1 OCEAN (Ocean Conservation Education Action Network) is an initiative that focuses on building a healthy ocean through education, action, and conservation strategies. This project focuses on collating information about elasmobranchs and providing a platform for interested individuals to record information on elasmobranchs (Sharks & Rays) from Indian waters. Although there are many threatened and data deficient marine groups in India’s waters we are starting with elasmobranchs as they are good indicators, relatively easier to identify at a group level, and over 50% sharks are threatened with extinction!
Our team includes researchers, elasmobranch experts, fishing community members, educators, perception analysts, conservation planners, and naturalists. This is the first attempt in India to document elasmobranch fisheries through a participatory approach that invites interested individuals to contribute data to build evidence and develop strategies that will eventually build a healthy ocean with community involvement.
