CEO Note: Oceana’s Leadership in Brazil and the Philippines

Posted Mon, Jun 9, 2014 by Andy Sharpless to andy sharpless, bloomberg, brazil, ceo note, philippines

Mackerel (Photo: Oceana / Keith Ellenbogen)

Several months ago, I wrote to you with big news about Oceana’s future: Oceana is one of the recipients of a $53 million joint grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, called the Vibrant Oceans initiative, which seeks to restore ocean abundance and fisheries in Brazil, the Philippines, and Chile.

I am now pleased to report back that we have hired two leaders for our work in Brazil and the Philippines — Dr. Monica Brick Peres and Attorney Gloria Estenzo Ramos.

Our new leader in Brazil, Dr. Monica Brick Peres, comes to Oceana from the Ministry of Environment, where she was the Aquatic Biodiversity and Fisheries Resources Manager and the key liaison with the Ministry of Fisheries. She has a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography earned from the Federal University of Rio Grande. Monica is a leader on fisheries issues in Brazil and was a driving force in creating a ban on shark finning in Brazil and other conservation-related policy achievements. She brings immediate credibility to Oceana’s work in Brazil.

Our new leader in the Philippines is Gloria “Golly” Estenzo Ramos. Golly is co-founder of the Philippine Earth Justice Center and a professor of law at the University of Cebu. She is a well-known, respected, and outspoken environmental leader at the national level and in her home province of Cebu, which holds the second largest city of the Philippines. Golly cares deeply about equity and environmental justice, and sees restoring fisheries as a path to helping and feeding people. Her track record and ability to use the law to advance conservation will be immensely valuable for Oceana and its campaigns.

These two new leaders now begin the exciting task of assembling campaign teams. Oceana will seek to win policy victories in Brazil and the Philippines that include establishing science-based quotas, reducing bycatch, and protecting habitat — all of which will result in more biodiversity in the water and fish on plates of Brazilians and Filipinos.

I look forward to sharing new Oceana campaign news and victories in Brazil and the Philippines in the near future.

For the oceans,

Andrew Sharpless

Chief Executive Officer