APPROACH
APPROACH

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ROC GRANTS
PROJECTS SPOTLIGHT

Los Cabos Coastkeeper: Flora and Fauna Protection Area
Los Cabos Coastkeeper worked to complete a management plan for a Marine Protected Area.

Sea Shepherd Legal: Fighting Against IUU Fishing in Peru
This project will enhance the capacity of Peru to address rampant illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Chicago Zoological Society: Assessment of Fur Seals and Sea Lions
The Chicago Zoological Society will develop new community engagement initiatives centered around the Punta San Juan marine reserve in Peru.

Association for Animal Protection and Inventory: 1st MPAs in Bosnia
The main goal of this project is to establish three MPAs within Bosnia and Herzegovina to preserve skates, rays, and more endangered marine species.

AIDA: Protecting Magellanes Environment from Salmon Aquaculture
The campaign will raise public awareness and generate pressure on authorities to investigate and more stringently regulate the industry.

Earthjustice: Stop the USA’s Largest Factory-Farm Aquaculture Project
Earthjustice will research the legal options to counter the proposed Rose Canyon Fisheries off the coast of San Diego, which would be the world’s largest aquaculture factory-farm.

IPNLF: Mapping the Roles of Women in the Maldives Tuna Fishery
This research will map the roles of women in tuna supply chains in the Maldives.

Provita: The Venezuelan Coral Reef Monitoring Network
This project aims to better understand coral reef trajectories in the Southern Caribbean in an era of global climate change.

Sea Shepherd: Vaquita Protection and Removal of Illegal Fishing Gear
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society aimed to fight the looming extinction of the vaquita porpoise, the most endangered marine mammal in the world.

MARE: Performance of MPAs in Portugal
This project represents a first effort to evaluate the performance of Portuguese MPAs.

Earth Law Center: Legal Protection for Whale & Dolphin Sanctuary
Earth Law Center’s primary aims to protect the biodiversity and ocean health in the Whale and Dolphin Sanctuary of Uruguay’s EEZ.

Reef Doctor: Artificial Reef Establishment
Reef Doctor proposes to install artificial reefs to provide alternative habitats for marine lives, bolster local fishing yields, and reduce stress on over fished reefs.

Island Reach: Developing the MPA Network in Makelula, Vanuatu
Island Reach worked with the Senewon committee to train locals on how to manage their marine protected area.

Ocean Alliance: SnotBot, Drones for Whale Research
A Drones for Whale Research ‘SnotBot’ expedition to Southeast Alaska collected respiratory samples from humpback whales using drones.

Organization for the Conservation of Cetaceans
OCC-Uruguay identified the major threats to marine conservation along Uruguay’s Atlantic coast and established legislative foundations and public support for change.

University of Miami: Hurricane Mathew Impacts on The Bahamas
Young Marine Explorers, a Bahamian marine conservation organization based on New Providence documented the impacts of Hurricane Matthew on coastal and marine resources.

Wild Me: Wildbook-Computer Vision for Dolphins
Wild Me specializes in data management and computer vision solutions to modernize wildlife research, especially where citizen science can be integrated to increase data collection.

IUCN: Debt for Adaptation Swap Expansion
Expansion of the debt for adaptation swap to targeted indebted Small Island Developing States will finance implementation of marine spatial plans and increase the resilience of island nations.

University of Western Australia: Port Coogee Artificial Reef Surveys
The project will collect baseline data on fish, invertebrate, macroalgae and seagrass communities, before installation of an artificial reef at Port Coogee, Western Australia.

Pacific Wild Alliance: Herring Recovery in British Columbia
Pacific Wild plans to support the Heiltsuk with monitoring and public and media communications during the annual fishery.

Mision Tiburon: Scalloped Hammerhead Shark Conservation
This project will improve the conservation of the Scalloped hammerheadshark in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica.

Marine Megafauna Foundation: Genomic tools for Yellowfin Tuna
This study contributes to generating information on the current state of yellowfin tuna in the eastern Pacific using new genomic technologies.

MarViva: Public Policy of the High Seas in the Costa Rica Dome
MarViva developed recommendations to policymakers on fisheries and traffic regulations protecting threatened species.

VEPA: Conservation Monitoring and Assessment in Tonga
This project will develop monitoring programs for Special Management Areas in the Vava’u Archipelago, Tonga.

Bahamas National Trust: Sustainability of the Queen Conch Fishery
Conchservation aims to improve sustainability of the Bahamian Queen Conch fishery.

EcoViva: Coastal Resources Management in El Salvador’s Mangroves
This project will promote and expand a coastal management tool that provides the scientific and legal framework to enable locally-driven community-based management of fisheries stocks.

University of Cape Town: ABALOBI – Small-Scale Fisheries
The ABALOBI initiative is an open, transdisciplinary and social learning endeavor, bringing together various stakeholders, with traditional fishers taking center stage.

Seacology: Drafting a Management Plan for an MPA in Chile
This project helped the communities of Koldita and Luikura develop a critical management plan for a new marine protected area adjacent to Koldita Island, Chile.

CCRD: Improve the Fisheries Protected Areas in Vietnam
This project provides participatory training on improvement and adaptation of 23 community fisheries protected areas (FPAs) newly established in Tam Giang lagoon.

CUNY Brooklyn College: Population Collapse and Coastal Warming
This study will critically evaluate the role of census data in the monitoring of nearshore aquatic species, a key component in the evaluation of marine protected areas.