Charity of the Month: Sea Shepherd (January 2019)

Sea Shepherd, established in 1977, helps conserve marine life by fighting the destruction of species and habitats in the world’s oceans. Uncharted territory and international waters make it easy to get away with irresponsible behavior, and the vastness of the oceans can make it unclear to determine which parties are responsible for acts of destruction. Sea Shepherd makes it their mission to investigate and confront illegal activities in the oceans. They also create and implement measures that contribute to the sustainability of marine-related activities.
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Sea Shepherd has several campaigns that target different aspects of ocean conservation:

Operation Galapagos

• ​This mission consists of conservation efforts in the Galapagos that protect marine species, promote environmental education, and create and maintain environmental agreements.
• Sea Shepherd provides infrastructure, equipment, and tools to aid with the conservation of biodiversity, protection of wildlife species, and management of natural protected areas of the Galapagos Islands.

IUU Fishing

• Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing disregards management systems that try to conserve overexploited or depleted fish stocks. IUU fishing typically takes place via unlicensed foreign industrial vessels, fishing in prohibited areas, using illegal nets, and unreported catch and by-catch by legal operators. This leads to the overfishing of stocks and impairs the sustainability of fisheries around the world.
• Sea Shepherd combats IUU fishing by forming alliances with countries that experience this activity, particularly countries in Africa where IUU fishing is very common. Sea Shepherd provides partner countries with civilian vessels, operating crews, fuel, and training.

Operation Virus Hunter

• Operation Virus Hunter utilizes Sea Shepherd’s research vessel to study the impact that salmon farms have on wild salmon populations in British Columbia. This mission aims to raise awareness of viruses from salmon farms that harm wild salmon populations, therefore endangering surrounding ecosystems.
• Salmon farms are breeding grounds for diseases and parasites since they contain a high concentration of salmon in relation to the size of the cages. Pathogens easily spread from farmed salmon to wild fish that share the same waterways.

Operation Jairo

• ​Through Operation Jairo, Sea Shepherd partners with the Antigua Sea Turtle Project to conduct conservation patrols of sea turtle nesting sites in Antigua and Barbuda. These patrols and conservation efforts protect sea turtles from poaching, sand mining, by-catch in artisanal fisheries, and coastal development.
• Of the seven species of marine turtles, all of them are currently listed as threatened or endangered.

Operation Clean Waves

• Sea Shepherd is currently operating its Clean Waves mission in Kiribati, a nation that is heavily threatened by climate change. This operation combats ocean pollution, reef health, and clean water issues.
• In collaboration with the local community in Kiribati, Sea Shepherd helped create a plastic management program that keeps plastic out of the ocean and reef system. With this program, a cargo ship arrives every 2 months to pick up plastic items to recycle properly in Hawaii.
• ​Sea Shepherd has also aided in the installation of water filtration systems and improved water catchment systems in Kiribati.

These are only five of about a dozen campaigns that Sea Shepherd runs. Combating and raising awareness about various issues regarding marine conservation makes it easier for countries, corporations, and individuals to make change. Taking action to protect the world’s oceans now is essential to ensure their survival for the future.