Victories | Oceana USA

Victories

Since 2001, Oceana has achieved dozens of concrete policy victories for marine life and habitats. From stopping bottom trawling in sensitive habitat areas to protecting sea turtles from commercial fishing gear, our victories represent a new hope for the world's oceans.

April, 2005

Deep-Sea Corals in Atlantic Ocean Canyons Protected, Fishery Managers Limit Monkfish Bottom Trawling

America's oceans won a major victory when the New England Fishery Management Council voted to protect deep-sea coral communities in New England and mid-Atlantic offshore submarine canyons from destructive monkfish bottom trawling gear. The council adopted an Oceana-supported amendment to the monkfish  management plan that bans fishing for monkfish by bottom trawling in the Oceanographer and Lydonia canyons where marine scientists have identified and studied large deep-sea coral communities.

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February, 2005

Ocean around Aleutian Islands Protected from Bottom Trawling

In an historic victory for protecting our oceans, and the largest such action taken anywhere in the world, U.S. authorities closed to destructive commercial fishing nearly one million square kilometers of north Pacific Ocean surrounding the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, an area equal to Texas and California combined.

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December, 2004

President Bush Includes Instructions to Protect Deep-Sea Corals in his U.S. Ocean Action Plan

President Bush's U.S. Ocean Action Plan is his response to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, which stated that our oceans are in crisis and outlined a strategy to protect deep-sea corals.

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October, 2004

California Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Law to Protect Ocean Habitat and Vibrant Fisheries

California Governor Schwarzenegger signed a law that will further protect California's valuable Pacific waters from destructive fishing practices. Senate Bill 1459, sponsored by Senator Dede Alpert (D-San Diego) and approved by a bipartisan majority in both houses, ensures that fishing with bottom trawl nets that are dragged along the seafloor is conducted in a manner that protects marine life in waters off the California coast.

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October, 2004

Mid-Atlantic Council Decision to Ban Bottom Trawling in Ocean Canyons Follows Trend Begun by New England Panel

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council unanimously voted to accept the recent New England council decision to protect deep-sea coral communities in New England and Mid-Atlantic sub-marine canyons from destructive monkfish bottom trawling gear. These decisions are the first indication that fishery managers are using new scientific research to protect invaluable marine life, such as deep-sea corals.

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September, 2004

Cruise Pollution Terminated in California

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered a major victory for the oceans by signing into law two critically important ocean protection bills. These bills will prohibit the cruise industry from dumping sewage from toilets and sewage from sinks and showers into state waters.

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May, 2004

Royal Caribbean Commits to Treating Wastewater

Oceana CEO Andy Sharpless received a letter from Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain committing his company to installing advanced wastewater treatment technology on all of its ships. The commitment was the culmination of an eleven month campaign Oceana had waged to convince Royal Caribbean, the second largest cruise company in the world, to stop dumping inadequately treated waste in the oceans. Royal Caribbean is the first cruise company to commit to upgrading sewage and wastewater treatment fleet-wide.

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January, 2004

Appropriations for Sea Turtles

Oceana hailed Congress's decision to more than double the funding for federal fishery observer programs. Fishery observers are independent scientists who work alongside fishermen at sea to collect data on what is caught incidentally and thrown overboard. This increase in funding, made in the 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, is a significant first step towards improved management of our nation's fisheries.

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February, 2003

Saving 60,000 Sea Turtles

Oceana successfully pressured the government to require larger TEDs (turtle excluder devices) in shrimp nets in the Gulf of Mexico and south Atlantic Ocean, saving an estimated 60,000 sea turtles a year.

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