Certainly, too, no one in this room or elsewhere can deny that for too many years, too many generations, and too many decades, commercial fisheries and the governments who came to depend upon them for economic wealth, foreign trade, and food paid little or no attention to management or conservation issues. Hunger, greed, and the need to provide for families and economies drove the relentless pursuit by fisheries throughout the world. 

During the 19th and early 20th Centuries scientists, government fishery officials, and fishing cultures subscribed to the cornucopia theory of the sea's boundless resources. Ironically, many of those nations now calling for the strictest regulations on fisheries were the very nations that totally discounted the need for restraint by their fishing fleets or any other management initiatives. They ignored warnings from fishing communities that resources were becoming scarce. Fishing was too important to too many powerful nations. Wars were fought and lands were discovered while others were conquered over the quest for better fishing grounds. For a multitude of reasons even token gestures towards species conservation and fishery management practices were cast aside in favor of government subsidies for larger vessels and more efficient means of harvesting marine resources. 

Needless to say, this very unscientific view of the endless bounty of the oceans colored both the science and stock assessment methodology of marine stocks for many generations up until even recent times. Even today, if you look at available literature on many marine species elemental scientific data on birth rates, life cycle, feeding habits etc. are woefully inadequate. That holds true for cod, whales, sea turtles and virtually any marine species. Take a look for example at the giant squid. Scientists acknowledge that the bellies of mature sperm whales are filled with beaks and other remains of giant squid. And, remember, best guestimates of mature sperm whales worldwide range from one to two million. Yet, no scientist has ever seen a giant squid alive, much less studied its life cycle.

Still, the world's fishermen and its fishing communities must not be seen as villains. Far from it. They are among the world's bravest of souls. They risk their lives, and, at a greater rate than virtually any other profession, die to feed others…their families, their neighbors, and, quite literally, the world.

The global importance of commercial fisheries is readily acknowledged by such authorities as the United Nations. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is charged with the laudable, if not impossible mission, to see that the world has a secure and adequate food supply. Commercial fisheries play a vital role in striving to meet the challenges of that mission. Here I must mention a sector of the seafood community that augments the efforts by commercial fisheries, namely, the aquaculture sector.