171 

 PHILIP H. PARKER 



My name is Philip H. Parker. I am 

 Executive Secretary for the Pacific Coast Oyster Growers 

 Association, a trade association which represents the 

 interests of oyster growers and processers in Washington, 

 Oregon, California, and British Columbia. 



I do not believe it is presumptuous to 

 say that I also speak here today, in a general way, for 

 the thousands upon thousands of citizens of the west who 

 share with us a deep and abiding concern for the need 

 to conserve anu husband our priceless water resource. 

 Because of the oyster industry's long standing interest 

 and widely recognized leadership in the struggle to pro- 

 tect and preserve clean water, these citizens, lacking a 

 strong organized voic(? of their own, have turned to us 

 to speak on their behalf at such pul) 1 ic forums as this. 

 This is a responsibility which we welcome and v;hich we 

 accept with both pridf? and humility. 



This Conference is being held here today 

 largely because our industry, long the victim of the 

 polluters, demanded some kind of reasonable, rational, 

 responsible action on the part of our public officials to 

 effectively deal with a problem which was aru! .still is 

 threatening to permanently damage a basic natural resource. 

 We are pleased that such action was begun. We consider 



