World Fisheries Day, 1998

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Part IX

The President

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Proclamation 7150--World Fisheries Day, 1998

Proclamation 7151--National Family Caregivers Week, 1998

Proclamation 7152--National Family Week, 1998

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7150 of November 20, 1998

World Fisheries Day, 1998

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

As a coastal Nation, America has a proud fishing
heritage, and we have long benefited from the bounty of
the oceans. Generations of our people have made their
living from the sea, fishing for cod off the rocky
coast of New England, shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico, or
Pacific salmon along the West Coast and Alaska. In this
Year of the Ocean, it is fitting that we set aside a
special day to celebrate one of our Nation's oldest
industries and the source of so much of our sustenance.

World Fisheries Day is not only an occasion for
celebration, it is also a time to raise awareness of
the plight of so many of the world's fish resources. A
recent United Nations study reported that more than
two-thirds of the world's fisheries have been
overfished or are fully harvested and more than one
third are in a state of decline because of factors like
the loss of essential fish habitats, pollution, and
global warming.

My Administration is committed to restoring our marine
resources and preserving their diversity through
careful stewardship. At the National Oceans Conference
in June of this year, I announced our goal of creating
sustainable fisheries and rebuilding fish stocks by
working with industry to improve fishing practices and
technologies that catch only targeted species, devoting
additional resources to fisheries research, and
protecting essential fish habitats. We have also
launched the Clean Water Action Plan that, among other
things, reduces the runoff from farms and city streets
that flow into our streams, rivers, and oceans.

While these efforts are important, the United States
acting alone cannot preserve the health of the world's
oceans and their marine life. It will take concerted
international action--both at the government level and
from fish harvesters, workers, and consumers
themselves--and a commitment to scientifically based
fishing limits to rebuild the world's fisheries and
ensure that future generations will benefit from their
abundance.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the Constitution
and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
Saturday, November 21, 1998, as World Fisheries Day. I
call upon Government officials, fishing industry
professionals, scientists, environmental experts, and
the people of the United States to observe this day and
to recognize the importance of conserving the world's
fisheries, sustaining the health of the oceans, and
protecting their precious and abundant variety of
marine life.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-third.