If the fishing industry had a CEO, Dr. Bill Hogarth, Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO), is convinced he would not last a month. He firmly believes the operating pattern for the whole industry needs to be re-examined and the industry needs to start stepping up to the role of a multi-billion dollar economic powerhouse.

“Fishing is a huge, huge business and we don’t really operate it as the big multinational business that it is, in my opinion,” Hogarth told Gulf Seafood News while sitting in his St. Petersburg office. “This state is known for its citrus industry, but fishing revenues dwarf citrus. The fishing industry in Florida alone it is a $30 billion industry. That is more than citrus, cattle, space, and ranching industries put together; double that. Is one of the top 10 industries in the state, it drives both the tourism and restaurants.”

Dr. Hogarth, a member of the Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI), knows that of what he preaches.

In 2001 Dr. Hogarth was appointed by President George W. Bush as the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). There he oversaw the management and conservation of marine fisheries and the protection of marine mammals, sea turtles and coastal fisheries habitat. He also served as the Commissioner and Chairman for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna and the Commissioner and Chairman for the International Whaling Commission.

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