Support for the Census of Marine Life comes from government agencies concerned with science, environment, and fisheries in a growing list of nations as well as from private foundations and companies. The Census is associated or affiliated with several intergovernmental international organizations including the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UN, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the UN Environment Programme and its World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas, and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization. It is also affiliated with international nongovernmental organizations including the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research and the International Association of Biological Oceanography of the International Council for Science. The Census is led by an independently constituted international Scientific Steering Committee whose members serve in their individual capacities and a growing set of national and regional implementation committees.

Participating countries so far include:

North America: Canada, US, Mexico, Bermuda

South America: Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guiana, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina

Asia and the Pacific: New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India

Europe: Russia, Norway, Ireland, Iceland, UK, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Germany, Denmark, Estonia

Africa: South Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles