your career to the oceans?
Because we are effective in delivering national scale policy changes that restore and protect an abundant and biodiverse ocean. It’s been incredibly exciting to lead a team based in more than a dozen countries that is impacting our planet’s future as well as the livelihoods and prospects of hundreds of millions of people living in coastal communities. A rebuilt ocean can feed a billion people a healthy seafood meal every day, forever.
When you arrived at Oceana, it was barely a year-old nonprofit start-up. What was key to Oceana’s early successes?
We believed in deadlines for change that were three or four
years out, not five or 10. We were 100% clear about what policy outcomes we wanted, and what decision-makers we needed to target to get them done. We resisted the all too familiar temptation to spread ourselves thinly across too many goals. Our method was to work “country by country” rather than tangled up in the slow-moving consensus processes typical of international treaties. We made hard choices — “we’re going to do this, and not that.”
We empowered in-country campaign teams to find a way to win. Any tactic that was within the law was fair game. We were realistic about the balance of power — could we and our allies reasonably overcome the entrenched power of the fishing industry and corporate polluters? And we’ve always had a lot of respect for the effort and strategy it takes to win.
Have you always had this drive to protect the environment and the common good from powerful industries?
I always had a general concern that the public good was being damaged by big, powerful, selfish interests. I was an environmentalist as a kid and I’m old enough to remember the original Earth Day in Philadelphia, which I attended in 10th grade in Fairmont Park. I was really inspired by that.
When I came to Oceana, I was introduced to the scientific specifics about global scale ocean depletion and pollution. I fully embraced our theory of dealing with the problems of overfishing and pollution in a practical, policymaking way. Here we have the oceans — that is, 71% of the planet — being wrecked by overfishers and polluters, and I was convinced 21 years ago that we had a shot at stopping them in significant places, and in reasonably short order. By then I also had some experience of my own coming up against influential industries in a policy battle.
Many years before joining Oceana, you were a grassroots organizer bent on holding big utility companies accountable to citizens. What did you discover through organizing?
In my early 20s, I worked to pass a state-level law aiming to balance out the power of large utility companies — who control gas, telephone, and electric rates — by setting up consumer advocacy organizations. I went on to join the first staff of the Wisconsin Citizens Utility Board (CUB). The CUB was opposed by every gas, electric, and telephone company in the state, but we found a way to win. We wanted utility rates that were fair with limited environmental impacts.
Andrew Sharpless with chef April Bloomfield at an oyster bar to promote Sharpless’ book “The Perfect Protein” in 2013.
The thing I learned about grassroots organizing is that you have to appeal to people’s selfinterests. They’re busy and their lives are hard enough already. So if you’re going to ask them to help you, you can’t just rely on an altruistic appeal.
We discover again and again that when seeking allies for the high-minded cause of making sure the oceans are abundant and biodiverse, we better have allies who are self-interested in that outcome. Often that’s the small-scale fishing communities who want to continue to have fishing resources available to them, not stolen by big industrial fishing companies or wrecked by big polluters. The alliance is good for the world, good for the ocean, and in their self-interest.
Busy people ask “what’s in it for me?” You have to respect that question.
You’ve worked at non-profits and for-profits, with startups and large companies. What have you learned about leadership across those different experiences?
It’s a lot easier to sound smart than it is to actually deliver results. I learned pretty early to be suspicious of glibsounding speeches, and to be much more respectful of people who had a track record of actually succeeding in business or policymaking. I learned to ask the question: What have you done?
I wanted to be part of something that was real, not just something that sounded good and aspired to good things. I learned that very often it’s much harder to get the real outcome than it is just to talk about it.
I met Andy almost 10 years ago. His ability to captivate audiences has always amazed me and I decided to learn how to be a storyteller from him. I always wondered if his general knowledge came from all the books he reads, but throughout these years I have learned he keenly observes his surroundings and the people around him.
One day we were in an airport in Chile, and he just sat there watching people. He explained that domestic airports offer a lot of information about a country. We observed that at least 40% of flights were filled with miners going to northern regions of Chile, then elaborated statistics on what percentage of Chile’s population depends on mining. We discussed what it means for Oceana to campaign to protect the oceans when mining accounts for 20% of Chile’s GDP.
I now find myself sitting in airports around the world trying to tell a given country’s story through its demographic composition. This is just one of the many lessons that Andy has taught me about how to be a great storyteller to save the oceans.
Liesbeth van der Meer, DVM Senior Vice President Oceana
Sharpless in conversation with former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the 2018 Our Ocean conference, an event Kerry founded.
What stood out to you about Oceana?
Oceana’s founders recognized an important fact: In many countries around the world there was no dedicated ocean advocacy policy organization. Ocean advocacy, to the extent that it was done, was being done by big, diversified NGOs that were spreading their attention between terrestrial issues and ocean issues. And in many cases, doing a very bad job on the ocean side of things, because the terrestrial stuff was more important to them and their donors. It was — and continues to be — harder to explain and raise money for ocean issues.
There was optimism among Oceana’s founders about the plan for Oceana. With all of the overfishing and pollution happening, this took courage. All the science showed that humanity was running in the wrong direction. But there was reason to say to each other, “Well, we’ve learned some lessons and nobody has applied these lessons with this level of focus to the oceans. And we think this can work.”
There was optimism among Oceana’s founders about the plan for Oceana. With all of the overfishing and pollution happening, this took courage.
What did the original “blueprint” for Oceana get right?
The first “blueprint” was a 60page document circulated among Oceana’s founders. This blueprint got a lot of things correct — for example, the necessity of clear, relatively short deadlines and concrete ways to measure success. It focused on real in-the-water impacts, rather than being overly concerned with processes.
The document said Oceana should focus on the basic problem of overfishing by confronting industrial fishing interests. (Which we have). It predicted that once the right policy is in place, the fish will come back pretty quickly — you can show results in the water five or 10 years after the species are wellmanaged. (Which we’ve seen).
The blueprint acknowledged that we’d need a diverse set of skills to make a real campaign effective. Not just science, but also grassroots, legal expertise, strategic communications, and direct advocacy. Keep your goals narrow, but your tactics broad. Specify the outcome so that you are at risk of
real failure and put a deadline on it. Be formally and strictly accountable on these goals to your Board and backers. Working country by country, you can make a globally significant difference.
That campaign model was in our original plan. I think it’s brilliant and surprisingly accurate.
Why does ocean conservation require a different approach than land-based conservation?
Since fish is a wild resource, if it’s abundant and can be sustainably caught in large numbers, that’s better for the ecosystem. This reality is very different than things on land, where the interests of agriculture and conservation are usually at odds. In the ocean, the agricultural interest — that is, the food interest — goes hand-in-hand with the interest of protecting an abundant ecosystem.
The oceans are important to prevent hunger. Fish is generally a climate-smart protein, especially compared to livestock like beef or lamb. The more we rely on wild fish,
Sharpless visits Oceana’s research catamaran, The Ranger, in the Balearic Islands in Spain with María Paz Gaviria and Oceana Board Member and former President of Colombia César Gaviria in September 2007.
particularly smaller fish like sardines and anchovies, the more we will help reduce pressure on the climate and reduce biodiversity loss on the land driven by livestock production and industrial agriculture.
How is Oceana’s approach shaped by the importance of fish as food?
The conventional way that Western organizations have approached ocean conservation is as a wildlife and biodiversity project. At Oceana we certainly care deeply about protecting the biodiversity of the ocean, and Oceana is fighting important battles to protect species like the North Atlantic right whale from extinction. But the oceans aren’t just a safari park; they are a fundamental resource for humanity. They can feed a billion people a healthy seafood meal every day forever if they’re well managed.
There are 740 million people in the world living in coastal communities whose food, livelihoods, or both depend on abundant oceans. They include artisanal fishers that Oceana is campaigning alongside in places like Chile, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and the Philippines. Moving forward, Oceana is seeking to also partner with communities
in Ghana, Senegal, and Malaysia to make sure there are laws in place to keep those oceans well managed for the people who rely on them the most.
What is a challenge that Oceana faces?
Democratic norms and practices are under assault, especially by populist right-wing politicians. We’re an organization of advocates for the ocean, seeking to use democratic policymaking rights to pass laws in service of the future. We need democracies to be effective. If they are broken, we can’t do our jobs.
Oceana campaigns in countries where democracies are often under threat by secret police, political opponents, policymaking opponents. Our teams in the Philippines and Belize face physical threats. Brazil and Mexico are also dangerous places for conservation work. Our teams show great courage in their campaigning.
When facing a daunting question, I don’t think I’m alone in asking: What would Andy do?
We need a global marine conservation effort. What would Andy do? Answer: Hire great staff, set reasonable goals, launch campaigns around the world, evaluate, repeat.
Marine conservation is just a sliver of total environmental funding. What would Andy do? Answer: Travel like crazy, meet people who care, clearly explain the needs and importance of saving the ocean. Seek out the wisdom of others.
Recruit people who believe in the cause and work 24/7 to get the resources needed.
How should we set goals in places facing very different issues? What would Andy do? Answer: Rely on smart, plugged-in, local leaders and staff to determine goals and strategies. Follow on-the-ground conservationists who know the turf…and the local ocean.
We need music! What would Andy do? Answer: Jazz, Sinatra, Rat Pack.
Andy is retiring! What would Andy do? Answer: Build a deep bench at the staff level, make sure there are others who can take the ball and keep the victories coming.
Sharpless answers questions from the media at the 2018 Our Ocean conference held in Bali, Indonesia.
Herbert (“Beto”)
M. Bedolfe, III, Oceana Board Member
What are you most proud of from your time at Oceana?
We’ve delivered what we said we would: transformative policy change in enough important fishing countries to make a globally significant impact. Take Canada, for example. It provides a striking “before and after” measure of Oceana’s impact. Canada didn’t have a law to prevent overfishing, now it does. They had no rebuilding plans, now plans are required for depleted stocks. Today Canada boasts one of the strongest laws banning the shark fin trade. In 2016, less than 1% of Canada’s marine habitat was protected; now 16% is protected, including almost all its seamounts. You’ll find similar results in all the countries where Oceana campaigns.
I’m also proud of Global Fishing Watch, a tool launched by Oceana, SkyTruth, and Google
that transformed the visibility of activities at sea, especially commercial fishing, on a global basis in near real-time. We believed that fishing data should be in the public domain. Now it’s a free, public resource used by policymakers, journalists, researchers, fishers, our campaigners, anyone.
What do you hope to see Oceana accomplish in the future?
Some of Oceana’s ongoing campaigns will be, if we win, transformative for the oceans. We must win the battle against expanded offshore oil and gas drilling to combat climate change. We have a long way to go to stop plastic polluters from completely contaminating the oceans, the planet, our bodies, our air, and our water. I want Oceana to continue changing the paradigm
on transparency so that all industrial commercial activity in the ocean happens in public view. We need to prioritize the role of an abundant ocean in protecting coastal communities. We need to discontinue the use of taxpayer subsidies for industrial fleets that are overfishing the oceans. There’s still a lot to be done.
What are you personally looking forward to after you retire?
I’m going to take some time and just be free for a little bit. I’m not signed up for anything new. I’m taking a hint from the Paul Simon song that says before you set your sails, you ought to drift in the breeze. So I’m gonna drift in the breeze. I look forward to just feeling better in my bones (thanks to more sleep and more exercise) and having more time for my family and friends.
Sharpless (far right) with Oceana’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors at Central Park in New York City during Oceana’s Board Meeting in September 2022.
Andy’s leadership is marked by sharp thinking, keen listening, and shrewd negotiating. He deeply cares about the oceans and urgently works to improve our planet.
– Imani Fairweather Morrison Oak Foundation
Any last reflections?
There’s a price to success. Oceana is more famous and respected than it was two decades ago. People are asking us to do more than ever before — and in many cases not providing the resources necessary to do it all. So, there’s a new challenge: How do you continue to stay focused and effective?
It requires discipline to stay true to our model of being realistic, pragmatic, and accountable for real results — and not be seduced by really wonderful messages that
aren’t backed up by the hard work of the lawyers and the lobbyists and the organizers and the scientists. That’s a word of caution.
I know our talented teams, top leaders, Board of Directors, and important backers understand this. And if they forget, our winning campaign record presents a great set of examples to help keep us on track. I’m confident that the future will hold many more victories for the oceans.
Over the last 20 years, few people have made such a profound positive impact on our oceans and the life they support as Andy Sharpless. His efforts have helped to preserve delicate ecosystems, reduce pollution, and restore vital fish stocks — and above all, he’s helped us change how we think about the oceans and reimagine our relationship with them.
In 2013, I was proud to write the foreword to Andy’s book, “The Perfect Protein,” because I believed — and still do — that sustainable fishing offers one of the best, most environmentally responsible ways to feed a hungry planet. With the world on track to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050, the effort to rebuild abundance is more important than ever.
In the years since I signed the U.S. Sustainable Fisheries Act into law, we’ve rebuilt nearly 50 fish stocks, and the number of overfished stocks in federally managed fisheries has dropped by two-thirds. And country by country, Oceana is scoring important policy victories that will help make those kinds of results possible elsewhere.
Andy Sharpless is a thoughtful and thought-provoking leader. I’ve enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to learn from him through the years, and I wish him well in his retirement, knowing that he has built an organization that will continue making a difference long into the future.
Sharpless watches footage captured by videographer Enrique Talledo during an expedition to Malta in 2015.
Where Fish Matter the Most
Artisanal fishing communities face historic challenges
By Sarah Holcomb
Artisanal fishing boats line the coast of Ghana, one of three countries where Oceana is raising funds to campaign alongside coastal communities for rebuilt fisheries that support local livelihoods and food security.
Nana Kweigyah and his crew venture farther out to sea than Ghana’s fishers did two decades ago — and cast their nets twice as deep. On a good day, Kweigyah, the canoe owner, returns with loads of anchovies, sardinella, mackerel, and other small pelagic fish to be sold at Ghanian markets and served in local dishes. Other days, his nets come up nearly empty.
Colorful canoes like Kweigyah’s saturate the Gulf of Guinea, once a famously fish-filled sea. Like other small-scale fishers around the world, Ghana’s artisanal fishers are
spending more time and money catching fewer and fewer fish. Today over a third of the world’s fish populations are depleted. But the impacts of overfishing aren’t spread evenly. Places where much of the population lives by the sea and relies on fishing for their livelihoods — like West Africa and Southeast Asia — face greater challenges. A tangled story of industrial fishing, local livelihoods, and climate change becomes clearer out on the water, where fishers like Kweigyah see firsthand what’s happening and what’s at stake.
Into the light
Off Ghana’s coast, crews guide long wooden canoes through choppy currents. Hollowed from towering, saltwater-resistant wawa trees, each double-ended boat features unique designs — symbols, proverbs, artwork — that paint a story about its owner. These canoe paintings continue a generationsold tradition, but electrical equipment inside some of the boats tells a more recent story.
A crew lowers a rope into the sea, a 1,000-watt light bulb dangling at the end. Powered by an electric generator, the bulb sirens to small fish with its warm glow. Fishers used to regularly spot fish skimming under the water’s surface. Now they rely on light to find them. Between 1993 and 2019, the amount of small pelagic fish landed in Ghana fell by 42%.
Swept in by the ocean current, a crowd of fish assembles around the light. Fishers plunge their nets
into the warm tropical waters. Once rare, “light fishing” has become normal over the past few years, despite being illegal. It’s often accompanied by other illegal fishing methods: chemicals and dynamite, which fishers use to set off explosions that kill fish circling the light.
As the seas grow more depleted, artisanal fishers look to alternative ways of harvesting fish, Kweigyah, who is president of the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana, explains — “which has meant more and more practices that are unsustainable for the ocean.” (Kweigyah does not endorse these practices.)
If artisanal fishers are illegally fishing on a small scale, industrial vessels are doing it on a much larger one. “This compounds the plights of artisanal fishers and frustrates efforts aiming to address illegalities in the artisanal sector,” says Kweigyah. Only artisanal fishers have the right
to catch small, pelagic fish in Ghana’s nearshore waters, but large commercial fleets continue to capture them. These industrial vessels also hurt fish populations by using illegal nets to catch juvenile fish.
If there’s foreign control of those vessels, matters are even more complicated. Eighty percent of Ghanaian fisheries companies analyzed in a recent report show connections to Chinese ownership. That means that if they’re caught illegally fishing, it’s Ghanian individuals — not the foreign beneficiaries — who pay the price. Powerful businesses based in China can continue illegal operations with little consequence.
Ghana’s government is putting measures in place to slow fishing down before it’s too late. It halted licenses for new canoes. It put a stop to vessels illegally handing off ice-packed fish to local boats. Ghana’s law also prevents foreign vessels and industrial trawlers
Fisheries employ almost 10% of Ghana’s population. Over two million people are employed by small-scale fisheries alone.
from securing a license to fish in the large coastal zones reserved for artisanal fishers, though illegal fishing continues.
Meanwhile, out at sea, warmer waters are becoming more turbulent. And they refuse to be regulated.
The tide is coming
Fishers search for writing in the sky to predict the day’s fishing: Clouds might foreshadow a promising catch or empty nets. But as climate change churns the ocean into unpredictable patterns, artisanal fishers’ tried-and-true weather forecasts are failing. The catch depends on the ocean current. And the current grows ever more capricious.
When the ocean current is weak, fish are nowhere to be found. When strong, the current can turn violent, tearing apart fishing nets. “You cast your net and it just folds under the waves,” Kweigyah says. Fishers’ nets are uninsured, he explains, so when they get damaged, fishers take on debt. In the worst cases, the volatile tide takes lives.
Kweigyah and other fishers are working with Ghana’s meteorological agency to better understand the impacts of climate change on the state of the ocean. With the rise of higher tides and stronger storms, they’re establishing early warning systems to save lives. And they’re coordinating to ensure fishers receive weather information about the state of the ocean in their local languages and training community operators to get the word out.
Rising seas are transforming the entire West African coastline.
Ghana’s neighbor, Senegal, faces the worst coastal erosion in the region. In 2018, a high-tide event in Senegal displaced 1,500 people.
“Almost 65% of Senegal’s coast is affected by unprecedented sea advances,” explains Senegalese fisher Moustapha Diop, whose family has fished in the village of Thiaroye sur mer, near Dakar, for generations.
More than half of Senegal’s population lives along the coast. As the coastline erodes, so do local livelihoods. That includes the livelihoods of women, who handle the majority of fish processing, marketing, and selling. “They are how fish gets to communities and households,” says Dr. Christina Hicks, an environmental social scientist and Oceana Board Member. “Women hold a lot of knowledge about [their communities’] challenges and opportunities.”
Some 78% of Senegalese fishers and fish processors interviewed by the Environmental Justice Foundation said they found it harder to feed their households compared to five years ago. Many are moving inland. Some fishers decide to leave Senegal altogether,
setting off on a treacherous journey across the Atlantic Ocean to find work in Spain.
Climate change isn‘t the only reason fish are few. Senegal’s fishing industry is overcrowded. “The [artisanal fishing] zone has become too small for the 17,000+ officially registered canoes and the very large number of unregistered canoes,” Diop explains.
He also blames foreign fleets that are “scraping fishing resources” and spurring fishers to head to Europe. “Trawlers do not respect the limits, create unfair competition with the canoes, break canoes, destroy nets,” he says — all issues that Diop and others are working to draw public attention to.
Fish shortages send ripples through local economies, notes Oceana Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President Dr. Kathryn Matthews. “If the fisher can’t catch a fish, it can’t be processed by someone. It can’t be sold by someone. It can’t be consumed by someone. So the loss of the initial catch magnifies itself through the entire community,” she says.
Similar ripples are felt by smallscale fishing communities on the other side of the globe.
Fish account for more than 70% of the animal-sourced protein consumed in Senegal, mostly in the form of small pelagic fish.
Oceana is preparing to launch a new campaign in the Philippines, working with artisanal fishers to ensure they reap more benefits from their catch.
Fish as food
It’s still dark when Sharifah “Vivi” Hawa heads out to fish northeast of Penang, where skyscrapers overlook one of Malaysia’s oldest fishing villages. Hawa and her fellow fishers navigate while carefully monitoring conditions. A few hours later, they unload fish, shrimp, and crabs into holding pools and storage boxes on shore — some to be sold at market, the rest to cook at home or share with neighbors.
Malaysia boasts one of the highest fish consumption rates in the world. Living in the Tanjung Tokong Fishermen’s Heritage Village, Hawa and her family eat fish almost every day, sometimes frying it in spices, cooking it in a coconut milk curry, roasting it with lime and herbs, or baking it to accompany hot rice and red chili shrimp paste.
“Fish and seafood are the economic and social backbone of my community,” Hawa says. “They are not only a major source of income for many families...fresh fish is a major source of protein for the people here, contributing to a healthy and balanced diet.”
Not all fishing communities reap the health benefits from their catch, however. In her anecdotal interviews with fishers across Malaysia, Dr. Amy Y. Then, a fisheries scientist and Associate Professor at Universiti Malaya, learned that many fishers sell their harvest and buy cheaper protein like chicken.
There’s less fish to go around, fishers told her. Their catches are fewer, smaller in size, and require more effort. Today, Malaysia’s fish populations are just 16% of their levels in 1960, according to government reports.
Fish and seafood are the economic and social backbone of my community...fresh fish is a major source of protein for the people here, contributing to a healthy and balanced diet.
– Vivi Hawa
Courtesy of Evelyn Teh
Fisher Sharifah “Vivi” Hawa enjoys cooking with her catch and sharing with neighbors in the Tanjung Tokong FIshermen’s Heritage Village in Malaysia.
As fish decline throughout the famously biodiverse Coral Triangle, artisanal fishers in the Philippines are also keeping less of their catch, observes Rhea Yray-Frossard, Oceana’s Campaign and Research Director in the Philippines. That means missing out on fish’s powerful nutritional benefits.
“Fish is a rich source of omega3s, micronutrients, and protein, especially sardines,” says YrayFrossard. The nutrients found in fish are particularly important for pregnant and lactating mothers as well as their children, a fact highlighted in an analysis of government data by Oceana and MRAG Asia Pacific. Food security and fish consumption are declining over time, especially in low-income and rural households, a recent nutrition survey in the Philippines revealed.
“Artisanal fishers are the heroes of food security,” says Yray-Frossard. “They provide the sustainable, healthy protein that communities need.”
Oceana is preparing to launch a new campaign in the Philippines, working with artisanal fishers to ensure they reap more benefits from their catch. That means advocating for supplies and facilities that keep fish fresh longer — ice, landing centers, and facilities for fish to be dried and stored — to minimize losses and maximize nutrition.
In Tanjung Tokong, Malaysia, concerned fishers’ associations hold meetings with government authorities to advocate for better storage infrastructure and voice disapproval of the development plans that threaten their way of life. “We hope to ensure the survival of our fishing community and protect the heritage that has been around for centuries,” says Hawa.
Dr. Then, who works with data from climate projection models, says the future for fish populations in Malaysia’s waters isn’t looking good. Many measures are needed to bring fish back, she explains: Roll back trawl fishing, regulate recreational fishing, rework subsidies to discourage overfishing.
Future efforts should directly consult fishers, advocates say. Past conservation experiments like Malaysia’s marine protected areas show why: These donut-shaped marine parks prohibit all fishing
around certain islands, a top-down decision that excluded fishers from fishing in their own backyard, says Then. Today scientists are skeptical of the parks’ impact.
Action must come soon, as fisheries are showing “warning signs,” says Matthews. “In Malaysia and the Philippines, over 130 million people rely on fisheries for their food or livelihoods...If something is not done, they are going to start to see fish disappear from their diet or it will become more expensive.”
Sardines make up around 15% of the total fish catch in the Philippines and are an accessible protein source.
A defining moment
Any efforts to recover fisheries must prioritize equity, fishers and advocates say.
“It is important for management measures to take seriously the human rights-based approach,” says Kweigyah. “Industrial fishers drive overfishing. But when it comes to addressing overfishing, there is less consideration for the welfare of [artisanal] fishers.”
Over 740 million people depend on ocean fisheries for food or livelihoods, or both. One hundred and sixty-five million of them live in Ghana, Malaysia, Senegal, and the Philippines.
As illegal fishing and climate change — largely driven by countries in the Global North — impact coastal
communities in the world’s tropical belt, Hicks sees international action as essential. “[We must] ensure governments from high-income nations are paying attention to the impacts their activities are causing,” she says.
Meanwhile fishers’ associations and locally-led groups are pushing for change. “All of us will have to play our respective roles to improve the situation...and to recover fish populations,” Kweigyah urges.
Oceana scientists visited Kweigyah and other leaders in Ghana and Senegal to learn more about their efforts as Oceana prepares to partner with them and launch campaign teams. Oceana staff also visited Malaysia, where they met with Then, Hawa, and others. The organization’s future campaigns will aim to expand and protect
nearshore areas for small-scale fishers, and work with people throughout the fishing value chain to ensure more fish stay fresh for local communities.
“This is about empowering the people who rely the most on fish to develop solutions that work for them and bring those to the national level to be implemented through policy change,” Oceana Research Director Tess Geers says. “It’s about making sure that their livelihoods, way of life, and source of food and nutrients are preserved through their solutions.”
“You have to start and end with the communities and fishers,” urges Matthews. “No one knows the ocean better than the people who rely on it every day.”
Oceana’s team in the Philippines interviews artisanal fishers about local livelihoods and nutrition.
Ask a Scientist
Dr. Mariana Reyna
Ocean Scientist, Mexico
Dr. Mariana Reyna is an ocean and fisheries scientist and Oceana’s expedition leader in Mexico. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, a master’s degree in Coastal Oceanography, and has more than 10 years of experience developing and implementing conservation and climate change projects in the water and on land. Reyna led Oceana’s first ever at-sea expedition in Mexico.
What happens on an Oceana expedition?
Exploring the depths of Bajos del Norte and Alacranes Reef in Mexico
Expeditions play a pivotal role in Oceana’s campaigns to safeguard our oceans. These scientific ventures help uncover the biological intricacies of largely unexplored sites, including critical habitats like coral reefs. Nowhere is this more evident than in the depths of Bajos del Norte and Alacranes Reef in Yucatán, Mexico — home to abundant marine life, including corals, sea turtles, whales, sharks, and hundreds of fish species. In August 2021 and May 2022, Oceana and its corporate partner Blancpain set out to explore these important ecosystems. Here’s a behind-thescenes look at our expeditions.
Prep for success
Each journey commences with meticulously selecting scientists
to board our vessel. For Oceana’s recent expeditions to Bajos del Norte and Alacranes Reef, our team included 11 scientists who are leaders in their fields, four filmmakers, two journalists, five Oceana staff, four divers, and about eight boat crew members. My job was to ensure that we collected all the necessary scientific data we’d need to show the significance of these coral reefs to ensure their protection — and stay safe in the process.
Once the team is assembled, the logistical groundwork begins. Expedition leaders, scientists, dive masters, photographers, and crew pour hours of preparation into mapping navigation routes, scheduling daily dive sites, and planning how to document the vibrant marine life they’ll encounter. Expeditions also require foresight, anticipating challenges such as inclement weather.
Setting sail
The day of departure dawns and there’s magic in the air as we prepare to visit ecosystems brimming with protection potential. We board the Caribbean Kraken, a 100-foot-long aluminum-hull liveaboard vessel and set sail before sunrise. Arriving at our first dive site, scientists and photographers plunge into the water with their equipment.
Oceana’s team set sail on the Caribbean Kraken to visit ecosystems in Bajos del Norte and Alacranes Reef. These expeditions were led in partnership with Swiss watchmaker Blancpain.
Oceana’s expeditions to Bajos del Norte and Alacranes Reef found that the coral reefs are in good health. Their protection is important for local livelihoods and future generations.
An Oceana expedition usually lasts about eight to 10 days. Over that time, the intensity of our underwater excursions grows. The scientists’ hard work, combined with the physical toll of diving multiple times a day and sleeping on a constantly moving boat, gradually adds to their physical exhaustion. Despite the demanding days, each night’s post-dinner gatherings in the boat’s dining room are filled with animated discussions about protecting these important habitats.
Not every expedition follows its intended course, however. We’ve encountered challenges like adverse weather conditions requiring us to return to shore, albeit slightly disoriented. During both expeditions to Bajos del Norte and Alacranes, we had to return two to three days earlier than expected due to hurricanes forming. Nevertheless, our top priority remains ensuring Oceana’s access to crucial data, essential for advocating for the preservation of these marine areas for the benefit of marine species and coastal communities.
The case for protection
Scientific expeditions provide invaluable insights into the ecological complexities of remote locales like Bajos del Norte and Alacranes Reef. Our discoveries revealed a connection between the two reefs: The survival of one depends on the other. In Bajos del Norte, we recorded 87 new species of invertebrates: 35 crustaceans, 30 mollusks, and 22 brittle stars. We also found 19 species of hard corals. In Alacranes Reef, we documented 33 reef-building coral species, vital to the future of the ecosystem.
Our findings from these two expeditions also showed how the region’s economically important fisheries depend on the condition of these reefs. We found that the reefs are in good health — warranting their protection for future generations and the fishing communities along the Yucatán Bank.
Expedition results in hand, we approached Mexico’s authorities with a proposal to designate
Each expedition yields invaluable findings, informing policies aimed at protecting our oceans.
Bajos del Norte as a new marine protected area (MPA). In January 2024, the Mexican government declared Bajos del Norte a National Park, thanks to the results of these two expeditions and scientific collaboration. Bajos del Norte is now the largest MPA in the Gulf of Mexico.
Why expeditions matter
In Mexico and around the world, Oceana’s scientific expeditions have proven instrumental in identifying biologically rich, yet vulnerable, sites, such as coral reefs. Despite the challenges we encounter — be it unpredictable weather or logistical hurdles — the rewards far outweigh the risks. Each expedition yields invaluable findings, informing policies aimed at protecting our oceans. Through research and advocacy, we strive to secure a better future for marine life and humanity alike.
Every time we start planning an expedition, I’m filled with excitement — and a hint of nerves. But when the awaited day arrives, my nerves fade into joy as the purpose of our mission comes to life and we step onto the vessel, ready to face whatever might come our way.
With the help of its allies, Oceana has won 26 victories in the last 12 months
Brazil establishes science-based catch limits for lobster
Oceana wins lawsuit, court requires rebuilding of collapsed U.S. Pacific sardine fishery
New law in U.S. state of Oregon safeguards marine reserves and protected areas
U.S. state of California funds ropeless fishing gear to save whales and turtles from entanglements
New law in Peru criminalizes illegal construction of fishing vessels
U.S. state of California protects endangered whales by reducing harmful fishing gear and delaying Dungeness crab season
New law in Chile will protect kelp forests and 50 other seafloor species
Mexico creates Bajos del Norte National Park, new protected area in Gulf of Mexico
Spain designates seven new marine protected areas
President Biden’s five-year plan protects U.S. waters from expanded offshore drilling
EU sets sustainable catch limits to help recover fish populations
Spain sanctions 25 fishing vessels for disabling public tracking devices
New law in Belize gives people the power to protect offshore oil moratorium
Mediterranean countries can now penalize states who fail to tackle overfishing and illegal fishing
U.S. state of Delaware bans plastic foam food containers, limits plastic straws
Chile approves new marine protected area in iconic Humboldt Archipelago
Philippines requires rebuilding of sardine fisheries
EU requires tracking systems for all its fishing vessels
Philippines requires commercial fishing vessels to install monitoring devices
Brazil’s Supreme Court upholds ban on bottom trawling in Rio Grande do Sul
Public database in the Philippines increases transparency at sea
New law in U.S. state of Maine sets density limits for future salmon farms
Newly approved innovative fishing gear will reduce bycatch off U.S. West Coast
European Commission releases public database disclosing activities of EU vessels fishing outside of EU waters
Peru passes new law to protect its oceans and artisanal fishers
New laws in U.S. state of Oregon prohibit plastic foam and enable refill systems
Supporter Spotlight
Heather Stevens: Ensuring the future of ocean livelihoods
In 2007, Heather Stevens learned that the oceans were in trouble due to increasing threats like overfishing and climate change. Stevens, who grew up by the sea in the United Kingdom, asked around to find an effective organization making a real difference for the oceans. One name kept coming up: Oceana.
Since then, Stevens has not only supported Oceana’s campaigns through her grant-making foundation, The Waterloo Foundation — she also joined the organization’s Board of Directors. Throughout her decade on Oceana’s Board, Stevens, an insurance expert who cofounded the highly successful Admiral Group company, brought unique insights from her insurance background to ocean conservation.
“I brought together my own work knowledge from the world of car insurance with what I knew was essential for all fishers, good or bad: insuring their boats,” Stevens says. She wondered, “Could we use the pressure from the insurance world to deprive bad actors of the cover they use for their illegal fishing operations?”
The answer, Oceana discovered, was yes. In 2021 and 2022, two major insurance companies took actions to improve screening and make it harder for illegal fishing operators to be insured, thanks to Oceana’s campaigning. A Norwegian-based insurance company ended its contract with a fleet of vessels that were listed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas for illegally fishing across the Atlantic.
“A whole world of insurers became informed and took action because of Oceana’s campaigns,” Stevens remembers.
When Stevens saw an early prototype of what would become Global Fishing Watch — an open-access platform developed by Oceana, SkyTruth, and Google to make fishing data available to the public — she immediately recognized its potential.
“Here was a chance to curtail illegal fishing simply by making it visible to all,” Stevens says. “There was an obvious parallel with motorists slowing down for speed
cameras! I was so pleased to be able to make an early grant for Global Fishing Watch.”
Today, Global Fishing Watch has used satellite technology and machine learning to identify countless hotspots of illegal fishing and provide governments with the data they need to hold illegal fishers accountable.
Stevens has long been concerned with stopping illegal fishing wherever it happens. When it involves foreign vessels, often local artisanal fishers are especially impacted, she says. “Their livelihoods are literally being stolen from their own waters,” she explains. “Recently I learned how foreign fishing can often mean that local families and communities are not only being deprived of income, but also of an important source of protein and nutrition.”
“As our population grows, the pressure on the oceans from large and sophisticated industrial fishing vessels will continue to grow. Humanity will continue to need the protein and micronutrients that the marine food web provides,” Stevens says. “It is so important that the distribution of this key food source is equitable.”
In countries like Senegal, where over 50% of the population lives along the coast, many depend on fishing for food and livelihoods. “I felt Oceana has the power to make a real difference there, so I was happy to offer the first support to setting up an office in Senegal,” says Stevens.
As Oceana looks to partner with local communities in the fight to preserve fishers’ livelihoods and hold illegal operators and foreign industrial fleets accountable, Stevens is confident that future campaigns in Senegal and beyond will achieve results.
“I’ve met all of Oceana’s country leaders over the years, and each is so strong in their own right — with great depth of knowledge, and campaign political experience. They know how to get things done.”
If you’ve received mixed messages about recycling, you’re not alone. Recycling is complicated — and often not as effective as we’re told. Explore the facts and fiction of plastic recycling below.
MYTH: Everything that goes into the recycling bin gets recycled.
TRUTH: Not even close. Some is disposed of or lost in the recycling process. Some is turned into lower-value products, a process called “downcycling.” And some is exported to other countries where capacity for recycling may be limited plastic could end up sitting in open dumpsites or getting incinerated. Only 9% of all the plastic waste ever produced has been recycled.
MYTH: That little recycling triangle and corresponding number means a piece of plastic is recyclable.
TRUTH: That icon doesn’t always indicate that an item is recyclable or made from recycled materials. Recyclability varies for each of the corresponding numbers and there’s no oversight for how the icon is actually used.
MYTH: There is no good solution to replace single-use plastic bottles.
TRUTH: The solution already exists: Refillable bottles. Refillable bottles have been around since the 19th century and were how most beverages were sold until the 1970s when they were replaced by single use plastic in many countries around the world. Where they still exist, refillable bottle programs have over a 90% success rate for getting the bottle back, and each bottle can be reused up to 50 times.
MYTH: Plastic packaging and single-use plastic bottles are everywhere. The tide won’t change anytime soon.
TRUTH: The tide is changing! Places like Chile and the European Union have laws in place or soon to be in place that require retailers (including supermarkets) to offer a certain amount of beverages for sale in reusable containers. Oceana and its allies have passed policies that would eliminate the use of 1.95 million metric tons of unnecessary single-use plastic each year by 2033 (equivalent to about 195 billion plastic bottles).
In the Philippines, 100 million people rely on fishing for food or livelihoods.
