Billfish Foundation Prez speaks in O.B. on April 17
Billfish Foundation Prez speaks in O.B. on April 17
Ellen Peel, president of The Billfish Foundation, will be the guest speaker at the April 17 Orange Beach Sportfishing Club on Wednesday, April 17 downstairs at Tacky Jacks in Orange Beach. For more info, contact Jon Perkinson at jwperk13@aol.com.
Cocktail hour is from 6-7 p.m., and the meeting will follow. Guests and potential members are welcome.
The Billfish Foundation has been the designated charity from the club’s Kenny Vines Memorial Billfishing Tourney for many years. And the motto behind the tourney fits the club’s policy of emphasizing fun and fraternity rather than calcuttas and prize money.
Peel (pictured) coordinates development of conservation and management strategies and represents TBF before all levels of fisheries management organizations, helping TBF advance conservation and responsible management of marlin, swordfish, sailfish and spearfish.
A Mississippi Gulf Coast native, she has held her position for 23 years. She has served on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and on the National Marine Fisheries Migratory Species Advisory Panel. She holds degrees from the University of West Florida, Ole Miss and the University of Washington.
Growing up in Long Beach, with the Gulf of Mexico as her back yard, she’s at home on deep blue water oceans as she is fly fishing a remote trout stream. She broadened her appreciation for the outdoors by working for the National Park Service, before pursuing a law degree at Ole Miss. With a desire to represent big migratory fish including billfish species, she continued her studies with a masters of law in marine resources at the Univ. of Washington in Seattle. With her specialization she worked in Washington D.C. at the Center for Marine Conservation getting a solid background with the law-making process.
Her message has remained clear – good conservation pays in benefits to the fish stocks, the oceans’ ecosystems, improved fishing opportunities, strong economies and prepared future generations of ocean stewards and users. More info: billfish.org.