Marine ecosystems are in decline. The scale and intensity of ocean change mean that effective mitigation and adaptation are urgently needed to sustain marine ecosystems and marine-dependent people. Equally imperative is that marine policymakers ensure that new interventions do not produce unintended and maladaptive outcomes. This knowledge is urgently needed, because many management agencies, local and national governments, non-governmental organizations and industry operators already engage in efforts to intervene in the social-ecological resilience of marine systems. Such efforts include offshore energy development, seaweed restoration, assisted species migration, climate refuge protection, and solar-radiation control. Yet without an understanding of how planning and assessment practices applied in the governance of these interventions account for social dimensions alongside the ecological, interventions risk contributing to adverse outcomes. In this talk, we will present new empirical data on the global state-of-play of new interventions and the extent to which and how social dimensions are included in assessment and their governance negotiated with interest holders. Our analysis forms the first part of a three-year project on Governing Changing Oceans.