Environmental Defense Fund
A fisher stands in the ocean surf and casts a net into the waves as they break around him.
A progress meter shows a goal of 365 new Eco Partner monthly donors by April 3, about 46% full.
 
Unlock a $1-for-$1 match
on your first 12 monthly gifts

John, I’d like to introduce you to Ernesto Gastelum.

Like his father, uncles and brothers, he's always made his living by catching shellfish and other fish in Mexico's Gulf of California, where he lives in a fishing city called Rocky Point, Soñora.

30 years ago, the family business was booming. But in recent years, their catch has declined by 60%, making it harder to make ends meet. 

 
A man in sunglasses stands in front of the ocean and holds a bivalve mollusk up to for the viewer to see.

Above: Ernesto Gastelum displays a bivalve mollusk.

Around the world, the story is the same: Warming oceans are disrupting wild fisheries, jeopardizing the health and prosperity of 3 billion people who rely on fish as a key protein source, and hundreds of millions who make their living on the seas.

Once-vital communities are struggling. Once-plentiful seafood is becoming harder and harder to find. 

At EDF, we believe that we can protect our environment and empower people and nature to thrive together - and that's exactly what we're doing in countries around the world with fishers like Ernesto.

As a new Eco Partner monthly donor, you'll unlock a $1-for-$1 match on your first 12 monthly payments. 

That means your support will go twice as far to help restore our oceans and improve the lives of people like Ernesto and their families.

In Mexico, where more than 2 million people depend on fishing for a living (both directly or indirectly), we'​​​​​ve worked with fishermen like Ernesto, governmental agencies, scientists and other non-profit organizations since 2009 to transform fishing policies and practices toward more sustainable fishing.


"Every step we take, we need to think of our children, our nephews, our grandkids. What kind of Mexico, what kind of world, what kind of seas and oceans are we leaving them? The present and the future of fishing is in our hands.” 

- Ernesto Gastelum, fisher and EDF partner


In Chile, Peru and Ecuador, EDF is organizing fishers in a first-of-its-kind data sharing collaboration. By sharing data about changing ocean conditions, they can develop a robust, online early warning system that will show in real time how climate change is affecting their fisheries. The nations plan to use the system to adapt how they protect marine ecosystems and manage fisheries that 850,000 people rely on for their livelihoods.

EDF has also forged relationships with fishing communities in Belize, Cuba, China, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

By implementing sustainable fishery management practices in these places - which together account for more than half of all fish caught worldwide - we can tip the global scales towards sustainability and restore our oceans to abundance for all.

Will you help bring economic and food security to more than 1 billion people worldwide who depend on healthy fisheries to survive and thrive?

Start a monthly gift during our Spring Member Drive to make double the impact for a full year. 

Together, we'll help people like Ernesto leave a healthy, abundant ocean for generations to come.

Thank you for helping fisheries and families,

Emily Stevenson
Manager, Online Membership

 
Start a monthly gift to restore
our oceans to prosperity

P.S. To stay on pace to welcome 365 new Eco Partner monthly donors by April 3, we need just 4 more supporters like you to join by midnight tonight. Please don’t wait. Start a monthly gift today and your first 12 gifts will be matched $1 for $1, doubling your impact for a full year.