Oceans Projects

• Stopping Ghost Gear

  Fishing feeds billions of people and is vital to the economies of countless coastal communities. But unsustainable practices litter the ocean with deadly traps that needlessly kill marine mammals, turtles, and seabirds.

  Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear, commonly referred to as ghost gear, contribute significantly to the problem of plastic pollution in our ocean. These gillnets, traps, and other types of fishing gear are particularly harmful because they can continue to catch target and non-target species indiscriminately for years. This impacts important food resources as well as endangered species. Because of this, ghost gear has been coined as the most deadly form of marine plastic debris, damaging vital ocean habitats, aquatic life, and livelihoods.

  

• Universal Standards for Seafood Traceability

  The ocean provides a bounty of seafood, supporting hundreds of millions of jobs and feeding billions of people. But roughly a quarter of the fish caught globally is done illegally in the shadows, fueling a black market that exploits wildlife, people, and gaps in enforcement of laws. A lack of transparency allows rogue vessels and criminal networks to operate undetected and profit off stolen fish, taking money out of the pockets of people who follow the rules and contributing to declines in ocean health. Ending this black-market trade of seafood is good for nature and people but will require an array of proven tools working in tandem, chief among them is traceability.

  

• ArcNet: protecting marine biodiversity in the Arctic
  

• Building Local Knowledge for Fishing Sustainably

  WWF has been leading projects to improve fisheries' long-term sustainability since 2010 and has successfully introduced training workshops around the world over the last five years.

  

• Protecting coastal habitats in Belize through ambitious climate commitments

  Belize is moving forward to include coastal ecosystems as nature-based solution in its 2020 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement.