Thursday
3 March 2005
4:30-5:30 pm
102 Fishery Sciences
(auditorium)
Social follows talk
Ellen PikitchProfessor of Marine Biology and Fisheries, University of Miami Rosenstiel School; Executive Director, Pew Institute for Ocean ScienceFrom Fringe to Fixture: The Increasing Presence of Conservation Organizations in Fisheries Management
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When I started my career in fisheries science, there were no conservation organizations in the United States with a visible presence in fisheries management. From 1987 through 1996, while I served on the faculty of the (then) School of Fisheries at the University of Washington, the voice of conservation organizations in the fisheries sustainability debate began to be heard. At first, this voice was faint, and the conservation movement was largely looked upon as being on the fringe. Over time, the chorus of voices began to swell. The growing need for conservation attention to fisheries issues was becoming increasingly evident, with major collapses of some of the seas largest and longest-reigning fisheries occurring during that time. Leading scientists also began to debate the sustainability of ocean resources which had previously largely been taken for granted.
I made the leap from academia to the conservation realm in 1996 when I founded a new program dedicated to fisheries conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society. This international non-governmental organization, founded as the New York Zoological Society, had existed for over a century, yet had no focused program of ocean conservation. During the following decade, conservation organizations became major players in the fisheries arena, joining government agencies, industry associations, and academicians. The role of conservation organizations in the fisheries arena solidified, as did my personal involvement.
In my presentation for the Bevan series, I will describe the various roles that conservation organizations have played in the fight to save the oceans inhabitants. I will discuss this through a personal lens, with vignettes from conservation efforts Ive been involved inincluding the fight to save the beleaguered beluga sturgeon and other caviar-producing fishes; the struggle to bring shark fisheries under management control, made ever more critical by the increasing demand for their valuable fins, an ingredient in the delicacy shark fin soup; and the drive to move science and policy away from a focus on individual species towards a more inclusive, ecosystem-based approach.
Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch is Executive Director of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science and Professor in Marine Biology and Fisheries at the University of Miamis Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. She is an international expert in ocean conservation science and management whose research has focused on the assessment of fish stocks, the management of bycatch, and ecosystem-based fishery management. Dr. Pikitchs scientific work has informed policy decisions such as passage of the U.S. Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000, the listing of beluga sturgeon as threatened with extinction under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and control of the international trade in great white sharks under the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species.
While at the Wildlife Conservation Society, she founded and directed both the Marine Conservation Program, which has active field-based programs in 19 countries spanning four oceans, and the Ocean Strategy Program, with a focus on ecosystem-based fisheries management. Prior to joining WCS, Dr. Pikitch was on the faculty of the University of Washington for nine years and directed its Fisheries Research Institute from 1992 to 1996.
Dr. Pikitch has convened international conferences, led several major oceanic field expeditions, and directed a variety of quantitative fisheries assessment projects. A recipient of the Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation (2000-2003), Dr. Pikitch has authored and edited over 100 articles and books on fisheries science and management.
For the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Pikitch has been a member of committees on Dolphin Mortality from Tuna Fishing, Ecosystem Management for Sustainable Marine Fisheries, and Cooperative Research Between Industry and the National Marine Fisheries Service. In 2000, Dr. Pikitch served on President Clintons Panel on Ocean Exploration. Currently she is the Vice Chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Natures Sturgeon Specialist Group and a member of the Environmental Sustainability Task Force commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Dr. Pikitch received a Ph.D. in Zoology from Indiana University in 1983 and M.A. and B.S. degrees in Mathematics from the City College of New York.
Streaming Video: Each clip is in QuickTime format and runs approximately 9.5 minutes. The QuickTime Previewer is free and can be downloaded from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/. If using a PC: Right click mouse > Select 'save target as' > open once downloaded. Note: Due to technical difficulties, the audio is quiet, but audible.
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