Arcadia has given the international marine conservation organisation a further $2,625,000 over three years towards several new projects and to help establish an office in France, where there is a lack of NGOs operating.

Oceana focuses on halting the ongoing mass extinction of marine life by seeking to reduce subsidised commercial fishing, ending destructive fishing techniques and reducing pollution.

The organisation runs more than one campaign at a time and gives itself three or four years to bring change through science-based lobbying, with teams of marine scientists, economists, lawyers and advocates fighting for specific and concrete policy changes.

It also uses ‘soft enforcement’ techniques, such as the use of a boat in the Mediterranean to photograph illegal fishing and destructive practices to provide evidence for prosecution.

Arcadia’s 2007 grant of $5.25 million over three years helped Oceana run some very successful campaigns, including the closure to industrial fishing of 200,000 square miles of US Arctic waters exposed by the retreating ice cap.