MISSION: Focused on the impacts of climate change on the ocean, Global Ocean Health’s mission is to protect seafood supplies, coastal communities and marine ecosystems from ocean acidification, warming, unraveling foodwebs, and related problems by enabling those who depend on healthy marine resources to tackle the underlying pollution and its consequences.

Our strategy is based on a simple axiom: Those who earn a living from healthy seas can exert a powerful influence to protect them. We help resource-dependent people acquire the skill and knowledge to shape stronger policies to reduce emissions and build resilience. As advocates for sound science, adaptation measures, and pollution controls, fishermen and seafood growers command attention on both sides of the political aisle. They bring “on-the-water credibility” and economic relevance to the table.

Few seafood producers or fishery-dependent communities have the technical or policy skills to grapple effectively with acidification, sea level rise, hypoxia or other impacts of carbon emissions. To become sure-footed champions of their own cause, they need scientific and strategic support. We provide it. We organize training, technical and policy advice, and sometimes funding to enable them to document and (where possible) adapt to acidification, sea level rise, and other marine impacts of a high-carbon world. We also work with businesses, tribes, and communities on restoration and planned resilience: by anticipating what the future may bring, they are better prepared to influence it and plan for it.

VISION: The vision is of GOH is a future in which human societies enjoy abundant seafood, healthy seas and thriving coastal communities by reducing pollution, converting waste streams into useful products, and aligning our economy with the natural systems upon which life depends.