Mission Ocean
Presented by Global Ocean CommissionOceana is the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans.
Oceana aims to strengthen efforts to combat IUU fishing worldwide. In Europe it works to ensure that the pioneer law of 2010 to tackle IUU fishing is effectively enforced and implemented across all the Member States in the European Union (EU). Oceana also fights to make the global activities of the European fleet and European nationals, more transparent, fair and sustainable and to close legal loopholes to ensure that there is no IUU fishing. Since 2006 Oceana has undertaken expeditions at sea and port research to document IUU fishing, like the use of illegal driftnets.
Oceana is working to require traceability for seafood products. By improving transparency in the seafood supply chain and tracking fish from boat to plate, it becomes more difficult for a bait and switch to occur, helping to keep illegally caught or mislabeled seafood out of the supply chain. Seafood fraud can hurt consumers, public, health, the oceans and honest fishermen and seafood businesses. Oceana works with decision makers, stakeholders, experts and concerned citizens to promote tracking seafood from bait to plate. Traceability is key to fighting seafood fraud and to ensure that the seafood sold in the U.S. is safe, legally caught and honestly labeled.
For nearly a decade, Oceana has worked to eliminate harmful fisheries subsidies at the international, regional, and national levels, including the European Union. Oceana has been the only organization with a comprehensive campaign for global fisheries subsidy reform, originally focused on the World Trade Organization. Oceana campaigns to eliminate government subsidies that increase fishing capacity, such as fuel and boats, which in turn drive overfishing and other destructive fishing practices. Oceana has also worked to stop subsidies that are linked to IUU fishing.
A Word from the Organisation
Oceana appreciates the work of the Global Ocean Commission to find concrete actions to improve the condition of the world’s oceans. The Global Ocean Commission has an important role in convening high profile leaders that are capable of bringing worldwide attention to the issues facing the high seas and driving global change. We are particularly enthusiastic about the Commission’s recommendations for fisheries subsidies reform and to combat illegal fishing. High seas and distant water fishing fleets would not be profitable, and able to continue overfishing, without the government fuel subsidies that allow them to traverse the oceans. The Commission’s call to eliminate high seas fuel subsidies is a much needed push on the WTO to take action to address harmful fisheries subsidies. Illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing is detrimental to the health of the oceans and undermines legitimate fishermen and consumers. The Commission’s recommendations for the high seas are a welcome contribution to end IUU fishing worldwide. — Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe