Oceana and Bloomberg Philanthropies: Working Together for Vibrant Oceans

Originally posted on Bloomberg.org.

By Andy Sharpless, Oceana CEO

In January 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched its Vibrant Oceans Initiative, a five-year, $53 million commitment to help restore fish populations around the world. The grant, which supports work by Oceana, Rare and Encourage Capital, marked the largest philanthropic commitment to international fisheries reform management to date.

In making this commitment, Bloomberg Philanthropies recognized a need for urgent action to save the world’s oceans. This week, leaders from around the globe have come to the 2016 Our Ocean conference in Washington, D.C. with the same goal: to address the long-term health of the world’s oceans through concrete action. It is an encouraging moment and an important step toward responsible stewardship of some of our most precious natural resources.

I am pleased to write that on September 15, with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ support, Oceana officially launched Global Fishing Watch at the Our Ocean conference. Global Fishing Watch is a free online platform created by Oceana, SkyTruth and Google that allows users to view information about worldwide fishing activity by tracking more than 35,000 commercial fishing vessels. From a café in Madrid, a citizen can watch the Spanish fleet, the third largest in the European Union, in action from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. A government administrator in Chile can keep tabs on a suspicious vessel rendezvous occurring just outside of the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone. A lawyer in the Philippines can observe activity in Tañon Strait and record visual evidence that will help the enforcement of protections in that vital habitat. In the hands of citizens and governments around the world, Global Fishing Watch can be utilized locally to have impact globally.

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