Alaska's Oceans

Now more than ever, Alaska’s oceans are coming under threat. The impacts of global warming, including warming ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, and disruption of ocean production cycles, are already altering the distribution of marine fish, and have threatened the survival of seabirds and marine mammals.

Scientific evidence gathered to date indicates there will be a significant decline in ecosystem productivity in Alaska’s oceans over the next 30 years, and the impacts of industrial development will hasten this decline. This evidence lends tremendous urgency to our work and the work of our marine grantees, which is focused on marine fisheries, oil and gas development, marine shipping and ocean contaminants. In addition, we have a “place-based” focus on Bristol Bay. 

Our Role:
The purposes of ACF’s work in protecting Alaska’s oceans ecosystems are to: 

• Foster the growth of productive and innovative nonprofit organizations that are working effectively to protect Alaska’s oceans ecosystems by providing them strategic grants and operating support;
• Take a lead role in fundraising for oceans work in Alaska by raising awareness of Alaska oceans issues to a national audience of foundations and donors;
• Provide support to our grantees through our internship program, our Alaska Media Project, and training in nonprofit leadership and management training; and
• Take a lead role in coordinating campaigns on oceans issues when needed and asked.

The Foundation will also enhance the capability of its grantees to achieve the following objectives:

Marine Fisheries

• Reduce bycatch and protect marine habitats;
• Prevent over-fishing;
• Promote clean, sustainable fishing practices and opportunities that support Alaska’s local coastal economies;
• Ban offshore fish farming in Alaska’s marine waters;
• Close waters north of the Bering Strait to industrial-scale commercial fishing;
• Secure permanent protection for deep water coral gardens and other significant marine habitats, including those important for survival of seabirds and marine mammals; and
• Ensure effective public involvement in developing policies and management actions for Alaska’s oceans.

Offshore Oil and Gas Development

• Ensure that state and federal agencies include the impacts of global warming in their assessment of impacts of oil and gas development in state and federal waters;
• Limit offshore development in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, including limits on development of onshore support facilities, in order to protect the resiliency of these oceans ecosystems;
• Monitor state and federal proposals for onshore support facilities for offshore oil and gas activities;
• Ensure effective public oversight of offshore oil and gas leasing in state waters; and
• Mitigate the impacts of existing offshore oil development in Cook Inlet.

Marine Shipping

• Facilitate effective public involvement in the marine shipping risk assessments for the Aleutian Islands and Cook Inlet to be conducted by the National Research Council, and the risk assessment for Arctic Ocean shipping being conducted by the Arctic Research Council;
• Secure a moratorium on shipping in the Arctic Ocean until effective vessel traffic systems and spill response capacity is in place;
• Develop effective oil spill prevention and response policies and strategies throughout Alaska’s oceans, including the Bering Sea, Bering Straits and Chukchi Sea, where little or no response capacity currently exists;
• Ensure meaningful public participation in review and planning for development of transportation infrastructure to support commercial shipping in the Beaufort, Chukchi and Bering Seas;
• Prevent and mitigate the impacts of invasive species introduced through shipping activities;
• Improve vessel tracking systems in Alaska waters; and
• Secure amendments to the International Treaty for Prevention of Pollution from Ships (the Marpol Treaty) to include stronger safety requirements for the world’s fleet of bulk carriers and containers ships, and requirements for reduction of discharges and air emissions from commercial vessels.

Ocean Contaminants

• Prevent and mitigating point source pollution;
• Ensure effective implementation of state and federal laws, and international treaties, that limit the production and use of contaminants found in marine waters;
• Ensure the success of local efforts to limit ocean pollution such as the work of watershed councils, clean harbor programs, and other community efforts; and
• Provide information and education programs to rural health care providers and tribal environmental coordinators on environmental health impacts of exposure to ocean contaminants, and actions to take to lessen the risk of exposure.

Bristol Bay

• Protect water quality in the Bristol Bay watershed and marine environment;
• Reinstate the ban on offshore oil development in the Bay;
• Reduce bycatch and limiting the impacts of the bottom trawl fleet;
• Designate marine protected areas and essential fish habitat in state and federal waters;
• Prevent aquaculture in the coastal and marine environment of the Bay;
• Protect habitat of fisheries that sustain commercial fishing, sportfishing and subsistence;
• Prevent development of the Pebble Mine;
• Mitigate the impacts of the Donlin Creek Mine;
• Secure permanent protection of undesignated federal lands in the watershed; and
• Ensure effective public involvement in developing policies and management actions for the Bristol Bay ecosystem.

Goal:

To preserve the integrity of Alaska’s marine environment by protecting living marine resources, limiting human impacts, maintaining the viability of sustainable economies and ways of life in Alaska’s coastal communities, and enhancing the resiliency of Alaska’s oceans ecosystems to respond to climate change.