Setting Ocean Priorities for the New Administration and Congress Workshop

January 12-14, 2009 | Annapolis, Maryland

The title says almost all you need to know. The participant list, after a little research, says all of the rest.

The workshop lists sixty-five participants and thirteen staff. Of the participants, at least 75% can be directly tied to at least one of the four mega-foundations that are leading the anti-fishing movement. All four of the participants from the commercial fishing industry are tied to at least one of the four mega-foundations as is the sole participant from the recreational fishing industry. Of the fourteen participants with no discoverable - at this point - ties to the mega-foundations, two are from the offshore energy industry, seven are from research oriented institutions which, if not receiving funding from one of the four mega-foundations at this point, will certainly have their institutional hands out in the future, one is from a California state agency (no one who is familiar with what state government is doing to fishermen in California is going to find any comfort in that - see http://www.fishtruth.net/MLPA.htm) and the other is from NOAA (ditto on a national level). Of the remaining three, one is from the travel and tourism industry, one is from the reinsurance industry and one is from the aquaculture industry. Oh yes, two participants are now in high leadership positions at NOAA.

All of the staff for the workshop are directly tied to funding from the four mega-foundations.

Is it any wonder that the Obama administration is completely out of touch with commercial, recreational and party/charter fishermen? All of the fisheries advice it's members have been getting is being controlled by hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funding from four foundations with inarguable track records in putting fishermen of every stripe out of work and off the water.

Link to spreadsheet with relevant details of the workshop participants and staff.