Oceana (ONG)

Oceana, inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ocean conservation organization focused on influencing specific policy decisions on the national level to preserve and restore the world's oceans. It is headquartered in Washington D.C., with offices in Juneau, Monterey, Fort Lauderdale, New York, Portland, Toronto, Mexico City, Madrid, Brussels, Copenhagen, Geneva, London, Manila, Belmopan, Brasilia, Santiago, and Lima, and it is the largest international advocacy group dedicated entirely to ocean conservation. Currently, Oceana has a staff of about 200 and 6,000 volunteers, and it has almost 50 million dollars of revenue (as of 2017). Oceana takes a multi-faceted approach to ocean conservation; It conducts its own scientific research in addition to making policy recommendations, lobbying for specific legislation, and filing and litigating lawsuits. Oceana was established in 2001 by an international group of leading foundations including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Sandler Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts. This followed a 1999 study they commissioned, which found that less than 0.5% of all resources spent by U.S. environmental nonprofit groups were used for ocean conservation. In 2001, Oceana absorbed The Ocean Law Project, which was also created by The Pew Charitable Trusts, for Oceana's legal branch. In 2002, American Oceans Campaign, founded by actor and environmentalist Ted Danson, merged with Oceana to further their common goals of ocean conservation. In 2015, Oceana Canada was established as a legally distinct non-profit organization. It works in collaboration with Oceana, inc. and is considered part of the larger charity. Except under very specific circumstances, Canadian charity law does not grant either legal charity status or the ability to issue tax exempt receipts to Canadian offices of non-Canadian nonprofits, making it beneficial to create an independent, Canadian charity. Concerned about declining fish catches since 1980, Oceana is committed to combating overfishing and restoring the world's fisheries.