AUSTIN – The following statement was issued by Alexis Baldera (@Hagfishfan), director of Ocean Conservancy’s Gulf Restoration Program, in reaction to the “Open Ocean Draft Restoration Plan 2” released by the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group today:

“Ocean Conservancy welcomes the world’s first plan to restore the open ocean and deep-sea environment from a major oil disaster. The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group has committed $225 million of the BP settlement for 18 projects, including more than $125 million to map, manage and better protect areas of deep sea habitats that are still largely unexplored. It is incredible that we know more about the surface of the moon than our own ocean.

The ‘Open Ocean Draft Restoration Plan 2’ is vitally important to the recovery of the Gulf of Mexico from the impacts of the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Nine years ago, the disaster began 40 miles off the coast and one mile below the surface of the ocean, killing wildlife, contaminating miles of ocean and devastating coastal communities. Today, this plan gives us a chance to restore some of what was lost to us. We can never forget that it comes at a very high cost to us all.

“Ocean Conservancy commends the trustees for recognizing the importance of open ocean restoration and heeding the voices of over 70,000 of our ocean activists who called for projects to protect marine wildlife like tuna, red snapper, sea turtles, deep-sea corals, dolphins and whales. We remain committed to working with our partners to ensure restoration of the Gulf of Mexico becomes a success story about resilience that inspires the world.”

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Alexis Baldera is available for media interviews upon request.

Note to editors:

• Full text of the “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Open Ocean Trustee Implementation  Group Draft Restoration Plan 2 and  Environmental  Assessment: Fish, Sea Turtles,  Marine Mammals, and  Mesophotic and  Deep Benthic Communities” is available here: https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2019-05%20OOTIG_DraftRP2EA_FinalDraft.pdf
• Timeline of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster:  https://oceanconservancy.org/restoring-the-gulf-of-mexico/gulf-timeline/

Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with our partners, we create science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. For more information, visit oceanconservancy.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.