SEPTEMBER 2009: Protecting Deep-Sea Coral in Southeast U.S. -- After five years of campaigning by Oceana and others, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved a plan to protect more than 23,000 square miles of known deep-sea coral from North Carolina to Florida from destructive fishing gear. The area is believed to be the largest contiguous distribution of pristine deepwater coral ecosystems in the world.

JULY 2009: Krill Fishing Banned in Pacific -- The National Marine Fisheries Service banned fishing for krill in US Pacific waters, ending a multi-year advocacy campaign led by Oceana and supported by scientists, conservationists, and fishermen. The law makes California, Oregon, and Washington’s state bans on fishing for krill a federal regulation, and bans krill fishing from three to 200 miles off the coasts of each state. Krill is the foundation of the Pacific food web.

APRIL 2009: U.N. Officially Designates World Oceans Day as June 8 -- Sixteen years after it was first proposed, the United Nations (U.N.) notified Oceana of its official resolution to designate June 8 as World Oceans Day. The decision came after thousands of supporters of Oceana and other conservation organizations, aquariums, universities, and agencies, signed petitions asking the international body to establish an official day for the oceans.

MARCH 2009: U.S. House Protects Sharks – After campaigning by Oceana, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Shark Conservation Act of 2009, which improves existing laws to prevent shark finning by requiring that sharks be landed with their fins still naturally attached in all U.S. waters.

FEBRUARY 2009: Protecting the Arctic from Industrial Fishing – After years of work by Oceana and other conservation groups, The North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to prevent the expansion of industrial fishing into all U.S. waters north of the Bering Strait for the foreseeable future to limit stress on ocean ecosystems in light of the dramatic impacts of global climate change in the Arctic. The decision establishes one of the largest precautionary measures in fisheries management history.Oceana has now protected more than one million square miles of ocean in the Pacific.

JANUARY 2009: Protecting Sea Turtles from Longlines-- After months of pressure from Oceana, The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council initiated a six-month emergency rule prohibiting longline fishing gear in waters where sea turtles forage, effective as soon as possible. According to recent government data, nearly 1,000 sea turtles were caught by bottom longlines in this fishery in just 18 months, eight times the federally authorized limit.

JANUARY 2009: Dr. Lark Caves – After more than a year of pressure from Oceana, Dr. Susan Lark announced that she will sell cosmetic products containing squalene derived from olives rather than deep sea sharks. More than 15,000 wavemakers contacted Lark, telling her it was unconscionable to sacrifice already at-risk shark populations for the sake of beauty.

JANUARY 2009: Saving Hammerhead, Thresher, Blue and Shortfin Mako Sharks -- The Spanish government, after campaigning and consulting with Oceana, committed to advancing new shark legislation that would ban the catch of threatened hammerhead and thresher sharks, put in place catch limits for blue sharks and shortfin mako sharks, and evaluate the viability of landing sharks “whole” with their fins attached. Spain is one of the largest shark catching and exporting countries in the world.

DECEMBER 2008: Ending Excessive Antibiotic Use in Salmon Farms -- After campaigning by Oceana, the Chilean government recommended ending the excessive use of antibiotics in salmon farms. This will stop the overuse of antibiotics created for human health, end the overpopulation of salmon pens, lessen the amount of waste and salmon released into the marine environment and slow down the expansion of the industry to the heretofore pristine fjords of Patagonia.

AUGUST 2008: Costco Joins Green List -- Costco Wholesale Corporation committed to warn its customers about mercury contamination in fish by posting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mercury advice on signs at seafood counters in all its stores. The move, prompted by requests from Oceana and Costco members, followed similar action by other major grocery chains nationwide.

JULY 2008: Freezing the Bering Sea’s Footprint -- The National Marine Fisheries Service announced that it will adopt Oceana’s “freeze-the-footprint” approach by closing nearly 180,000 square miles of the Bering Sea to destructive bottom trawling to protect important seafloor habitats and marine life.

JUNE 2008: Reducing Salmon Bycatch in Pollock Fishery -- The world’s largest fishery took the first step toward reducing wasteful king salmon bycatch. After pressure from Oceana and its allies, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council moved forward on capping salmon bycatch in the Alaska pollock fishery.

FEBRUARY 2008: Banning Mediterranean Driftnetting -- The European Court of Justice rejected any further requests by the French government for exemptions from the EU ban on driftnetting in the Mediterranean Sea. This ruling will spare 25,000 juvenile bluefin tuna annually, along with 10,000 non-targeted marine species caught annually in the driftnets.

JANUARY 2008: Safer Seafood -- Kroger and Harris Teeter grocery stores were added to Oceana's Green List after agreeing to post the FDA advice about mercury in seafood. The Green List now accounts for almost 30% of the major market share of grocery companies.

DECEMBER 2007: Ending the Sale of Shark-Based Squalane -- Thousands of Oceana Wavemakers contacted the Vermont Country Story, a leading catalog retailer, to convince it to stop selling a skin enhancer containing squalane. The oil is obtained from the livers of sharks. In an ironic note, the product was marketed under the name “Oceana.”

MAY 2007: Cutting Fishing Subsidies -- After campaigning by Oceana, the U.S. Congress passed resolutions supporting worldwide cuts in harmful fishing subsidies that lead to overcapacity in fishing fleets and thus to overfishing. Oceana is working with nations in the current World Trade Organization negotiations to end these harmful taxpayer handouts.

JANUARY 2007: Ending the Online Sale of Shark Fin Soup - Wavemakers bombarded online retailer Amazon.com with requests to stop selling shark fin soup. Within hours, Amazon.com had pulled the item from its virtual shelves. Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year for their fins, including slow-growing species already threatened by extinction.

JANUARY 2007: Italy Closes Loopholes on Illegal Driftnetters - Two months after presenting our findings to the scientific committee ACCOBAMS, the Italian Attorney General announced new efforts to crack down on illegal driftnetting by declaring it illegal for vessels to carry driftnets on board regardless of whether or not they are being used when detected.

DECEMBER 2006: Pioneer Industries Switches to Mercury-free Technology - Since early 2005, Oceana has urged chlorine companies to use mercury-free technology. Of the original nine plants that were using the outdated technology, Pioneer Industries is the fourth to convert.

DECEMBER 2006: New Magnuson-Stevens Act Passed – Oceana helped campaign for new legislation that significantly improves the protection of deep-sea corals and sponges from bottom trawling and other destructive fishing gear. This bill as passed makes marginal improvements to the existing Magnuson-Stevens Act.

SEPTEMBER 2006: Protecting Sharks from Finning – Oceana and other members of the Shark Alliance scored a major victory for sharks in the European Parliament when the Parliament decided to reject a recommendation from its own Fisheries Committee to increase the allowable ratio of shark fins to bodies from 5% to 6.5%.

JULY 2006: Saving the “Dolphin Deadline” – After months of persistent campaigning by Oceana, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that maintains an important deadline for protecting tens of thousands of dolphins, whales, and other beloved ocean creatures from dirty fishing gears and practices.

MARCH 2006: Protecting Pacific Krill – The Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to prohibit commercial krill fishing in the federal waters off of California, Oregon, and Washington. More than 5,000 Oceana activists contacted the Council to support a prohibition on krill fishing in the Pacific to protect our ocean ecosystem food web.

SEPTEMBER 2005: Limiting Destructive Trawling – After two years of intensive lobbying by Oceana staff in Brussels and Madrid, the European Union prohibited destructive fishing practices, including bottom trawling, in over 250,000 square miles around the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands.

MAY 2005: Stopping Illegal Oil Dumping – Responding to intensive advocacy by Oceana Europe, the EU Parliament approved new legislation to punish violators of international oil dumping laws

MAY 2005: Protecting Pacific Corals – In a historic conservation move, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council adopted the Oceana approach and closed nearly one million square kilometers of ocean to destructive trawling.

MAY 2005: Ending Backroom Deals in Fisheries – Oceana’s lawyers won a change in the rules for fishery policy-making in Chile that will stop government officials from keeping secrets. Now they must publicly disclose the information they use to set quotas and other rules for commercial fishing companies operating along Chile’s massive coastline.

APRIL 2005: Establishing an Observer Program – In Chile, for years a law to place professional observers aboard fishing fleets existed, but was ignored. Oceana successfully convinced the government to enforce the law and professional observers are now at last beginning to monitor Chile’s commercial fishing operations.

MARCH 2005: Protecting Marine Mammals – After lobbying by Oceana and other conservation organizations, the Chilean congress added ten new marine mammals to the government’s protected species list.

JANUARY 2005: Saving Dolphins and Whales from Active Sonar – After requests from Oceana, both the European Parliament and the Spanish Government took action to prohibit the US, NATO and other navies from using active sonar in European waters.

May 2004: Potty Training Royal Caribbean – Eleven months after the launch of Oceana's Stop Cruise Pollution campaign, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines agreed to major reform of its waste treatment practices.

February 2003: Saving 60,000 Sea Turtles – Oceana successfully pressured the government to require larger TEDs (turtle excluder devices) on shrimp nets in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Ocean, saving some 60,000 sea turtles a year.