The evidence that the world’s oceans are under assault is overwhelming. Overfishing has seriously depleted some critical species, destroyed marine life that is not the target of the catch and damaged deep-sea habitats. Widespread pollution and global climate changes are also altering the marine environment, with potentially severe consequences.

Pew supports several major initiatives aimed at improving our scientific knowledge about the problems faced by the world’s oceans and identifying the policies that could help solve them.

These efforts include

• the Lenfest Ocean Program, which supports scientific research that will inform marine conservation decisions;
• the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation, which offers one of the world’s preeminent awards for scientists working in marine conservation; and
• the Sea Around Us Project, which produces mapping and data analysis of global fisheries catches.