Creating over 4 million km2 of protected marine ecosystems in the eastern Pacific Ocean with Oceana
Oceana is an international organisation focussed solely on protecting the oceans. They are dedicated to achieving measurable change by conducting specific, science-based policy campaigns with fixed deadlines and specific goals.
The Becht Foundation’s grant will be applied by Oceana to create a network of protected marine ecosystems along the eastern Pacific coast by the end of 2022, specifically focussing on Chile & Gulf of Alaska. Chile’s wellbeing depends on the health of its marine ecosystem, which is threatened by salmon aquaculture, overfishing and habitat destruction. Oceana will campaign to create protected areas in the pristine waters of Katalalixar and Pisagua to prohibit expansion of industrial salmon farming and protect vital natural habitat for anchoveta, respectively. They will further strengthen protections by securing a ban on bottom trawling in 98% of Chile’s EEZ. Expanding on this ban, Oceana will stop bottom trawling in the Gulf of Alaska – the last missing piece to complete the network of bottom trawl protections that extend from the Arctic to the US/Mexico border. This combined will secure over 4,000,000 km2 of new marine habitat protections.
