Initiated in collaboration with the Pew Charitable Trusts in 1999, Sea Around Us (SAU) is a research initiative located at the University of British Columbia, working to analyse the impacts of fisheries on marine ecosystems and offer solutions to a range of stakeholders. In 2014, SAU also began a collaboration with the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation with the aim of providing African and Asian countries with accurate and comprehensive fisheries data.

SAU provides analysis through tools and data, articles in peer-reviewed journals, and other media, such as news. SAU makes information such as catch time series starting in 1950, fishing sectors, fisheries-related government subsidies, marine biodiversity, among many other topics, available through their research. SAU also provides data at spatial scales, including by Exclusive Economic Zones, High Seas, or Large Marine Ecosystems.

Collaborative works include a publication in Nature Climate Change that highlights the importance of the Galapagos Islands as a natural laboratory to understand ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. Another study aims to bring greater attention to women’s fishing activities around the world, assembling and presenting the first quantitative estimates of catch by women and the associated value of what is brought to shore.

SAU’s work has the potential to help investors, companies and others understand risks associated with fisheries and marine ecosystems, especially as it pertains to sustainable finance.

At present, SAU is funded by a number of charitable organisations. These include the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Global Greengrants Fund, among others.

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