NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On Tuesday, September 13, notable figures from business, philanthropy and culture gathered in Rockefeller Center’s Rainbow Room for the annual Oceana New York Gala to celebrate and support the organization’s mission to restore the health and abundance of the world’s oceans.
The event raised over $1.6 million in support of Oceana’s global campaigns and featured a distinguished panel of speakers and attendees, including an Oceana Board Member and Master of Ceremonies Ted Dansongala chairs Susan Rockefeller and David Rockefeller, CEO of Oceana Sam Waterston, Big wave surfer and board member of Oceana Maya Gabeira, among other. Over the past nine years, Oceana’s New York Gala has raised more than $13 million to contribute to political victories for our oceans.
This year’s event, with Blancpain returning as Presenting Partner, celebrated a ‘wave of victory’ for our oceans. “In just over 20 years, Oceana has won more than 225 wins stop overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and the killing of endangered species like turtles, sharks and whales,” Waterston said. “Because wherever we make progress, there are forces pushing back: oil polluters, the plastics industry, bad actors in commercial fisheries and aquaculture, politicians who refuse to stand up for our oceans. Enough is enough. Oceana keeps pushing for the sake of our oceans, for all of their remarkable and wondrous inhabitants, and for future generations,” he added.
Just last year, after a campaign by Oceana and its allies, California enacted the nation’s boldest plastic reduction policy, Canada introduced new legal protections requiring depleted fisheries to be rebuilt, and the National Marine Fisheries Service reinstated protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in New England waters to protect critical habitats.
“Oceana is restoring wild fish populations so people have access to a healthy…
