Malibu’s Sea Save Foundation Unites Malibu for Ocean Conservation

Life in Malibu is defined by our relationship to the ocean. Beach walks, boating, kayaking, surfing, swimming, SCUBA, and fishing are ocean activities that connect us to nature. The ocean is a main source of food and nutrition for a large part of our world. Over a hundred tons of fish are eaten worldwide annually providing two and a half billion people with at least twenty percent of their average per capita animal protein intake. While rainforests are responsible for almost a third of the Earth’s oxygen, it is the ocean’s marine plants that produce 70% of Earth’s oxygen. Oceans are essential for human survival on earth and for our enjoyment of life.

With 7.5 billion people on our planet, human impact matters. As we go about our lives meeting our needs for resources, there is strong evidence that human activity is associated with climate and the oceans. We make choices every day. Malibu based Sea Save Foundation, a 503c non-profit is working to make those choices better informed and more intentional. Headquartered in Malibu since 2009, Sea Save Foundation endeavors to inform, influence, and motivate the public and decision makers to take actions to protect the oceans for future generations. Sea Save Foundation has a well-developed social media presence to reach its audience. Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Snap chat are platforms used to engage people hungry to protect oceans. Knowledge translation of scientific evidence and pertinent public policy is brought to Sea Save Foundation’s Internet community in understandable language and digest format through the Week in Review.

The Week in Review helps to remove barriers between siloed areas of science and demystify concepts. Knowledge is the first step towards empowerment. Oceans do not recognize political boundaries. Sea Save Foundation works at the international level to affect public policy. CITES, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, is an international platform to identify and protect those animal and plant species, including ocean life, most at risk for extinction. CITES is a voluntary convention of the Parties that involves virtually all countries.

Sea Save Foundation has had significant impact protecting ocean animals and plants, including impacting the shark fin trade. As an apex predator, sharks are the lions of the oceans and function to help keep the web of ocean life in balance and healthy. The Hammerhead Shark, from the Pacific Ocean, has been at considerable risk for poaching and over fishing for the Shark fin soup market. After helping pass law in California to stop the sale of Shark Fins at home, Sea Save Foundation helped stiffer international protections to be passed at CITES for the Shark Fin trade.

This past June, Sea Save Foundation took part in the United Nations’ meeting on the Oceans, The Ocean Conference. As part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals program, countries, UN agencies, and other key stakeholders met in New York to explore the global framework for ocean sustainability and protection. The key issues of ocean pollution, over-fishing, and the effects of climate change were discussed. A plan of decisive coordinated global action was promoted. Over 1,

300 voluntary commitments have been recorded from around the world on an online ocean registry. Sea Save Foundation adheres to this framework as an evidence-based approach to ocean conservation.

Sea Save Foundation is engaging the Malibu community in ocean conservation and has been “blown out of the water” by the amount of enthusiasm and support from Malibu’s residents. Sea Save Foundation is planning, with city leaders, to be part of a public lecture series to discuss critical ocean issues. Sea Save Foundation’s first official Malibu fundraiser, "Malibu Unites" will be held between July 22 – 29, 2017. Local retailers will be donating a portion of their proceeds to Sea Save Foundation. So get out and have a consumer experience. Look for the Malibu Unites poster, which will be displayed outside participating stores, or look for the comprehensive list posted on Facebook.com/SeaSave