Boat International - February 2016

http://www.boatinternational.com | February 2016

Highly commended–Richard Lochhead

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and

the Environment in the Scottish Government

For – putting before the Scottish Parliament a Marine ConservationOrder

for measures that would ban the highly destructive practice of scallop

dredging off the coast of Wester Ross, within the South Arran MPA

Highly commended–David Cameron

MP for Witney, West Oxfordshire, and

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2010

For – the clause in his party’s manifesto, published before the 2015 general election,

that included a promise to protect precious marine habitats by creating aBlue Belt

of marine reserves around all 14 of the UK’s Overseas Territories and completing the

network of Marine Conservation Zones that surround the British coastline

W

hite House Chief of Staf to Bill Clinton during

his presidency and Counsellor to the President

under Barack Obama until February 2015,

John D Podesta is now chairman of Hillary Clinton’s

presidential campaign.

Theauthorofseveralbooks,amongthemThe Power

of Progress: How America’s Progressives Can (Once Again)

Save Our Economy, Our Climate and Our Country,hewas

also instrumental in encouraging President Obama to

expand the Pacific Remote Islands National Marine

Monument to form one of the largest marine protection

areas in the world, ensuring it becomes of-limits to

commercial fishing and other resource extraction activities,

such as deep-water mining.

Other actions listed under the National Ocean Policy plan

include the formation and implementation of more Marine

Protected Areas, combating black-market fishing, regional

marine planning, understanding the impacts of ocean

acidification, building resilience in coastal communities and

bolstering domestic shellfish aquaculture, all of which should

contribute substantially to healthier oceans in which marine

species and habitats can thrive.

A long-standing champion of responsible stewardship

of the seas, he is also a former member of the Joint Ocean

Commission Initiative, formed after the release of two high-

profile reports on US ocean policy in 2003 and 2004, and the

Global Ocean Commission, which he has described as “one of

the most dynamic initiatives developing common-sense ways

to manage fully 45 per cent of the globe that remains common

property, outside any national jurisdiction”.

Winner–Policy*

JOHNDPODESTA

Former counsellor to US President, Barack Obama

For–hispartinleadingtheUSNationalOceanPolicy,whichincludedthe

campaign to expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument

THE OCEAN AWARDS 2016

* Criteria – the political or corporate policy that has made the most

valuable contribution to solving the oceans crisis

JUDGE #3 HUGH FE A R NL EY-WHIT TINGSTA L L
The writer and broadcaster is best known for his uncompromising commitment to seasonal, ethically produced food. He has won a huge following through his River Cottage TV series,
books and hard-hitting campaigns. Fearnley-Whittingstall’s TV work includes the hugely influential, BAFTA-winning Hugh’s Fish Fight, which focused on unsustainable fishing
practices such as discarding. “Even I was shocked by the discards situation,” he says. “For example, over half the fish caught in the North Sea was being thrown back overboard – dead.”
Hugh’s Fish Fight helped bring about changes in law at the European level, with MEPs voting to end discarding.
In 2015 Fearnley-Whittingstall co-presented Big Blue Live and Big Blue UK on BBC One, celebrating and exploring some of the world’s most breathtaking marine life. “Marine
conservation and the management of our fish stocks have become increasingly central to my work,” he says. “We have this fantastic resource on our doorsteps, at once powerful and
fragile, and it’s vital that we understand and protect it.”