World Wildlife Fund

Since 1995, NOAA has supported more than 20 WWF projects directly or indirectly through other organizations. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through prediction and research of weather and climate-related events, information service delivery for transportation, and environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.

WWF and NOAA currently collaborate on four projects:

Florida's coral reefs - an important economic driver of the region - are already deteriorating due to rising temperatures.
© WWF-Canon / WORLD TELEVISION

Climate Change LEADS: Linking Environmental Analysis to Decision Support

WWF engages stakeholders and decision makers in the Florida Keys to develop effective strategies, targeted research, clear communications and powerful tools to better understand the likely impacts of climate change and coral bleaching and implement successful management initiatives that reduce the vulnerability of the Florida Keys’ coral reefs. Read more.

Improving Longline Fishing to Reduce Turtle Bycatch Through the Use of Circle Hooks and Related Measures in the Coral Triangle
In cooperation with several partners, WWF is working to reduce the bycatch mortality of marine turtles in the longline fisheries across the Pacific through improvements in fishing gears and techniques, utilizing a cross-sectoral and cross-region approach to share conservation solutions as rapidly as possible. The project is focusing on 1) taking fishing gear and techniques proven to reduce bycatch in the Atlantic and applying them in priority countries throughout the Coral Triangle; and 2) building strategic partnerships among the fishing industry, government officials, and traditional marine turtle conservation groups. Read more.

Anchored fishing boats. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.
© WWF-Canon / Pablo CORRAL

Establishing Fisheries Management Capacity in the Galapagos National Park Service

Through NOAA funding and in cooperation with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, WWF is helping to build the capacity of the Galapagos National Park Service to lead and engage on the issue of long-term sustainable fisheries management. The program is working to develop and implement a plan encompassing all organization activities, fisheries investigation, and surveying. The strategy and approach are participatory, designed to include members of the artesian fisheries-organizations of the Galapagos. Read more.

Reducing Seabird Bycatch in Russia’s Longline Fisheries

The marine waters off Kamchatka, Russia are known for their productive fisheries. They also support a large demersal longline fishing fleet that uses over 142.6 million hooks on lines several kilometers long to pull in an annual average harvest of 34,400 metric tons of cod and other groundfish. Longline fishing causes incidental mortality of marine life through unintended capture or “bycatch”, including seabirds such as the endangered short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus).

Several charitable foundations supported WWF project to reduce seabird bycatch in Russia’s longline fisheries. The project was made possible thanks to funding and kind assistance from the University of Washington, US Fish and Wildlife Service, the North Pacific Longliners Association and the National Ocean and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) US.

Assessment done by WWF and the Russian researchers revealed that the probable economical losses of Kamchatka longline fishing fleet induced by seabirds in 2004 made about 840,000 US dollars. In 2003, WWF began an initiative to install paired streamers line in at least 30 percent of the Russian Far East longline fleet by 2008 - an inexpensive and easy way to frighten seabirds away from baited fishing lines. This win-win effort promises to reduce both seabird bycatch and the economic losses to fishermen resulting from it. In 2007 WWF began producing streamer lines at a local fishing gear factory in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in order to supply them to organizations for use on their vessels. As a sign of the program’s success, AKROS, the largest longline fishing company in the Russian Far East, has agreed to place seabird deterrent gear on all its vessels. Learn more.