The Environmental Law Institute’s Ocean Program
Our oceans regulate the planet’s climate, supply food and livelihoods, and support biological diversity from coastal wetlands to the deep sea. Covering 71 percent of Earth’s surface and providing 99 percent of its living space, the ocean often seems limitless. Yet pollution, overfishing, habitat loss, and climate-driven changes continue to strain the services that healthy marine ecosystems provide.
To address these pressures, the Ocean Program focuses on strengthening ocean and coastal law and policy domestically and internationally. We support management systems that reflect local priorities, include diverse stakeholders, and rely on sound science and legal analysis.
Photo Credit: Kathryn Mengerink, Ocean Program Founder, on a Barbuda beach
Our focus areas and projects include:
Supporting improved ocean management through marine planning and collaboration
Analyzing legal management framework options for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture
Facilitating public engagement in Gulf of Mexico restoration and recovery
Strengthening Arctic offshore natural resource management
Enhancing management of Marine Protected Areas
Hosting an Ocean Seminar Series on key ocean issues in ocean and coastal governance
Examining legal tools for coastal climate adaptation law and sea level rise planning
What You Will Find Here
This site brings together research reports, seminar materials, and project updates tied to each focus area above. Our work includes hands-on planning support in U.S. waters and island nations, legal analysis of fisheries and aquaculture rules, and forums where practitioners exchange lessons on coastal governance. The Ocean Talk blog and publications pages offer shorter commentary and longer studies on topics such as offshore energy siting, transboundary marine conservation, and ecosystem-based management.
We also connect marine specialists with ELI’s broader work on climate adaptation, pollution control, and environmental governance. That collaboration helps ensure ocean policy recommendations are grounded in practical experience and aligned with legal frameworks that agencies and communities already use.
The Environmental Law Institute is a research and education organization that works with governments, NGOs, and communities to help foster practical, innovative, and just solutions to environmental challenges.
For more information on the Environmental Law Institute, including its other program areas and intersections with our marine activities, please visit www.eli.org/ocean-program.