Eric Bilsky

Eric Bilsky recently retired as general counsel of Oceana, concluding more than 25 years dedicated to protecting the marine environment as an environmental litigator and in-house counsel.

Bilsky’s legal advocacy led to many achievements in marine protection. His work resulted in requirements for safer fishing gear that saved the lives of hundreds of loggerhead sea turtles, as well as the creation of a comprehensive bycatch monitoring scheme for the Northeast U.S. federal fisheries to combat waste and overfishing. He also established the legal foundation for protecting hundreds of thousands of square miles of marine habitat in U.S. Pacific and Atlantic waters.

As Oceana’s in-house counsel, Bilsky advised on the launch of Global Fishing Watch and the founding of affiliates in nine countries. He also built key systems for compliance, risk management and transactions.

Bilsky holds degrees from Harvard Law School and Yale University.