Today I had the pleasure of attending Audubon's annual Women in Conservation luncheon, where they dole out their prestigious Rachel Carson Awards at New York's Plaza Hotel. The room was packed with brocade-suited society ladies, former winners like the amazingMajora Carter, and this year's honorees: oceanographer Sylvia Earle, REI's CEO Sally Jewell, the Student Conservation Association's Elizabeth Titus Putnam, and NBC's Elizabeth Colleton, Jane Evans and Susan Haspel.Dr. Earle had the entire room on its feet when she got up to accept her award. Though she was expertly and sincerely gracious, she took the Sean-Penn-at-the-Oscars approach, and used the podium as an opportunity to send a message. She spoke about one thing we can all do to help protect our ravaged oceans: Stop. Eating. Fish.So should we forget the lists that tell you trout's okay if it's from one place, but bad if it's from somewhere else? Or should we just stop? Is there such a thing as responsible consumption of fish anymore?She also said that these next 10 years will prove to be the single most important decade for hundreds to come, and that we have a rare opportunity to change our behavior before it's too late. I say a woman who's spent over 7,000 hours studying marine life underwater probably knows what she's talking about. I hope she's right, and I hope we do the right thing.There will be more from her in an upcoming issue of the magazine, and more about fish, too, but for now, that's the takeaway. Adjust your behavior at your own discretion.
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