UBC’s Daniel Pauly will focus debate at 2004 World Fisheries Congress in Vancouver

Daniel Pauly, director of UBC’s Fisheries Centre, will
be the keynote speaker at an international congress on fisheries
to be held in Vancouver in May 2004. Pauly, a world leader
in fisheries science and an influential critic of the current
fishing practices depleting the earth’s fish stocks,
was the only Canadian researcher named to Scientific American
magazine’s list of 50 influential people for 2003.

Organizers are expecting between 1,600 and 1,800 delegates
from around the world to come to Vancouver, the first North
American city to host the event.

Delegates attending the 4th World Fisheries Congress will
debate Pauly’s outspoken views on “fishing down
the food chain” and the collapse of marine stocks around
the world. Pauly and other fisheries experts will be challenged
with questions about what the world must do to address conservation
yet maintain fisheries in the face of increasing demands.

There is already keen interest in the Congress among scientists,
industry, environmental groups, major foundations and the
public. To date, more than 1,200 abstracts have been submitted
to the Science Program, exploring aspects of the Congress
theme: Reconciling Fisheries with Conservation: The Challenge
of Managing Aquatic Ecosystems.

One highlight of the Congress will be an all-day forum where
the broader fisheries community will address how industry
and environmental organizations can further the objective
of Reconciling Fisheries with Conservation. A second public
forum will examine the seafood “sustainable fishery”
certification movement in achieving fisheries conservation.

Convened every four years, the Congress is hosted by the
American Fisheries Society. Major sponsors include the B.C.
and Canadian governments.

To register or learn more about the 4th World Fisheries Congress,
visit: http://www.worldfisheries2004.org/home.htm.

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