Director Steve Williams Remarks for National Fisheries Leadership Conference January 21, 2003, Washington, DC

January 21, 2003

Welcome to the National Fisheries Leadership Conference. I’m very glad to be here today, and I am extremely grateful that you are here today too. I’m proud to be among so many professionals dedicated to the conservation of our fishery resources. As I look around the room, I recognize many faces. I remember visiting your field stations, seeing your work conditions and seeing how you get the job done. I am especially proud to stand before you as Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service at the start of this conference. Because our fisheries program includes so many partners outside the federal agency, this meeting is truly momentous. This is an historic occasion – the first national fisheries leadership meeting of its kind in our long history.

In the past I have been warned that “. . . even a fish wouldn’t get into trouble if he only kept his mouth shut.” I recognize this as an extremely practical piece of wisdom but I also know that the opposite is true: if a fish never opened his mouth, he’d eventually starve to death. I’m here today to say it’s time to feed our fisheries program.

Together, we can put the “fish” back in the Fish and Wildlife Service. This conference brings us together to celebrate our program, but at the same time, it is a working meeting that aims to turn vision into reality. I know that the Fisheries program has been stretched as far as it can possibly go and it needs reenforcement to sustain itself and meet the challenges ahead.

We face many fishery resource challenges today, as Dr. Taylor did such a great job of outlining. These are difficult and serious challenges and solving our resource problems will require a vital fisheries program. But we can and we will do the job. We have more than 130 years of experience behind us.

Before we talk about strengthening our program for the future, let me backtrack for a moment. In 1871, with the support of Congress, commercial interests, and anglers, Spencer Fullerton Baird established the U.S. Fish Commission in response to the crash of New England fisheries. That agency was the forerunner of today’s Fish and Wildlife Service. The Fisheries program is the oldest government conservation effort in history, and it began with a simple premise: to keep fish in our rivers and streams.

Today, our program is about far more than just fish. Our accomplishments – your accomplishments – are remarkable:

1. On the Atlantic coast, we have helped the striped bass rebound from perilously low numbers.

2. Likewise, we have restored lake trout in Lake Superior after near extinction. Now, we are bringing back coaster brook trout.

3. In Alaska, we are monitoring populations and maintaining the integrity of aquatic habitats to keep fish and aquatic systems healthy so they continue to support the strong commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries as they have for centuries.

4. In Hood Canal of Puget Sound, we are working with state, tribal, and federal partners to restore Quilcene summer chum salmon from record-low returns just 10 years ago to the point now where further hatchery production may no longer be necessary.

5. In the Missouri River, we have helped the pallid sturgeon return from the brink of extinction through partnerships reaching from Ft. Peck Reservation in Montana to the Rivers of the Atchatalaya drainage in Louisiana.

6. In Arizona, we are on the verge of successfully recovering Apache trout after it spent 27 years on the threatened species list; we are making similar progress with greenback cutthroat trout in Colorado and Gila trout in New Mexico.

In addition to these on-the-ground successes, we can boast examples that show our commitment to sound science such as the Service’s Aquatic Animal Health Policy, formerly the Fish Health Policy, and the Handbook of Procedures and Protocols. Federal, state, university, and private partners all helped develop this monumental Policy and Associated Handbook, which we expect to implement early this year.

All of these accomplishments demonstrate the kind of success we can achieve when we put our heads together. We must continue to put our heads together while we are here.

As I’ve mentioned, we have a proud past — we are here today talk about our bright future. We’ve got more than a century of aquatic resource conservation behind us; the task now is to ensure the success of our program over the next 100 years. It’s not easy considering the challenges of the 21st century, but we must make sure we retain our sense of unity, our purpose, and our vision. Over the past few years, you’ve made enormous progress. The new Fisheries Vision document represents a great deal of blood, sweat, and tears. For that, I applaud you, and you should applaud yourselves. Please, give yourselves a hand.

Later this morning, Cathy Short will talk about the Fisheries Vision document. I would like to discuss some of my priorities for the program. I am committed to strengthening three specific areas that are essential to the future of our fisheries program
Number one: money.

For a number of years, the Service’s Fisheries Program has not received the funding support it requires to tackle all of its responsibilities. As you know, the National Fish Hatchery System has been in a crisis and has been the subject of attention. The system is an important tool in the Service's recovery, restoration, and mitigation efforts, and its infrastructure is clearly in need of support. But our objectives for funding support also include the Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance Program, an equally critical component of the overall Fisheries Program.

You should know that wherever our program sees an increase in funding, it will be the resource – not the bureaucracy – that will benefit. If we acquire more funding support for our fisheries program, I am committed to putting that money into addressing on-the-ground resource needs. With more funding, we can grow regional initiatives with national significance, such as Great Lakes restoration. We can also expand opportunities like the National Fish Passage Program – a model partnership program that leverages funds and expertise to remove or bypass barriers and reconnect aquatic species to historical habitats.

As you are all aware, the country is going through difficult times economically. Many of our federal resources are being focused now on national security. But I know that this Administration is a strong supporter of our fisheries program goals, and I am hopeful that our program will be able to compete favorably for the resources it sorely needs. There is great potential for significant gains next fiscal year.

Of course, our program does not operate in a vacuum, and its role must fit within the larger aquatic resource conservation partnership. Our fisheries are everyone’s fisheries – and we need public support in communicating to the Administration and to Congress the value of our Fisheries program. In the meantime, we must routinely continue to demonstrate that value, and appeal to new friends by exploring fresh opportunities for support.
A second focus area I am committed to — partnerships.

We must development new partnerships wherever we can, and strengthen the old ones wherever necessary. As our conservation mission expanded, the focus of the Service’s Fisheries Program turned from a traditional angler constituency to include the conservation of native aquatic species, especially threatened and endangered species.

While we are proud of the success we are having with partners in recovering endangered species, this goal need not overshadow the interests of recreational fishing. It takes healthy aquatic systems to support both species conservation and recreational fishing; and our traditional interests account for many conservation successes.

In 1872, Spencer Baird sought the input of state fish commissions and the American Fish Culture Association, precursor of today’s American Fisheries Society, on how to carry out the wishes of Congress. Today, States and groups like BASS and other fishing organizations are the direct descendants of these traditional partners and are among the Nation's leading conservationists. They make programs like the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program important fixtures in the world of conservation.

Imagine a group of people willing to impose additional taxes upon themselves so that they and their children can continue to enjoy the benefits of fish conservation! Since 1952, the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program has provided state fish and wildlife agencies with $3.9 billion, recycling a percentage of dollars spent by anglers right back into conserving the resource that provides their recreation. To build on that success, we now have $80 million in new Federal grants available to the States. These are cost-sharing grants that can help build on existing programs and develop plans for protecting and restoring species.

The Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council has provided a special forum for working with us to identify aquatic resource issues and to develop recommended solutions. This diverse group played a crucial role in developing the consensus strategy that became the foundation for our Vision for the Future.

As our history leads into our future, these examples reveal a distinct and constant link between recreational fishing and the will to conserve. This link probably accounts for many of the careers represented here in this room today. I know it largely accounts for my presence here today, and my interest in fisheries.

A third area I am committed to focusing on – additional anglers.
Our nation's first forester, Gifford Pinchot wrote about fishing in1939: "whenever you go, and whenever you can, take the youngster along." I consider it the wisest conservation advice ever offered.

When I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, I used to fish with my dad. With my own son, I've found that some of our greatest experiences together have been doing the same. These outdoor traditions allow parents and kids to bond, but they do more than that. They strengthen our tie to the natural world. They instill in us a lasting respect for the outdoors – a conservation ethic – that can be passed down from generation to generation. As our nation becomes increasingly populated and urbanized, it is incumbent upon us to pass on this conservation ethic to future generations, for the sake of our children and our resources.

The Service and the States can promote fishing through several means. National fishing week offers great opportunities to promote fishing. The "Water Works Wonders" campaign is already demonstrating enormous marketing success, and I urge States to consider adopting the program. We need to collaborate with partners on these kinds of opportunities to further promote education and outreach on the value, and pleasure, of recreational fishing.

Another place to expand fishing recruitment is the Service’s 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System. Three hundred of our refuges offer fishing opportunities. Through the 1997 Refuge System Improvement Act, fishing and hunting are recognized as priority public uses. We will continue to look for opportunities to offer great fishing experiences on our refuges. In less than two months, the refuge system will celebrate its Centennial anniversary. I urge you to use the refuge spotlight to highlight the even older legacy of the Fisheries program.

We have a proud past that dates back 132 years; we also have a strong foundation for a bright future. I believe we can pass on the torch of our heritage to meet tomorrow's challenges, if we work together and with our partners ... if we understand that all the various facets of the Fisheries program are components of a total and concerted effort ... if we demonstrate unified support for the Fisheries program under the new Vision.

Spencer Baird, and many others who cared about fisheries, came together to establish the U.S. Fish Commission. We are together today under many remarkably similar circumstances; we are supported by similar, though diverse, constituents; and we are charged with a similar task – to forge a program crafted for the unique challenges of the times. This conference brings us together as one group; when it is over, let’s leave as one group – in support of one vision.

Thank you.