Protecting Ocean Habitats
Oceana seeks to protect areas essential to restoring the ocean's abundance and biodiversity.
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Ending the Shark Fin Trade
Congress Must Pass the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act
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Science Based Quotas
Oceana campaigns for science-based catch limits to prevent overfishing and ensure ocean abundance
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Bycatch
Oceana works to reduce the accidental catch of non-target fish and wildlife in commercial fishing
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Responsible Fishing
Oceana runs campaigns to win policy change proven to increase abundance and biodiversity with a three-part strategy that includes: stopping overfishing through the establishment of science-based catch limits, reducing bycatch, or the incidental catch of non-targeted animals, and protecting important marine habitat.
Victories
November 16, 2020
Measures Taken on U.S. West Coast to Save Critically Endangered Orcas from Extinction
For the first time, the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted ocean salmon fishing regulations to help save critically endangered Southern Resident orcas from extinction. Only 75 of these orcas remain, and their survival relies on the abundance of their preferred prey, Chinook salmon. Sixteen Southern Resident orcas have died since 2015, some showing signs of malnutrition and starvation. Chinook salmon populations are also struggling due to a combination of fishing pressure, habitat loss, and dams that obstruct spawning. Oceana and our allies campaigned for the new measures, which include fishing reductions and area closures if Chinook salmon numbers off the coast of Washington and Northern Oregon drop below 966,000. This will help ensure that Southern Resident orcas have enough salmon to eat.
October 26, 2020
California Protects Whales and Sea Turtles from Entanglements in Crab Fishery
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife published new regulations to reduce entanglements of endangered humpback whales, blue whales, and Pacific leatherback sea turtles in the state’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery, following campaigning by Oceana and our allies. In recent years, whales have ventured closer to shore in search of food and subsequently into Dungeness crab fishing grounds, resulting in a major increase in entanglements off the U.S. West Coast, which can often prove fatal. At least 56 whales were entangled in 2016 alone, according to the federal government. California’s new regulations require closures or reductions in the number of traps in certain Dungeness crab fishing areas when higher concentrations of whales or sea turtles are present. The regulations also allow for the use of approved alternative fishing gear that lowers the risk of entanglement, such as “pop-up” or “ropeless” gear, in areas closed to conventional gear.
October 15, 2020
Gulf of Mexico Deep-Sea Corals Now Protected from Destructive Fishing
In the United States, NOAA Fisheries issued a final rule to protect 13 coral areas. These areas, which span from the U.S.- Mexico border to the Florida Keys, include a series of deep-sea canyons, reefs, and coral areas that have been identified as important habitat for iconic species such as sharks and grouper. This action comes following campaigning by Oceana and newly protects nearly 500 square miles of coral habitat, bringing the total protected deep-sea coral areas from Rhode Island to Texas to more than 61,000 square miles. Oceana has been campaigning for years to identify and protect deep-sea coral areas from destructive fishing methods like bottom trawling, which is like clear-cutting the seafloor, and has won additional victories in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
September 14, 2020
California Begins Phase-Out of “Walls of Death” from Waters
Oceana delivered $1 million to the government of California to officially activate a 2018 state law to end the last large-mesh drift gillnet fishing for swordfish in the U.S. by January 2024. The law establishes a voluntary transition program for fishermen to surrender nets and state permits and incentivizes the use of clean gear. Generous donors including the Marisla Foundation, Cinco Hermanos Fund, Sue J. Gross Foundation, the Offield Family Foundation, and others provided the necessary funding to secure this victory. For years, Oceana and our allies campaigned for the California bill to end this destructive form of fishing, which is notorious for its indiscriminate catch of marine life including whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Oceana is also campaigning for a federal law to end the use of drift gillnets nationwide.
February 7, 2020
U.S. government finalizes protections for whales, sea turtles from death in California-based fishery
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a final rule to implement strict limits — known as hard caps — on the number of whales, sea turtles and dolphins that can be injured or killed in the California-based swordfish drift gillnet fishery. This development comes after extensive legal action from Oceana, following NMFS failure to enact protections first approved in 2015. The California-based swordfish drift gillnet fishery kills more dolphins than all other observed U.S. West Coast and Alaska Fisheries combined.
Take Action
USE YOUR VOICE TO SAVE THOUSANDS OF SEA TURTLES
Thousands of sea turtles die in shrimp fishing nets in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean each year.
TELL YOUR REP: VOTE FOR HEALTHY, ABUNDANT OCEANS
There is a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would undermine and undo years of successful work to manage the health of America’s fisheries.
TELL YOUR SENATORS: BAN THE TRADE OF SHARK FINS IN THE U.S.
Fins from up to 73 million sharks end up in the global fin trade every year.
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April 5, 2019

July 27, 2018
Reports
September, 2017
Exploring the Living Seafloor: Southern California Expedition
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