Oceana: The Year Ahead By Andy Sharpless, Oceana CEO

As the first month of 2011 quickly winds down (wow, did it go fast!), I’d like to share a sneak preview of upcoming projects and goals for the year ahead.

…in North America: we won a huge victory when the Obama administration excluded the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico from the U.S.’s five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing, so much of our effort will go toward ensuring the U.S. Arctic is also protected from offshore drilling.  In addition, we’ll promote offshore wind production, comprehensive sea turtle protection legislation and reductions in fisheries by-catch.

…in South America: in Chile, I can’t overstate the impact of Oceana’s leadership on marine and energy issues in 2010, which led to the creation of a huge protected area around Sala y Gómez Island, the scuttling of a proposed coal-fired power plant near the Punta de Choros marine reserve, and the limiting of antibiotic use in Chile’s salmon farms. This year, we’ll aim to prevent another coal-fired power plant from being constructed in Punta de Choros, continue protecting vulnerable habitats with new or expanded marine reserves, advocate for stronger, science-based fishing quotas and push for a new law to ban shark finning in Chile.

…in Europe: Oceana has long focused its attention on major fishing nations like Spain, Italy, France and Morocco, so the big news for 2011 is that we’re opening an office in Copenhagen that will expand our reach to the Baltic nations.  We’ll launch two major expeditions – one in the Mediterranean and one in the Baltic – to document marine ecosystems and support our habitat protection and fishery enforcement goals.  In addition, we’ll continue our work to protect sharks, bluefin tuna and swordfish, and ramp up our efforts to prevent new offshore drilling, promote new offshore wind developments and earn more formal recognition about the dangers of ocean acidification.

…in Central America: Considering that the Meso-American Reef is the 2^nd largest in the world behind Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, banning bottom trawling in Belize has huge implications for the protection of this fragile ecosystem.  In 2011, we’ll take further steps to ensure the health and protection of the reef, including documenting and mapping habitat and preventing oil exploration.

…and internationally, colleagues from all of Oceana’s offices will come together to work with the World Trade Organization to end harmful subsidies that promote overfishing.

The plans above are just a brief overview of all of our global work – there is plenty more that I didn’t have room to include, so stay tuned.