[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 48 (Monday, November 30, 1998)]
[Pages 2355-2356]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7150--World Fisheries Day, 1998

November 20, 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

[[Page 2356]]

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.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., November 24, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on November 21 and was published in the Federal Register on 
November 25.