Director Of Innovation at T.Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation - New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
The T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation, founded in 1981 by commercial fishermen, is named after Tatsuro "Buck" Suzuki, a Japanese-Canadian fisherman and an early environmental activist. Born on a float house on Don Island in the Fraser River, Suzuki began commercial fishing with his father on the river during the 1920s. Throughout his life, he was devoted to the preservation of fish habitat and frequently spoke out against the dumping of sewage and industrial waste into the Fraser River. He was a passionate advocate for the protection of the river and its environment long before the term "environmentalist" became familiar to most Canadians. Fish habitat protection, pollution prevention and sustainability of fisheries have been at the core of T. Buck Suzuki Foundation's mandate since its inception over three decades ago. We have taken action to protect habitats from the Lower Fraser River estuary to the Skeena watershed, we have helped develop provincial, national and international regulations toprevent pollutions (air, land and water), and we have been involved in multiple projects to support sustainable fisheries. We support and participate in fisheries research, multiple integrated marine planning and marine protected area processes.