Justin Etzin

Justin Etzin became a diplomat in November 2009 when he was appointed by The Seychelles Government as The Consul General of The Seychelles for The United States of America. The Seychelles is one of the worlds leaders in conservation, with 42% of the land reserved for conservation efforts to protect endangered wildlife. Environmental protection is considered a cultural value in the Seychelles. Justin wanted to bring these same cultural values to countries across the globe, ensuring that our fragile oceans are protected for future generations. There are no issues facing the oceans that can’t be solved with political will. That is why he started the OOOF Foundation.

Justin lives between the Seychelles, & Europe. In the Seychelles he is the owner of Ocean Capital Seychelles, a privately funded investment and development company. He is also actively involved and manages a self-funded charitable foundation, The Etzin Foundation, which provides special experiences for the terminally ill as well as funds life-saving medical equipment for hospitals that are in need of funding.

He is a leading international entrepreneur in corporate and consumer hospitality as well as residential and commercial boutique construction and development. Best known for designing and developing high-profile entertainment, retail and business venues worldwide including Altitude London which consist of his franchise in the United Kingdom with the Altitude 360 brand, along with The View Studios, The River Room and The MillBank Media Centre. Together the four venues form the largest riverside event complex and largest venue complex in a London skyscraper, Millbank Tower.

Key Issues Facing The Oceans

The three key issues facing the oceans today which Justin Etzin and the OOOF Foundation are raising awareness for are: plastic pollution, overfishing and marine habitat destruction. 

Plastic Pollution

Right now an estimated 12.7 million tonnes of plastic – everything from plastic bottles and bags to microbeads – end up in our oceans each year. That’s a truck load of rubbish a minute.

This pollution is having a dramatic impact on ocean wildlife, the environment, our well-being and ultimately our health.

Travelling on ocean currents this plastic is now turning up in every corner of our planet – from Cornish beaches, to uninhabited Pacific islands. It is even being found trapped in Arctic ice.

Our oceans are slowly turning into a plastic soup and the effects on ocean life are chilling. Big pieces of plastic are choking and entangling turtles and seabirds and tiny pieces are clogging the stomachs of creatures who mistake it for food, from tiny zooplankton to whales. Plastic is now entering every level of the ocean food chain and even ending up in the seafood on our plates.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

The OOOF Foundation and Justin Etzin are calling on big corporations to act to reduce their plastic footprint – and stop producing excessive plastic packaging that is designed to be used once then thrown away.

We are also calling on governments to act to tackle this problem, by creating closed loop systems that allow us to recover and reuse materials rather than waste them.

It’s not too late – if we act together now we can protect the world’s precious oceans for future generations.

Overfishing

Of all the threats facing the oceans today, overfishing takes the greatest toll on sea life — and people.

Overfishing is catching too many fish at once, so the breeding population becomes too depleted to recover. Ninety per cent of the world’s fish stocks are described as either fully fished or over-exploited; some populations have collapsed altogether.