World Fisheries Day, 1998

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 227 (Wednesday, November 25, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 65511-65512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31750]



[[Page 65509]]

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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



                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 227 / Wednesday, November 25, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 65511]]

                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.

[[Page 65512]]

                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.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 98-31750
Filed 11-24-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P