They favour results-oriented conservation projects throughout the world and prefer time-bound efforts involving multiple organisations working toward common policy objectives. Their work focuses on projects to stop overfishing through fisheries management reforms and establish marine protected areas (MPAs), among the two highest ecological priorities identified by marine scientists. They are inspired by project opportunities that can bring lasting benefits to coastal communities.

Oceans 5 seeks to eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. This involves establishing enabling conditions to transform data collection and seafood traceability in key global fisheries over the next decade. Projects will generate new catch data, improve licensing regimes, strengthen compliance management, increase transparency and traceability throughout seafood supply chains, promote new technologies, and strengthen the management of distant water fishing vessels.

Oceans 5 is focused on four programmatic goals:

• Contribute to the sustainable management of global fisheries by eliminating IUU seafood products from entering key markets, including the European Union, United States, Japan, China;
• Improve capacity to use emerging technologies in globally-significant fisheries and in small-scale fisheries in Pacific island nations, Asia, Africa, and in countries like Indonesia, Chile, and Mexico;
• Support new regulation, reporting, and management controls on distant water fleets in strategically significant countries and regions like China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Spain and the US; and,
• Develop and implement scalable small-scale fisheries models that may include spatial management approaches in Pacific Island Nations, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.