Arcadia has awarded $1 million to the international marine conservation organisation Oceana, which will fund the first year of its two-year Baltic Sea Enforcement Project. Oceana plans to seek other donors to meet the remaining project cost.

Oceana is undertaking a new campaign to improve the health of the Baltic Sea by reducing illegal fishing and improving the network of marine protected areas. By keeping more life in the ocean and protecting the habitats on which life depend, the campaign can address the most acute needs for restoring the Baltic Sea.

In the initial two-year phase of our campaign, Oceana will conduct in-port investigations and at-sea expeditions to identify and document illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Baltic, leading to increased enforcement, reduced IUU fishing, and improved compliance with fishing limits. Additionally, Oceana will document vulnerable marine habitats in the Baltic Sea that deserve official designation as a Marine Protected Area, as it has done successfully in other European countries.