About us
The Med Sea Alliance seeks to improve the well-being of the Mediterranean by driving policy change, supporting the protection of vulnerable and ecologically areas and the ending of illegal and destructive fishing.
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Our Vision
A Mediterranean Sea with a rich and resilient ecosystem, where the rules and practice of fishing support the health of the marine environment for generations to come.

Regional Compliance Mechanism
A robust compliance system ensures that binding regulations on fisheries management are properly implemented, creating a level playing field across the basin. Strengthening compliance is not just about regulations—it’s about accountability, equity, and ensuring that conservation efforts deliver measurable improvements for biodiversity, coastal communities, and the resilience of the Mediterranean Sea.
Our Impact
Expansion and Improvement of Marine Protected Areas
In Spain, the alliance played a key role in advancing the expansion and improvement of Marine Protected Areas, working with local and national authorities to identify critical ecosystems and ensure their protection. This effort contributed to increasing the area under protection, fostering biodiversity recovery, and enhancing marine ecosystem resilience.
Our Team
Meet the Team Behind Med Sea Alliance
Our dedicated team of consultants brings together diverse expertise in marine conservation, communications, policy, and environmental advocacy. Together, we work tirelessly to protect the Mediterranean and drive meaningful, impactful change.

Karlijn Steinbusch
Managing Director

Maria Elena De Matteo
Head of Communications

Emily Tewes
Project Manager
"Achieving 10% strictly protected areas and 30% marine protected areas in the Mediterranean by 2030 is not just an ambitious target—it's a necessary step to ensure the survival of marine life and the resilience of coastal communities in this biodiversity hotspot. Beyond designating and expanding protected areas, good governance, sustained public funding, and active community engagement are key to ensuring lasting success."
Pablo Rodríguez Ros
30x30 Spain Coordinator at Marilles Foundation

Building networks
Our Members
The Mediterranean Sea, a vital hub of marine biodiversity, is facing an unprecedented threat from illegal fishing practices. As much as 50% of the total catch in the region is unreported or unregulated, leading to severe overfishing and the decline of crucial species like bluefin tuna and swordfish.
“Vulnerable habitats, such as seagrass meadows and coral reefs, must be protected as they are crucial for biodiversity and climate protection. Yet, despite laws and global commitments to safeguard nature, we continue to see European countries bending the rules and authorising bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Without effective enforcement of EU law, MPAs are nothing more than empty promises—words on a page that fail to bring meaningful change in the water.”
Nils Courcy
Legal Expert at ClientEarth
Funding change
Our members


Akdeniz Koruma Derneği
Mediterranean is the oldest sea which has been known. It means “sea in the middle of the earth”. Humanity has founded the modern society along the Mediterranean coasts where have presented the biological richness for throusand years on which those foundations have been built.
First theatres of the world, foundations of the modern society and democrasy have emerged along those coasts. Mediterranean has been the only one which has been subject to so severe human pressure for 2200 years. Many threats including overfishing, coastal development, destruction of wild life, pollution, invasive species, and climate change has transformed the historical biological richness of the Mediterranean. Mediterranean is under siege! Mediterranean Conservation Society has set off to conserve the nature sites of the ecosystem and to improve the degragaded sites. Mediterranean Conservation Society aims to be an important part of the global conservation action and supports other current activities. It is not likely that one single organization can save the world so Mediterranean Conservation Society places a lot of importance on any kind of constructive cooperation heading the same vision with AKD Mediterranean Conservation Society, sets ‘number and area of marine protected areas’ as one of its main action areas. The ratio of no take zones in Mediterranean is currently less than 1%. AKD believes that this ratio should be 20% overall Mediterranean to restore the sustainable biological richness of Mediterranean.


Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation
“Archipelagos – Institute of Marine Conservation” is a Greek non-profit, non-governmental organization combining multidisciplinary scientific research and efficient conservation work with the active participation of local communities since 1998.


AZIR Association for Environmental Protection
Founded in 1996 and based in Al Hoceima, AZIR is a pioneering environmental organization in Morocco’s Rif region. With a mission rooted in ecological, humanitarian, sociological, and cultural values, AZIR works to protect groundwater, rivers, marine ecosystems, and forests while addressing waste management and illegal fishing practices. The organization also promotes environmental education, the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and sustainable development by integrating local knowledge, traditions, and technical expertise. Through strong partnerships with local, administrative, and scientific entities, AZIR fosters community involvement to ensure the sustainability of its initiatives


Bloom Association
BLOOM is a non-profit organization founded in 2005 that works to preserve the marine environment and species from unnecessary destruction and to increase social benefits in the fishing sector. BLOOM wages awareness and advocacy campaigns in order to accelerate the adoption of concrete solutions for the ocean, humans and the climate. BLOOM carries out scientific research projects, independent studies and evaluations that highlight crucial and unaddressed issues such as the financing mechanisms of the fishing sector. BLOOM’s actions are meant for the general public as well as policy-makers and economic stakeholders.


Blue Marine Foundation
Blue Marine Foundation is a charity dedicated to restoring the ocean to health by addressing overfishing, one of the world’s biggest environmental problems.
The ocean is the world’s largest carbon sink: by combatting overfishing, we can help life in the ocean perform its vital function of stabilising the Earth’s climate.


ClientEarth
ClientEarth is one of the world’s most ambitious environmental organisations. We work in partnership across borders, systems and sectors, using the law to protect life on earth.
We believe that a future in which people and planet thrive together isn’t just possible: it’s essential. We use the power of the law to change the system – informing, implementing and enforcing the law, advising decision-makers on policy and training legal and judicial professionals.


Ecologistas en Acción
Ecologistas en Acción es una confederación de más de 300 grupos ecologistas distribuidos por pueblos y ciudades. Forma parte del llamado ecologismo social, que entiende que los problemas medioambientales tienen su origen en un modelo de producción y consumo cada vez más globalizado, del que derivan también otros problemas sociales, y que hay que transformar si se quiere evitar la crisis ecológica.


FishAct
FishAct is a conservation movement of volunteers from all over Europe with the aim of preserving healthy oceans full of life.
The voluntary fisheries observers, the Citizen Inspectors, go on undercover missions documenting and exposing illegal fishing activities in European fishing ports, markets and coastal areas. Over the years FishAct has run various investigations into illegal fishing activities in both the Baltic and Mediterranean Sea. Field research included e.g. monitoring of illegal bluefin tuna fishing in Croatia, tracking of illegal driftnet use in the Tyrrhenian Sea, dynamite fishing off Tunisia and deep-sea shark fishing and finning in Morocco.


Global Fishing Watch
Our purpose is to create and publicly share knowledge about human activity at sea to enable fair and sustainable use of our ocean.
We use cutting-edge technology to turn big data into actionable information. We believe human activity at sea should be common knowledge in order to safeguard the global ocean for the good of all.


iSea
iSea is an Environmental Organisation founded in 2016 in Thessaloniki, Greece, for the preservation of the aquatic ecosystems. Our vision is a healthy Mediterranean Sea supporting sustainable development and resilience of local coastal communities, based on the values of collaboration, transparency, scientificity and equity. Through scientific research, advocacy, awareness raising, Citizen Science and innovation it implements actions in 4 pillars: 1) Aquatic litter, 2) Human & aquatic ecosystems, 3) Marine Protected Areas and 4) Vulnerable species


Marevivo
Marevivo is a non-profit environmental association (ONLUS) that protects the sea and its resources from over 35 years. In particular we focus on biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, enhancement and promotion of marine protected areas, pollution and illegal fishing. We promote education in schools and universities.


Marilles Foundation
Committed to the future of the Balearics
We are a foundation dedicated to the conservation of the Balearic Sea and coast and we believe that healthy marine ecosystems can be reconciled with economic prosperity. Our core costs are covered by Adessium Foundation so every euro donated to Marilles supports live projects directly linked to the conservation of the Balearics.


MedReAct
We are a group of senior marine campaigners and NGOs that jointly worked to promote an ambitious reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). We coordinated the coalition OCEAN2012 in Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy and Spain (ocean2012.eu), which helped securing the CFP main objective of stopping overfishing by 2020.
As part of this effort we activated and led national NGOs platforms, joining forces with those who were not part of OCEAN2012, such as Greenpeace and WWF.


Oceana
Oceana was established by a group of leading foundations — The Pew Charitable Trusts, Oak Foundation, Marisla Foundation (formerly Homeland Foundation), Sandler Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund — after a 1999 study they commissioned discovered that less than 0.5 percent of all resources spent by environmental nonprofit groups in the United States went to ocean advocacy.


PADI AWARE FOUNDATION
PADI AWARE Foundation is a publicly funded non-profit with three registered charities across the globe. Our mission is to drive local action for global ocean conservation. We advance our mission through citizen science, public policy and community grants. With PADI® – the world’s leading scuba diver training organization – we drive towards our collective vision to achieve balance between humanity and the ocean.


Save The Med Foundation
Our team of experienced marine scientists and divers work closely with local authorities and stakeholders to create an effectively managed network of Marine Protected Areas around the Balearic Islands, allowing marine ecosystems to recover and thrive together with prospering local communities and industries.


Seas At Risk
Seas At Risk is an association of environmental organisations from across Europe, working together to ensure that life in our seas and oceans is abundant, diverse, climate resilient, and not threatened by human activities. Its mission is to promote ambitious policies for marine protection at European and international level. With over 30 members representing the majority of European countries, Seas At Risk speaks for millions of citizens that care deeply about the health and well-being of seas and oceans.


The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive.
Founded in the U.S. through grassroots action in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has grown to become one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. Thanks to more than a million members and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and over 400 scientists, we impact conservation in 72 countries and territories: 38 by direct conservation impact and 34 through partners.


Worldrise
Worldrise is a non-profit organization that has been working for over a decade to effectively conserve the Italian seas.
A team of Ocean Positive People, fostering positive change that (re)connects people to the sea, raises awareness about the ocean’s importance, and translates into collective commitment to its preservation.
Worldrise protects biodiversity by creating Seaty, local marine conservation areas, and by amplifying the action of Marine Protected Areas. The NGO uses art as a powerful communication tool and empowers the future stewards of the Mediterranean’s natural heritage. Through many different projects and supporters, Worldrise promotes the effective protection of at least 30% of the Italian seas by 2030.
Get Involved Now
The Mediterranean Sea, a vital hub of marine biodiversity, is facing an unprecedented threat from illegal fishing practices