Strong partners are absolutely critical to the success of the Global Ocean Refuge System (GLORES). We are calling for the help of a variety of leaders including marine scientists, other conservation organizations, corporations, the travel/tourism industry and celebrities. Momentum for GLORES continues to build and you can see the complete list of partners on our GLORES website.
In this second in a series of GLORES Partner Spotlights, we are featuring the highly-accomplished Michael Sutton. He is a social entrepreneur and conservation leader, based in California, who is currently Vice President, Pacific Flyway with the National Audubon Society. Mike is a member of Audubon’s National Leadership Team and oversees Audubon’s conservation programs in California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. More about his extraordinary career is below, but first we asked him a question.
Why did you become a Global Ocean Refuge System partner?
“As a SCUBA diver and marine park ranger, I’ve seen for myself the value of marine reserves around the world. And for the past decade, I’ve been involved in successful efforts to create the United States’ largest network of marine reserves off the coast of California. The Marine Life Protection Act, enacted in 1999, directed the state to improve its existing network of marine protected areas. As a member of the California Fish and Game Commission, I worked with many stakeholders along our 800-mile coast to make that happen. That experience taught me the importance of marine protected areas, not only to protect the ocean environment, but also to enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems and serve as insurance against the shortcomings of fishery management approaches.
“GLORES envisions safeguarding the world’s oceans in the same manner in which we’ve protected California’s nearshore waters. The need for this is clear: On average, we’ve set aside around 10 percent of our land area, for the benefit of all people, in some form of protected status such as national forests and state parks. But less than one percent of our oceans are similarly protected, and we need to level that playing field. GLORES helps focus the attention of people and policymakers around the world on the vital need to ensure that our oceans will continue to provide the ecosystem services so vital to all life on earth.”
More about Michael Sutton
Governor Schwarzenegger twice appointed Mike as a member of the California Fish and Game Commission, where he was instrumental in creating the nation’s largest network of marine protected areas. He was elected President of the Commission in early 2013 and sits on the state’s Wildlife Conservation Board, which makes $100 million in grants for land conservation each year. Mike also serves as summer faculty at the Vermont Law School, where he teaches ocean and coastal law. The second edition of his bestselling book, Ocean & Coastal Law and Policy, will be published by the American Bar Association in early 2015.
Previously, Mike served for eight years as Vice President of the Monterey Bay Aquarium where he founded the Center for the Future of the Oceans. Mike and his team organized the successful campaign to ban the trade in shark fins in California and negotiated the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health. He also helped found Stanford’s Center for Ocean Solutions, a partnership with the Aquarium and MBARI. Before that, Mike led the Marine Fisheries Program at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation where he fostered development of the Sustainable Seafood movement. At the World Wildlife Fund, he launched WWF’s Endangered Seas Campaign, the organization’s first global ocean conservation effort. Mike forged a groundbreaking business/environment partnership with Unilever and founded the Marine Stewardship Council based in London, the world’s first ecolabel for sustainable fisheries. He currently serves as Chair of the Wild Salmon Center, conserving wild salmon across the Pacific; Chair of COMPASS—a science communication organization; and as a founding Board member of Ocean Champions, the first political action committee for the oceans. Mike also is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Ocean Foundation, the Sea Change Investment Fund, the Vermont Law School’s Environmental Law Program and LightHawk.
Prior to joining the WWF staff, Mike spent more than a decade in government service, where he served as a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and as a park ranger with the National Park Service in Yosemite, Yellowstone, Death Valley, Biscayne and Virgin Islands National Parks.
Mike received a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Utah State University and studied coral reef fish ecology on the Great Barrier Reef through the University of Sydney, Australia. He also earned a law degree in international and natural resources law from George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. In 2013, he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus by Utah State University.
Thank you, Mike, for being a Global Ocean Refuge System partner! We appreciate it.
