Participants in the second Our Ocean conference, held October 5-6 in Valparaiso, Chile, announced over 80 new initiatives on marine conservation and protection valued at more than $2.1 billion, as well as new commitments on the protection of more than 1.9 million square kilometers (nearly 735,000 square miles) of the ocean. The complete summary of announcements from this year’s conference can be found here: www.state.gov/ourocean.

The United States lauds Chile's leadership on these important issues and appreciates Chile's hosting of this year's successful conference. The United States, as host of the 2016 Our Ocean conference, looks forward to working with partners around the world on addressing critical ocean issues including sustainable fishing, marine pollution, ocean acidification, and marine protected areas.