Greenpeace Activists Dish Out Alternate Fare at NOAA Conference Dinner - Protest Overfishing of Nation's Fisheries

Dressed as waiters, six activists distributed menus reading “Mismanaging Our Nation's Fisheries: A Menu of What's Missing” highlighting species that have been managed out of commercial existence or are at risk of collapse as a result of overfishing. Balloons released in the room carried the message “Who Stole Our Fish?” and listed the agencies and policymakers responsible. These include: NOAA; the Director of NOAA Fisheries, Bill Hogarth; the regional fisheries councils and coastal commissions; Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and the company “Omega Protein.”

“The fisheries councils responsible for conserving our ocean heritage are dominated by members who have a direct economic stake in the fisheries they are supposed to be managing,” said John Hocevar, an Oceans Specialist with Greenpeace. “Asking sharks to protect their prey may work with Lenny, the vegetarian shark, in A Shark's Tale, but it doesn't work in real life. It's high time these Councils were revamped to ensure that independent scientists and environmentalists are given an equal say in decision making.”

The dinner was part of the second “Managing Our Nation's Fisheries” conference where panelists, policymakers, and fisheries managers are discussing implementation of the Bush administration's “Ocean Action Plan”. The plan was released last December in response to 212 recommendations made by the U.S. Oceans Commission to protect marine ecosystems from further degradation and begin restoration of depleted fish stocks.

“Bush's plan is a case of all hat and no cattle,” said Hocevar, a resident of Austin, Texas. “It will do little to nothing to address problems down in Texas, where Gulf of Mexico fisheries are reeling from depleted stocks, dead zones, and cheap imports. Now that we have been confronted with the severity of the problem, we need to take action.”

The world's marine catch has increased more than four times in the past 40 years---from 20.39 million tons in 1950 to 93.14 million tons by 2002. As a result, seven out of 10 of the ocean's commercially targeted marine stocks are fished beyond ecologically sustainable limits. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that nearly 75 percent of the world's fisheries are overfished.