Beyond Buzzwords: Building a Collaborative Future for Aquatic Animal Protection
How we can leave behind ‘scarcity’ for synergy
By Catalina Lopez Salazar, Director of the Aquatic Animal Alliance
Welcome to our new initiative, the Aquatic Animal Alliance blog, a space to celebrate the diverse efforts within our diverse and impactful coalition and amplify our shared voice. This platform will spotlight member campaigns, ideas, research, and calls to action, creating a dynamic space for learning, connection, and collaboration. By showcasing unique contributions and aligning with our shared values, the blog will strengthen our community, inspire new initiatives, and support consistent, strategic messaging. You will hear directly from our diverse and globally distributed AAA members, each bringing unique perspectives shaped by their regional contexts, cultural backgrounds, and areas of expertise.
For our first publication, I want to share my reflections on our recent experience at the first AAA in-person workshop. In the world of aquatic animal advocacy, the word collaboration is often repeated with good intentions, but what comes after these brief conversations? At the recent AAA workshop at the AVA summit in Los Angeles, the enthusiasm for collective action was unmistakable. Members expressed a clear desire to work more closely on Aquatic Animal Alliance campaigns and actions. But if we want real change, we must move from warm sentiments to practical steps. This means facing the friction points, expanding our mindset, and reshaping how we work together.
As Dr. Sabine BRELS, Founding Director at World Animal Justice, powerfully said:
“The outstanding AVA presentation by the Director of the Aquatic Animal Alliance showcased our alliance’s potential and her inspiring openness to new ideas and legal solutions, a true promise of impact for those who need us most. Together, we will always go further to protect aquatic animals, the most overlooked yet most exploited beings in food systems, in demanding justice where silence has too long prevailed.”
This sentiment serves as a powerful call to honor the promise of collaboration by turning it into momentum, strategy, and tangible outcomes. The resonance of this message is being felt around the world. Iselda Livoni of ARBA Perú shared how this movement is already planting seeds of lasting change in Latin America:
“AVA Summit was a transformative experience that enriched our learning and organizational development. The diversity of perspectives and professional resources allowed us to adopt new tools and techniques at ARBA.We held meetings that opened the door to significant changes in public policy and legislative proposals. Together with the Aquatic Animal Alliance, we enthusiastically began our commitment to aquatic animal welfare in Peru. Taking this step strengthens our mission. AVA Summit has been a key reference point in our evolution, strengthening our mission for animals.”
These quotes are the echoes of a movement ready to act.
A shift from scarcity to synergy
One of the strongest messages coming out of the discussion in the workshop and overall at the summit, and that we must highlight here, is the need for a growing awareness and intentionality that organizations in this space do not have to compete for limited resources. We can leave behind the scarcity mindset that pits nonprofits against one another for limited funding, credit, or visibility. True collaboration means building shared infrastructure, trusting one another’s strengths, and growing our impact together.
It also means expanding our field of vision. We have powerful potential allies beyond the animal protection space, across ocean conservation, climate justice, food systems reform, and human rights. These sectors influence global priorities, policies, and funding. Aquatic animal protection should not be on the margins of their conversations, we belong in the room.
Let’s co-attend major international events. Let’s co-author research and white papers. Let’s launch joint campaigns, document and share our collaborations across sectors. Every joint step makes our message harder to ignore.
Practical tools for a collaborative movement
This next chapter of our coalition needs more than good intentions. It needs smart planning, strategic actions, and shared tools. Some valuable ideas shared on the workshop include:
A basecamp-style platform for continuous collaboration across projects.
A “New Ideas” section in the AAA newsletter for early-stage feedback and cross-organizational brainstorming.
A filterable project directory, to identify synergies and avoid duplicating efforts.
A communications toolkit, including general graphics, messaging kits, and image banks.
Data tools to track progress and support local advocacy strategies.
And to ensure momentum lasts, we need to sustain and strengthen our working groups with meaningful leadership engagement. These groups are time consuming and resource demanding, but they are also where innovation and co-ownership take root when properly supported.
Although we have limited bandwidth in the AAA (only me at present), we want to include these great ideas into our strategic planning and figure out ways to incorporate them within our limited scope.
Stepping into abundance and the future of aquatic animal advocacy
We are not in competition with one another. We are working side by side toward a shared goal, justice and protection for aquatic animals. There is enough space, enough funding, and enough recognition for all of us to succeed together.
Let’s move beyond buzzwords and start building. Let’s celebrate each other’s successes. Let’s co-create tools, launch campaigns, and build the relationships that will take us further than we have gone so far. The tide is turning, and it is our chance to meet it with action and compassion not only to animals, but to each other.
We invite all AAA members, and the animal protection movement as a whole, to help us build this momentum together, as one organization cannot do it alone. We are so grateful for AAA being so open and supportive of our initiatives to date, and I know we can only grow stronger together after these reflections, and the many other lessons that await us.