Phil is a senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace USA. He is a recognized expert on oceans policy domestically and internationally, and has represented Greenpeace U.S. at International Whaling Commission (IWC) meetings and Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meetings around the globe.
Phil worked as a commercial fisherman for more than 29 years before joining Greenpeace as a Senior Oceans Campaigner in 2007. He has been quoted in the USA Today, The Telegraph, the Sydney Morning Herald, among others.
Since the 1970's, Phil has been an active proponent of fisheries conservation and successfully lobbied in support of sustainable fisheries under the Magnuson Act which is the primary law governing marine fisheries management in United States federal waters and was enacted in 1976. He was also instrumental in the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in both 1996 and 2007. In the 2007 reauthorization signed into law by President Bush, his lobbying contributed to the inclusion of language protecting deep-sea corals and sponges from destructive bottom trawling.
Phil’s past work includes serving as the Fisheries Program Director with the American Oceans Campaign and as the Senior Fisheries Policy Advisor for Oceana. While with the American Oceans Campaign, he partnered with regional fishing groups to protect special marine areas from destructive fishing practices.
He is a founding member of the Pacific Marine Conservation Council and served on its board from 1997 to 2005. He currently serves on the board of directors and as co-chair of the Marine Fish Conservation Network (MFCN), a national coalition comprised of over 200 groups working in collaboration for sustainable fisheries.