Our Goal
In 2020, SeaWatch and ROC have made a very large commitment to help protect two Mexican national parks and the 100 miles of coastline between them from illegal fishing practices that destroy marine life and its habitat. Help us raise funds to operate two new patrol boats to expand our efforts from Espiritu Santo National Park, in the Bay of La Paz, south to Cabo Pulmo on the east coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Read the latest updates on the great work SEAWATCH continues to do in protecting the Sea of Cortez
A little over two years from the time SeaWatch kicked-off their "Espiritu Santo is Parte de ti" campaign (Espiritu Santo is Part of You), the very depleted Espiritu Santo National Park was named one of the best managed protected areas in the world by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) the first ever such award in Mexico and only the second in all Latin America. The citizen-driven vigilance program, ROC, created by SeaWatch and local supporters, was formally recognized as a model non-profit conservation organization by the Mexican Senate for its support of nature conservation in marine protected areas.
SeaWatch was founded in 1993 in response to the rapidly declining fish populations in the Sea of Cortez due to illegal fishing and fishing methods. SeaWatch spearheaded the implementation of strict regulations to stop illegal activities such as the use of compressed air for fish extraction. In 2009, SeaWatch, working with local supporters, initiated "ROC", a citizen-driven vigilance program to put a halt to the illegal fishing that was taking 20 tons of fish each night from the Bay of La Paz and harming the endangered and threatened marine species in the Sea of Cortez and throughout Mexico’s ocean.
It is our goal at SeaWatch to work with and continue to fund ROC to maintain high-quality vigilance of the Bay of La Paz and the Espiritu Santo National Park where illegal activities are a constant threat to successful regeneration.
