Oceans as Wilderness
"As never before, we have a chance to act on the knowledge we have to save the wild ocean. The sea is the cornerstone of our life-support system: by taking care of it, we take care of ourselves; abuse it, and we put ourselves at risk."
Patagonia's 2006-07 environmental campaign is devoted to the oceans. Our goal is to help us all see what is under the waters of the Earth. How the vast schools of tuna are like long-gone herds of buffalo that used to roam the plains. How bottom trawling is like clear-cutting an entire forest to get at a single tree. In our catalogs, retail stores and on our Web site, we'll spend 18 months with marine scientists and writers, surfers and fishermen, to teach ourselves and our customers just how close the connection is between the vitality of human life and the marine environment, so that we can all become better stewards of the ocean in our daily lives.
Since our campaign began in January 2006, we've been part of a great success for the oceans, the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing fishing practices in U.S. waters. But there is still more to be done. In the final months of our campaign, we will focus on a major problem our oceans face: contamination. From the plastics you see floating in the harbor to the pollutants under the surface, invisible to the naked eye, contamination issues are posing a major threat to the marine environment we all depend on.
