VIPS 2011 Keynote Speaker
Chris Fischer
Explorer and Expedition Leader, Shark Men and Founder of OCEARCH
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VideoRay is very pleased to announce Chris Fischer as our distinguished Keynote Speaker for VIPS 2011 – the world’s largest MicroROV Conference. Fischer will be joining VideoRay in Key Largo, Florida, October 24-26, 2011 to share some memorable experiences and some insight into his OCEARCH non-profit organization.
Explorer and expedition leader Chris Fischer in his second season of Shark Men, one of National Geographic Channel’s top-rated series that joins science and sport fishing for an unprecedented hands-on research effort to study wild great white sharks. Fischer leads the crew aboard Ocean, a mother ship 126 feet long and 33 feet wide, packed with high-tech equipment and a team of world-class anglers and leading shark experts who have the skills and raw muscle needed to haul monster sharks out of the water.
A well-known personality in outdoor television and conservation circles, Fischer is a lifelong adventurer with a passion for the oceans. From 2002 to 2009, he hosted "Offshore Adventures," a two-time Emmy® Award winner and America's most watched outdoor television show during its 180-episode run on ESPN.
In 2009, Fischer founded OCEARCH, a conservation foundation that believes in the social, economic, and environmental benefits of sustainable fisheries management and supports the protection of sportfishing access. OCEARCH views sportfishing and anglers as key catalysts of marine conservation, and works with decision makers in governments around the world to champion a balanced, science based approach to rebuild, sustain, and conserve our marine resources.
Fischer has been a speaker for a NOAA Fisheries Conference, the White House Conference on Hunting Heritage and Environmental Policy, and honoured by the International Game Fishing Association. In 2007, the White House contacted Fischer to promote President George W. Bush’s signing of an Executive Order protecting Striped Bass and Red Drum stocks in U.S. coastal waters. President Bush joined Fischer for an episode of Offshore Adventures, fishing for stripers in Chesapeake Bay.
As a leading spokesman for responsible fisheries management, in 2005 Chris joined the board of The Billfish Foundation–a leading ocean conservation organization. Working cooperatively with TBF and other scientific organizations, he has led researchers on various scientific missions, primarily to tag and study billfish and great white sharks.
Fischer grew up with a deep appreciate for the environment as a young fisherman in Kentucky, exploring hidden waters around his hometown of Louisville. He and his wife Melissa now live in Park City, UT along with their two young daughters, who have also embraced the sea-loving lifestyle
To register for VIPS 2011 please CLICK HERE
Chris Fischer (Left) with Brian Luzzi piloting the VideoRay ROV on the M/V Ocean
observing White Sharks during a production of Expedition Great White
