The International SeaKeepers Society is breaking with tradition for its annual SeaKeeper Award. Rather than present it to one individual, the ocean-focused organization is giving it to five people.
On September 9, in San Francisco to coincide with the America’s Cup, the International SeaKeepers Society will formally honor the five-person executive committee of the Sargasso Sea Alliance. The Sargasso Sea Alliance is a partnership among the government of Bermuda and a number of scientists, marine-conservation groups, and private donors, formed in 2010. It aims to protect the Sargasso Sea, which is situated in the North Atlantic (see map) and renown for being a breeding, feeding, and resting region for multiple species. Since none of the countries adjacent to the Sargasso Sea have authority over it, the waters are subject to overfishing, pollution, and more. The Sargasso Sea Alliance not only wants to establish a management program for the sea, but also use its efforts to show other organizations and countries what is and isn’t possible beyond national jurisdictions.
The five-person executive committee is comprised of Richard Rockefeller, trustee and chair of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and active in a number of health and environmental organizations; Derrick Binns, permanent secretary in Bermuda’s Ministry of Environment and Planning; David Evans Shaw, publisher of the journal Science and treasurer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Kristina Gjerde, senior high-seas policy advisor for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Global Marine and Polar Program; and David Freestone, founder and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law. The Sargasso Sea Alliance was further founded by Rockefeller and Shaw.
The SeaKeeper Award will be presented at the St. Francis Yacht Club during the International SeaKeepers Society’s Bal de la Mer. Tickets are available, as is the opportunity to bid on silent-auction items.
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