Monterey Bay Aquarium and Azul awarded Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley) and Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) the 2023 California Ocean Champions Award for their significant contributions to ocean and coastal leadership.
The awards were presented to the legislators as hundreds of ocean and ocean justice advocates gathered to discuss ocean and coastal issues with state decision-makers during Ocean Day California in Sacramento. The Aquarium and Azul, a grassroots environmental justice organization working with Latinx communities to protect the ocean and coasts and conserve marine resources, co-hosted the 11th annual awards reception, which is the first time the event was held in person since the spring of 2019.
Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard and Azul Founder and Executive Director Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš presented two state legislators with our 2023 Ocean Champion Awards, honoring their significant leadership contributions to California’s ocean and coast. The awards are part of the Aquarium and Azul’s shared goal to inspire and inform government decision-makers to take science-based actions on behalf of the ocean and those who depend on it.
“California is advancing, one step at a time, in the right direction to protect the ocean and everyone who depends on it. We lead the nation in defending the living environment that sustains us and in confronting climate change, the biggest threat to our people and planet,” Julie said. “We’re so pleased to co-host with an amazing organization like Azul that continues to make waves in the environmental justice and ocean policy space.”
“Holding true to Azul’s California Ocean Day roots and leadership, we proudly participate in this annual day of action to bring Latinos Marinos delegations to state lawmakers to discuss and advance environmental justice policies, protect the ocean and ensure the health of our communities is never an afterthought – it’s gente-powered movements, like ours, that advance the agency and will of the people for action,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Founder and Executive Director of Azul. “Senator Ben Allen and Assemblymember Luz Rivas are true ocean champions who demonstrate unwavering commitment to the health and well-being of our communities, coasts, and ocean.”
The Ocean Champions
• Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley): Assemblymember Rivas has distinguished herself as a champion for the ocean, advancing initiatives to address threats to vulnerable communities and marine ecosystems. She introduced AB 1832 to prevent seabed mining of hard minerals in California’s marine waters.This Seabed Mining Prevention Act was signed into law in September of 2022. Further, Assemblymember Rivas’ work to advance the act and strengthen the state’s milestone plastic reduction legislation, SB 54, makes her a 2023 California Ocean Champion.
• Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica): Senator Allen serves as the Senate’s representative on the Ocean Protection Council and has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to protection of our ocean and coastal resources. He authored SB 54 to reduce single use plastic at the source. Signed into law in June 2022, SB 54 set ambitious source-reduction and recycling targets for plastic packaging, as well as making packaging and food service ware manufacturers responsible for the waste they create. The Aquarium and Azul recognize Senator Allen for his part in leading this landmark legislation and for his continued ocean conservation work.
These legislators join an esteemed group of past California Ocean Champion Award winners who have protected the health of California’s ocean and coast. California continues to set an example for how a healthy environment and thriving coastal communities go hand in hand.