Our Work
We bring conservation-minded fishermen and other ocean advocates together to promote a broad, ecosystems approach to fisheries management that reflects our expanding circle of concern for all marine life and the future of fishing. Our programs emphasize conserving the ocean’s top predators – the big billfish, swordfish, tunas and sharks that are the lions, tigers and wolves of the sea – while preserving healthy ocean food webs and critical habitats essential to the survival of all fish, marine mammals, and seabirds.
Our Strategy
Lasting protection for ocean fish takes more than good intentions. Our approach has four parts, and each one builds on the others.
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Build a Diverse Coalition
We bring fishermen, conservationists, scientists, and businesses together around a shared goal, healthy oceans and the future of fishing. Our successes show that when anglers and ocean advocates speak together, decision-makers listen.
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Build a Scientific Case for Action
Good policy starts with good information. We commission and draw on the best available science, from reports like Taking the Bait to research such as the Kona Project’s work on billfish nursery grounds. That evidence shows what is at stake and what will work.
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Change the Rules
Where laws and policies fall short, we work to improve them. That has meant helping pass the Billfish Conservation Act and pushing for rules that account for the needs of predators and their prey.
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Turn Policy into Management Action
A good rule only matters if it is carried out on the water. We follow policy through to fishery management plans and council decisions, whether that means protecting forage fish, phasing out destructive gear like drift gillnets, or setting science-based limits.
Our Programs
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Pelagic Predators
The ocean’s top predators, the billfish, swordfish, tunas, and sharks that are the lions, tigers and wolves of the sea.
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Ocean Prey
Forage fish are small, schooling species that form the foundation of marine food webs.
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Ocean Ecosystems
We work to preserve the healthy food webs and critical habitats that all fish, marine mammals, and seabirds need to survive.
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Kona Project
The Wild Oceans Kona Project is a multi-year effort to improve understanding of billfish nursery grounds and use that knowledge to champion better protections.
