Congressmen Pallone & Jones take on Lubchenco

It's not the "Thrilla in Manila", and in fact it might only be symbolic, but it's the thought that counts and their point ha been made. Last week, Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) requested Jane Lubchenco, the head of NOAA to end catch shares, pronto.

Rather, their written request was for NOAA to put a halt to funding new catch share programs in the South and Mid-Atlantic, New England and the Gulf of Mexico - the east coast.

Earlier this year, Congress passed the Jones Amendment, stopping funding for the approval of new catch share programs in areas where the public is opposed. (Does that mean everywhere?)

Read the request yourself. It's on their Web site.

Dear Administrator Lubchenco:

We are writing to express our concern regarding a recent memorandum dated April 20, 2011 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of the General Counsel and the implications it has for future prioritization and policy decisions at NOAA.

We have supported legislative language that would prevent NOAA from making funds available for development and approval of new limited access privilege programs in areas of the country where they are strongly opposed. Congress passed and the President signed the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act for 2011 which included Section 1349 stating that none of the funds made available may be used to approve a new limited access privilege program for any fishery under the jurisdiction of the South Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, New England, or Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils in fiscal year 2011. This language became law because of the serious concerns that remain regarding the impacts that catch share programs have on the fishing industry and coastal economies.

The memorandum interpreting the use of 2011 appropriated funds for Limited Access Privilege Programs raises a number of questions and concerns. The memorandum points out that while the language included in Section 1349 prohibits the use of funds to approve a new limited access privilege program, there remains the possibility of the use of funds to develop new limited access privilege programs while approval is awaited for sometime in the future. NOAA would be well-advised not to pursue such an imprudent course.

During these times of austerity it would be irresponsible for NOAA to use important funding to develop programs that may never be approved. It is not uncommon for restrictions on spending, such as that of Section 1349, to be included in appropriations bills on an annual basis for future years. We intend to pursue inclusion of the prohibition on funding new limited access privilege programs in certain regions in the Fiscal Year 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. We also expect that, as was the case on February 19th, a strong majority in the House of Representatives will vote for such an amendment to a government spending bill.

Additionally, the memorandum states that Section 303A of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), which defines limited access privilege programs, includes a narrower definition than the concept of limited access programs or catch share programs. This raises a number of questions considering Section 303A was intended to be the authorizing language for all catch share programs except certain existing community development quotas, and included a number of restrictions and safeguards. NOAA has seemingly taken the position that they can approve programs which would functionally be a limited access privilege program but that would not legally be considered as such because certain elements of the definition are excluded, such as permits. This is counter-intuitive, considering that all programs that serve as limited access privilege programs should include all elements of this definition and all safeguards mandated by Congress. The agency should not be implementing a category of catch share program not specifically authorized by Congress.

We would like to know if NOAA intends to ignore public opposition to catch shares and continue funding development of catch share programs using fiscal year 2011 funding, and if so, where. We further request that you provide us with a detailed review of the legal authority NOAA believes it has to approve limited access privilege programs and catch share programs that are not authorized under Section 303A of MSA. This review should include the authority and requirements NOAA uses to approve programs that would generally be considered to be catch shares by the public and amendments to fishery management plans that allocate shares of a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to individuals or groups.

Thank you for your consideration of this critical matter. We look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress

WALTER JONES
Member of Congress

Taking over the fishing regulations of a nation involves vanity and corruption - Part 6.

The following is a six part series to be published daily. It was written by the Southern Kingfish Association, LLC, 15 Garnett Ave.. Saint Augustine, Fla. All Rights Reserved (Phone: 904.819.0360). and has been provided by the American Alliance of Fishermen and their Communities.

A coup d'état is a sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force. In Conquest of the Ocean, you will see that this phrase disturbingly describes how the current national policy on fishing might have been established. BUT JUDGE THAT FOR YOURSELF.

Today we present the last installment, The New York Connection.

THE NEW YORK CONNECTION - Riding the Wave

In 2008, The Pew Institute of Ocean Science abruptly terminated its contracts with RSMAS in Florida and relocated to SUNY in Stony Brook, New York. Pikitch followed them to SUNY and published the report "Forage Fish: From Ecosystems to Markets" She conveniently chairs the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force. She and Babcock et al published "New frameworks for reconciling conservation with fisheries: incorporating uncertainty and ecosystem processes into fisheries management."

Lubchenco et al. published "Resilience, robustness and marine ecosystem-based management." This was the year that Pauly resigned from UBC and Rashid Sumaila of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, is named acting Director of Fisheries.

R. Anderson Pew was forced to retire from the Board of Directors SUNOCO due to his age, but he received more than $1million in deferred compensation. He was a Director since 1978 (30 years).

In 2009, The Joint Oceans Commission Initiative (including Lubchenco and Rosenberg) released a report "Changing Oceans, Changing World Ocean Priorities for The Obama Administration and Congress".

Ted Danson (the founder of Oceana) narrated and promoted the film "End of the Line'" which was selected for the Sundance Festival and then released to hundreds of theaters in the US and the UK. The trailer says that it is "the world's first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing and "Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048." The press packet states that it is "supported by numerous groups, including Greenpeace and Oceana."

Lubchenco was appointed to be Undersecretary of Commerce and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, the head of NOAA, perhaps the most powerful position impacting ocean policy in the world. She will lead a $4 billion agency with nearly 13,000 employees stationed all over the U.S. and around the world. Rosenberg campaigned for her appointment and was her most vocal supporter when President Obama nominated her.

Worm, Rosenberg, et al published "Rebuilding Global Fisheries" in which Worm stated that he never meant for his 2048 doomsday date for the oceans to be literally. They got there 1 million hits on Google literally by accident?

Sumaila and others at Environmental Working Group (EWG) published "US Fisheries Subsidies," in which they claimed that direct subsidies and financial support of U.S fisheries exceeded $700 million/yr. Shortly thereafter, Sumaila was named the Director of Fisheries Science Centre at UBC.

According to Pikitch's resume: "During the past several years I have appeared on TV programs including CNN, CNBC, NBC News, Discovery News, EXTRA, and Wild about Animals, given numerous radio interviews and have been quoted in thousands of newspaper articles. My outreach activities have included Op-Ed's and articles in newspapers, magazines, scientific journals, books, and technical reports."

Rosenberg is positioned in MRAG to take advantage of NOAA's requirement for observer coverage paid for by the fishing fleets under the system of Catch Shares which he helped to formulate. According to Rosenberg's resume he has several works with others in press including "Two views: marine ecosystem-based management" and "Managing for cumulative impacts in ecosystem-based management through ocean zoning." He lists Lubchenco as his first professional reference

In 2009, the Pew Board consists of Robert H. Campbell, and 9 Pew heirs out of 14 Board members including R. Anderson Pew. The Pews have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to influence ocean management policies. Recently Pew announced that they were consolidating their operations in Washington D.C. in a single building with at least 300 people. Still, they plan to keep most of the operations and personnel they have in Philadelphia. Shouldn't we be asking what is next on their agenda?

Taking over the fishing regulations of a nation involves vanity and corruption - Part 5.

The following is a six part series to be published daily. It was written by the Southern Kingfish Association, LLC, 15 Garnett Ave.. Saint Augustine, Fla. All Rights Reserved (Phone: 904.819.0360). and has been provided by the American Alliance of Fishermen and their Communities.

A coup d'état is a sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force. In Conquest of the Ocean, you will see that this phrase disturbingly describes how the current national policy on fishing might have been established. BUT JUDGE THAT FOR YOURSELF.

Today we present The Florida Connection. Tomorrow and lastly, The New York Connection.

FLORIDA CONNECTIONS - Up to Their Necks

In 2003, Marine Policy issues took a dramatic turn with the publication of the now famous letter by Myers and Worm titled "Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities" which appeared in the journal Nature and "Predator Diversity Hotspots In The Blue Ocean" in PNAS This was a carefully orchestrated media release of a highly controversial theory which claimed that 90 % of the large fish were gone since the advent of industrial fishing. This theory drew strong criticism including more than 30 critical responses from the marine scientific community most of which dealt with the fallacy of projecting biomass from catch per unit effort (CPUE) in a single fishery.

At the bottom of the page was the statement "This research was part of a larger project on pelagic longlining supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts." Pew, of course, claimed that the work had been peer-reviewed, but in fact most of the reviewers had a conflict of interest due to their financial relationships with Pew. By this time, Pew was awarding grants totaling $180 million/yr from 3.8 billion in assets and more than 300 non-profit organizations were receiving funds from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

In May 2003 the New England Aquarium and Pew released the Ocean Fisheries Action Statement signed by 50 renowned marine scientists calling for the immediate end to overfishing. However, since most of the signatories were Pew fellows, the statement was not seen as unbiased.

This was the year that Andy Rosenberg published "Managing to the margins: the overexploitation of fisheries," "Multiple uses of marine ecosystems" and he joined the UBC Fisheries Science Centre Intl Board of Advisors, a position which he has held to the current time. In June, Rosenberg went on tour to discuss the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy findings including an interview with NPR's Living on Earth Radio Show. He, Ransom Myers and others all remarked on the similarities of the two commissions recommendations. Then, in July, the Pew Oceans Commission released its report "America's Living Ocean: Charting a course for Sea Change".

Lubchenco presented testimony to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, on the science of marine reserves. Lubchenco et al published "Ecological criteria for evaluating candidate sites for marine reserve" and "Application of ecological criteria in selecting marine reserves and developing reserve networks," along with at least four other papers on marine reserves.

By the end of the year, The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation abruptly leaves the New England Aquarium and becomes a program of The Pew Institute for Ocean Science (PIOS) in partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). According to their website, the Rosenstiel School is one of the world's foremost institutions for research on coral reefs, aquaculture techniques, and commercially important fisheries. It runs the Center on Sustainable Fisheries and works closely with two neighboring institutions: NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and the Southeast Fisheries Science Center.

It is also where NOAA houses their Center for Independent Experts and in fact all of these institutions are located within a few hundred yards of each other.

Dr. Ellen Pikitch who by then was the Director of the Pew Fellows Program and Pew Institute of Ocean Science (PIOS) at RSMAS in Florida together with Babcock released a report with Oceana titled, "How Much Observer Coverage Is Enough to Adequately Estimate Bycatch?" In this report they argue that 20% coverage is enough for common species, but at least 50% is required for rare species. Pikitch also presented "Environmental Sustainability, Ocean Issues, and the Millennium Development Goals."

In February 2004, Rosenberg Lubchenco, Panetta and others held a joint press conference to announce the formation of the Joint Oceans Commission Initiative to carry out the recommendations of the two earlier commissions and to be directed jointly by none other than Rosenberg and Lubchenco.

In April 2004, the U.S Oceans Commission released their much anticipated report "An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century," One of the recommendations was somewhat of a surprise.

"The commission report suggests an ocean trust fund much like the Highway Trust Fund administered by the Department of Transportation. The fund would come from money from leases for offshore activities, such as oil and gas exploration and recovery. Rosenberg says that future permitted activities, such as bioprospecting, wind farms and aquaculture, could join the list as they develop."

This was a recommendation that the oil companies had long lobbied for because it ultimately ties coastal state revenues to offshore development activities and gives the states a vested interest in removing obstacles to leasing which could accelerate permit approvals.

The Pew Charitable Trust re-organized as a public charity. At the same time, they funded the Lenfest Oceans Program which was begun by Pew with $80 million in assets and $30 million in grants per year. Lenfest began awarding grants to the Canadian Science centers and nearly $400,000 of that money went to programs run by scientists at Dalhousie (including Myers & Worm).

Rosenberg became the Senior V.P. of Marine Resources Assessment Group (MRAG) which was given a contract from Lenfest to assess US fisheries recoveries plans initially supported at about $200,000. Rosenberg later became the President of MRAG Americas.

In 2005 Lightening struck twice for Myers and Worm, helped along by a little media magic from Seaweb. They published a paper in Science, called "Global Patterns of Predator Diversity in the Open Oceans." Using data from long line fishing vessels again, they pointed to overfishing and climate change as the cause for up to a 50 per cent decline in biodiversity.

According to a news interview of Worm: "To get that message repeated throughout the world, Dr. Worm and Dr. Myers partnered with SeaWeb, a non-profit organization that uses strategic communications techniques to advance ocean conservation, located in Washington D.C. Upon learning of Worm and Myers´ newest paper, SeaWeb began working with them to promote the paper and its message in the media.

Dr. Worm says the key to working with media is preparation, to make it easy for journalists to get the story. "Most of the coverage we received, the reporters never actually talked to us, because the press release was sufficient. In two-and-a-half pages, all the information was there, and we provided interview clips."

To produce this professional on-air interview, the researchers approached Findlay Muir, a videographer with the Centre for Teaching and Learning. They also scouted locations for a video shoot, selecting Chebucto Head as the appropriate backdrop. An interviewer with SeaWeb posed questions remotely from Washington, with both researchers responding and elaborating on their work while Muir did the camerawork. As soon the journal's publication embargo had passed, SeaWeb distributed the interview material by satellite to its media contacts worldwide. The coverage benefited from having a visual aspect - the story was picked up internationally, by over 90 TV stations.

In 2005, Rosenberg completed a report for Oceana called "Bycatch in U.S. fisheries, a National Analysis" and Rosenberg, for that year Oceana listed annual revenue and support at more than $14 million.

Lubchenco and others presented a "Scientific Consensus Statement on Marine Ecosystem-Based Management." The Consensus was signed by 217 academic scientists with relevant expertise and published in COMPASS. In addition, Carl Safina, A Rosenberg, R Myers, and others published "U.S. Ocean Fish Recovery: Staying the Course" in Science and Rosenberg et al published "Implementing ecosystem-based approaches to management for the conservation of ecosystem services." and "Combining control measures for more effective management of fisheries under uncertainty; quotas, effort limitation and protected areas." Pikitch, Babcock et al Published "A perspective on the use of spatialized indicators for ecosystem-based fishery management through spatial zoning" and added "Marine Reserve Design and Evaluation Using Automated Acoustic Telemetry."

In 2006, the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Task force (including Rosenberg and Lubchenco) released its report, "From Sea to Shining Sea: Priorities for Ocean Policy Reform," presented as a national ocean policy action plan for Congress. Included in the recommendations were plans to strengthen NOAA and "Establish an Ocean Trust Fund in the U.S. Treasury as a dedicated source of funds for improved management and understanding of ocean and coastal resources by the federal and state governments." Also, "securing additional funding to support management, science, and education programs that are the foundation of robust national ocean policy." Reportedly, the Joint Initiative has identified $750 million in funding priorities that would be used for research, management and education programs. They have been issuing report cards annually grading progress on achieving their goals.

MRAG also released its report "Rebuilding U.S. Fisheries: A Summary of New Scientific Analysis" by Rosenberg AA, Swasey JH, (both of MRAG) and co-authored by Bowman M., Director of the Lenfest Oceans Program who funded the study. According to the report, "The Program was established in July 2004 by the Lenfest Foundation and is managed by the Pew Charitable Trusts."

An MRAG second phase report "A Review Of Rebuilding Plans For Overfished Stocks In The United States" by John Wiedenmann, MRAG Americas, and Dr. Marc Mangel, of the University of California, Santa Cruz which went even further in recommending an end to overfishing and it too was "initiated and supported by the Lenfest Oceans Program."

Rosenberg et al published "Resolving mismatches in U.S. ocean governance", "Designing marine protected areas for migrating fish stocks", "Regional Governance and Ecosystem-Based Management of Ocean and Coastal Resources: can we get there from here?" and "Rebuilding US fisheries: progress and problems." While at the same time he was co-PI for "The development of a public private partnership for advancing ocean policy in Massachusetts," funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and was simultaneously working on a grant for "Comparative Analysis of Ecosystem-based Management Initiatives Around the World" funded by the Packard Foundation.

Worm et al published the highly controversial "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services," in which they claimed that "This [loss of biodiversity] trend is of serious concern because it projects the global collapse of all taxa currently fished by the mid-21st century (based on the extrapolation of regression in Fig. 3A to 100% in the year 2048). This outrageous claim has been repeated literally of times and a google search of fish 2048 now yields over 1 million retrievals.

This was also the year that Congress reauthorized the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act under heavy pressure from NGO's to set catch limits and end overfishing at all costs. Lubchenco published "Can marine reserves or other forms of no-fishing zones help us solve problems facing the oceans today?" Pikitch et al contributed a letter in Ecology Letters called "Global estimates of shark catches using trade records from commercial markets".

Pikitch also presented the report on Environmental Sustainability of the Ocean recommendations to the United Nations (after serving on the Task Force for two years.). Although the presentation was part of the Millennium Project commissioned by the UN Secretary General and supported by the UNDP the Pew Logo and maps by Pauly and others from the Sea Around US Project at UBC were prominently displayed.

Task Force Recommendations
• Implement ecosystem-based fishery management
• Eliminate destructive fishing practices
• Establish network of marine protected areas
• Restore depleted fish populations

They demanded that "Global fisheries authorities must agree to eliminate bottom trawling on the high seas by 2006 to protect seamounts and other ecologically sensitive habitats".

This was the year that Robert H Campbell (Pew Chairman of the Board) received over a half million in annual compensation and stock options as a Director of Cigna Corp.

In 2007, The Worm lab transitioned from the Myers Lab. Upon the death of Ransom Myers, Worm became head of the Worm Lab at Dalhousie.

Robert H Campbell (Pew Chairman of the Board) received nearly $700,000 in annual compensation and stock options as a Director of Cigna Corp. Over at UBC, Pew support for the Fisheries Science Centre exceeded $15 mill with most of those funds coming after the Sea Around Us Project was initiated.

This was the last year that Andy Rosenberg served on the FSC International Advisory Council having completed a 6 year term begun in 2001. Lenfest funded "Setting Annual Catch Limits for U.S. Fisheries" a largely MRAG study in which Rosenberg et al codified how the Regional Fisheries Councils would comply with the re-authorized Magnusun Act. Rosenberg et al also published "Four ways to take the policy plunge: How should researchers best interact with policy-makers for maximum benefit to society?".

Babcock and Pikitch et al published "Comparison of harvest control policies for rebuilding overfished populations within a fixed rebuilding time frame."

Taking over the fishing regulations of a nation involves vanity and corruption - Part 4.

The following is a six part series to be published daily. It was written by the Southern Kingfish Association, LLC, 15 Garnett Ave.. Saint Augustine, Fla. All Rights Reserved (Phone: 904.819.0360). and has been provided by the American Alliance of Fishermen and their Communities.

A coup d'état is a sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one resulting in a change of government illegally or by force. In Conquest of the Ocean, you will see that this phrase disturbingly describes how the current national policy on fishing might have been established. BUT JUDGE THAT FOR YOURSELF.

Today we present The New England Connection. Published next will be The Florida Connection and lastly, The New York Connection.

THE NEW ENGLAND CONNECTION - Testing the Waters

Within a year, that program was relocated to the New England Marine Aquarium (NEAQ) in Boston and the "total of $1.5 million presented annually made the fellowships the world's largest award for marine conservationists." Jerry Schubel, NEAQ Pres directed the $500,000 in annual administrative fees while Gregory Stone (NEAQ Conservation Director) was an early recipient of a $150,000 grant under the new program. Since that time, the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation has awarded over 130 grants totaling more than $20 million.

Pikitch chaired the NEAQ, Aquatic Forum Series, on "Establishing an agenda for responsible fishing," and joined the Ocean Wildlife Campaign coalition as their lead stock assessment scientist for four years.

Rosenberg et al publish "Assessing uncertainty and risk in exploited marine populations," and "Precautionary management reference points and management strategies." Rosenberg somewhat hypocritically published "Shielding fisheries from politics."

In 1997, Pikitch served on the New England Fishery Management Council, Overfishing definition review panel and by the following year she began a two year role as the Chairman of their Scientific and Statistical Committee. At the same time Pikitch et al published "An overview of trends in fisheries, fisheries science and management in Global Trends: Fisheries Management," which she co-edited.

Lubchenco began serving a three year stint on the National Marine Fisheries Service, Ecosystem Principles Advisory Panel and during the same timeframe was on the Scientific Advisory Board of the PBS Radio Show "Living on Earth." She also published "Revelation and the Environment AD 95- 1995."

In 1998, Lubchenco published "Entering the century of the environment: A new social contract for science" and with others published "Marine reserves are necessary but not sufficient for marine conservation." She also initiated the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program and it was eventually relocated to Stanford Univ.

According to the website, the program consists of two weeks of communications and media training: "The first weeklong session focuses on leadership development and broad communications and outreach skills. Media representatives and communication specialists conduct "hands on" training, including mock interviews, writing for different audiences, and development of specific messages. The second session, focusing primarily on interaction with policy makers, industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), is held in Washington, D.C. The week includes modules on interacting with state and federal agencies, international environmental policy, and working with Congress. This week features a mock Congressional hearing where Fellows practice giving testimony concerning environmental legislation."

Pikitch et al published "Individual transferable quotas, community based fisheries management systems and "virtual communities," Meanwhile Rosenberg published "Controlling marine fisheries 50 years from now" and Lubchenco et al. published "No-take reserves: Protection for fishery populations and marine ecosystems."

In 1999, Lubchenco began the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea (COMPASS) a consortium of academic scientists, SeaWeb, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium who work together to communicate marine conservation science to policy makers and the public. She also began a 10 year leadership role as Lead Principle Investigator of 13 Co-PIs for the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO). According to her resume: "With $48 million in grants from the Packard and Moore Foundations, and an additional $30 million in leveraged and complementary funds, this consortium of four universities (OSU, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz) is revolutionizing our understanding of the nearshore marine ecosystems along the coasts of Oregon and California (1999-2009) with fundamental advances in science."

Oceana was formed reportedly by contributions from five charitable trusts--the Oak Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Turner Foundation, the Surdna Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trust but Pew provided the largest share of funds.

The Pew Charitable Trusts awarded $146 million in total grants to 448 organizations which was more than they had given out in the previous 25 yrs. Pew launched the Sea Around Us Project under the Fisheries Science Centre at the Univ. of British Columbia under the leadership of Daniel Pauly. External Research funding for the Fisheries Centre increased about 2 million per year, to roughly 3.5 million per year at that time and it continued to rise until 2007. Pew also expanded the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation program to "include individuals working in the arts, communication, film, media and journalism in order to support public outreach and education about the oceans."

At the New England Aquarium, Jerry Schubel along with consultants published a White paper entitled "Potential Environmental Consequences Of Petroleum Exploration And Development On Georges Bank" This paper was issued just as the Canadian government was considering an extension of a moratorium on Georges Bank. The Aquarium concluded that there was not enough information available to make a recommendation. This was followed by a paper by Schubel on Georges Bank Moratorium policy assessment and later on the "Role of Environmental Scientists in Public Policy - A Lesson from Georges Bank."

The turn of the millennium was a particularly active period for Pew. The Pew Oceans Commission was created which included Jane Lubchenco as the most distinguished marine scientist. The commission initially also included Christine Whitman and Robert H. Campbell, the Chairman and CEO of Sun Oil Co, who became a board member of the Pew Charitable Trusts and is currently the Chairman of the Board for Pew, Hershey Company and a Director of Cigna Corp and Vical Inc.

In 2000, Dr. Ellen Pikitch became a Pew Fellow together with Dr. Amanda Vincent and others. Pikitch provided the SEFSC with a method of estimating the surplus production model from the Catch per Unit Effort. Babcock and Pikitch published "A dynamic programming model of fishing strategy choice in a multispecies trawl fishery with trip limits," in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries an Aquatic Sciences.

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Also in Canada, the Fisheries Economics Research Unit was funded at UBC (primarily by Pew) under the direction of economist Rashid Sumaila. In that year alone, Pew awarded $236 million in total grants worldwide.

Shortly thereafter the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy was formed championed by Andy Rosenberg. He along with others published "The precautionary approach and risk management: can they increase the probability of successes in fishery management?" and "Ecosystem approaches to fishery management through essential fish habitat." Lubchenco published "A New Social Contract for Science."

Rosenberg joined the faculty of the University of New Hampshire where he remains as Professor of Natural Resources. He served as Dean of the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture for four years.

In 2001, the Ransom Myers Lab was opened at Dalhousie. Myers was joined by Boris Worm, a marine biologist and Assistant Professor in Marine Conservation Biology at Dalhousie University shortly after he completed his doctorate in Biological Oceanography from the University of Kiel, Germany. This coincidentally, is the same German university where Pauly completed his doctorate. Since that time, more than 100 articles have been published by Myers and also Worm at the Myers Lab.

Pew funded Oceana initially at more than $5 mill/yr and by the end of the year Pew had contributed $9.5 million. It is interesting to note when Pew was having such an impact on the development of U.S. Oceans policy the official history of the Pew Charitable Trusts "Sustaining the Legacy" published at this time doesn't even mention the Oceans. The only reference to fishing is ironically the old adage about "teaching a hungry man to fish instead of merely giving him a fish".

At the same time Pikitch, Babcock et al published "Using Bayesian Methods And Decision Analysis As A Rational Basis To Dealing With Conflicting Stock Assessment Results While Providing Management Advice On Stock Rebuilding." And later,"Using Bayesian Methods To Improve Stock Assessment and Management of Stock Rebuilding When There Is Uncertainty In Processes Affecting Future Recruitment" and finally "Evaluating The Relative Merits Of Alternative Methods To Weight Different Time Series Of Abundance Indices In Stock Assessment".

In 2002, Pikitch and Babcock released their "Critique of the NMFS report, "Relative Precision of discard rate estimates for the Northeast groundfish complex," Additionally Pikitch testified in Federal Court in Boston on a lawsuit brought against NMFS and the Secretary of Commerce by the Conservation Law Foundation in an effort to toughen groundfish regulations. Dr. Pikitch declared that "No credible scientist could rule out the possibility that irreparable harm (in the sense of a severe and prolonged population collapse) might occur in a situation where populations are brought to, and kept at, extremely low levels." This is a loaded statement because as NMFS pointed out "there is some finite risk that all populations will eventually go extinct. At issue, is the magnitude of the risk over a specified period of time."

Pikitch meanwhile publishes a "Scientific Response to the CITES Justification for setting the 2002 Total Allowable Catch of Beluga Sturgeon (Huso huso) in the Caspian Sea," for Caviar Emptor, her favorite crusade for saving sturgeon from the caviar addicted wealthy Eurasians. Project Seahorse, a biodiversity and marine trade study was brought to the UBC Fisheries Centre under the direction of Dr. Amanda Vincent, a Pew Fellow in 2000. Rosenberg publishes "The precautionary approach from a manager's perspective."

Oceana debuted their new video "Empty Oceans, Empty Nets", with much fanfare at the United Nations. Pikitch introduced the showing and Lubchenco was prominently featured in the film. This video was broadcast on over 200 PBS television stations to well over 1.5 million households around Earth Day as part of a larger series on Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture and it is still regularly screened at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Calif.