Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and The Rockefeller Foundation
NEW YORK – Each year, more than $50 billion of economic value is lost due to poor fisheries management, depleting the oceans and affecting global seafood production. Today, Encourage Capital released the second installment of its comprehensive investment report, analyzing how investors can deploy capital in efforts to protect and restore global fisheries.
The report, “Investing for Sustainable Global Fisheries,” delivers a series of six blueprints about investments in fisheries in Brazil, Chile and the Philippines, which account for 7% of the global fish supply. The strategies are based on real-life examples and are available free of charge at investinvibrantoceans.org.
“More than 1 billion people globally rely on seafood as their primary source of protein, but 40% of fisheries are considered to be overexploited or collapsed,” said Jason Scott, Co-Managing Partner at
Encourage Capital. “Encourage Capital’s Investment Blueprints demonstrate that there are ways to earn real profits through sustainable seafood investing strategies that improve seafood yield, enhance supply chain efficiency, and reduce supply volatility.”
The report is part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Vibrant Oceans Initiative and The Rockefeller Foundation’s Oceans & Fisheries Initiative. It is the first philanthropic effort to bring together investment specialists and marine conservation experts to analyze and describe in detail private capital financing strategies that support fishery reform efforts. Encourage Capital developed the Investment Blueprints in close collaboration with nonprofit conservation groups Oceana and Rare.
“Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the Vibrant Oceans Initiative to address the critical need to replenish fish populations across the world. By properly managing fisheries, we can increase the number of fish in the ocean by half,” said Michael R. Bloomberg. “But ensuring sustainable fisheries is a complex problem that requires cooperation by the public and private sectors. This partnership with Encourage Capital, along with Oceana and Rare, will develop a comprehensive approach to help both industrial fisheries and local communities transition to more sustainable fishing practices.”
“While food security economists project that we will need to increase seafood supplies by 70% over the next several decades to keep pace with economic and population growth, fisheries around the world are already overexploited,” said Ricardo Bayon, Partner and Co-Founder at Encourage Capital. “Encourage Capital created this report to show investors, entrepreneurs, NGOs, governments and fishers that through investment decisions, private capital can drive solutions that stabilize or even expand the global seafood supply.”
“To solve the complex problems facing our world today, like the health of Earth’s oceans, requires innovative thinking and, increasingly, more resources than philanthropy and government alone can provide—which is why it’s vital to surface new ways of unlocking private capital for public good,” said Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “These investment blueprints demonstrate the important role for impact investors to play in increasing the health and productivity of coastal fisheries.
These strategies deliver financial returns, while simultaneously preserving marine ecosystems, securing livelihoods for the poor and vulnerable, and building more inclusive economies around the world.”
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About Bloomberg Philanthropies:
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ mission is to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Public Health, Environment, Education, Government Innovation and the Arts. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $462 million. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @BloombergDotOrg.
About The Rockefeller Foundation:
For more than 100 years, The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission has been to promote the well‐being of humanity throughout the world. Today, The Rockefeller Foundation pursues this mission through dual goals: advancing inclusive economies that expand opportunities for more broadly shared prosperity, and building resilience by helping people, communities and institutions prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from acute shocks and chronic stresses. To achieve these goals, The Rockefeller Foundation works at the intersection of four focus areas – advance health, revalue ecosystems, secure livelihoods, and transform cities – to address the root causes of emerging challenges and create systemic change. Together with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation strives to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, create unlikely partnerships that span sectors, and take risks others cannot – or will not. To learn more, please visit www.rockefellerfoundation.org.
About Encourage Capital:
Encourage Capital is an asset management firm specializing in profitable and strategic investments to solve critical social and environmental problems. Encourage Capital was formed by the merger of the Wolfensohn Fund Management and EKO Asset Management. A unique partnership of disciplined investors and creative problem–‐solvers, the new firm is already working with major asset owners to deploy investment capital to solve problems like the global ecosystem decline, climate change, and bringing financial services to the world’s poor. Visit Encourage Capital on the web at www.encouragecapital.com.
Contacts:
Encourage Capital
Jason Scott
(212) 974-0111
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Rebecca Carriero
(212) 205-0182
The Rockefeller Foundation
Erissa Scalera
(212) 852-8430