In a historic conservation move, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council adopted the Oceana approach and closed nearly 95,5 million hectares of ocean, including recently discovered deep sea coral gardens, to bottom trawling, industrial fishing’s version of clear cutting. The area protected is roughly twice the size of the state of California.
After campaigning by Oceana, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to protect deep-sea coral communities in New England and Mid-Atlantic submarine canyons from destructive monkfish bottom trawling gear.
Oceana successfully pressured the U.S. government to require larger TEDs (turtle excluder devices) on shrimp nets in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Ocean, saving an estimated 60,000 sea turtles a year.
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
