Coastal Conservation Association (CCA)

CCA Team Adds Impact Player

By Ted Venker
TIDE
Mar/Apr 2006

Coastal Conservation Association recently announced that Pat Murray would depart as Executive Director of the CCA Texas Chapter and assume the duties of Vice President and Director of Conservation for CCA National.

Although the decision was no doubt a difficult one for Pat, it is the logical next step in his efforts to single-handedly refute the Peter Principle.

Simply put, Pat has excelled at every job he has undertaken at CCA. He began his career at CCA Texas as an assistant director in late 1997. After three years focusing on state fundraising, chapter development and advocacy, he took the newly formed position of Communications Director for CCA National, dealing with national media relations and advocacy issues. He returned to CCA Texas as Executive Director in 2002 and guided the chapter to record levels of membership and fundraising.

Along the way, he has acquired a truly impressive grasp of every aspect of marine resource conservation – from science to politics – and is a perfect addition to CCA’s national conservation team.

He will be working closely with General Counsel Bob Hayes, one of the most respected authorities on marine resource conservation in the nation. Hayes has spent his entire career working on marine issues and is often sought as an authority on everything from the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to international treaties. He was recently appointed by President George Bush to another term as the recreational commissioner to ICCAT, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which is the only body with any regulatory authority for the many species that swim in waters outside territorial boundaries. Last year he guided the first-ever international ban on shark finning through a minefield of diverse interests at ICCAT, and won unanimous passage from the 63 member countries.

Dr. Russell Nelson and Dick Brame add considerable regional expertise to the CCA team. Dr. Nelson is CCA’s consultant to the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council and a 20-year veteran of marine fisheries management and research. He provides invaluable guidance on red grouper, red snapper and a host of other species of concern in the Gulf.

Brame was Executive Director of CCA North Carolina until he assumed responsibilities as CCA’s Fisheries Director for the Atlantic States and the South Atlantic. He was a leader of an impressive effort that produced the first-ever cap on the industrial harvest of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.

With almost 30 years of experience in marine resource management, CCA has learned that the only way to affect the process is be aware of the issues early, formulate a reasonable plan of action and then execute it. Using the expertise provided by these full-time professionals, CCA’s volunteer committees will have greater insight into the inner workings of the fishery management process, resulting in better decisions and recommendations.

CCA is constantly striving for ways to expand its presence in regional and national advocacy matters and become an even more effective advocate for conservation. Pat Murray will be an impact player on what was already one of the best teams in the business.