Zeke Grader, an advocate for commercial fishing who fought to protect fish as well as the people who catch them, has died. He was 68.
Grader's Sept. 7 death from pancreatic cancer at a San Francisco hospice was confirmed by Lois Prentice, his wife of 40 years.
Grader retired in June from the San Francisco-based Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assns. and the Institute for Fisheries Resources. He directed the federation since its formation in 1976 and he headed the institute, an offshoot organization he founded in 1992.
"One of his lasting legacies was to build a bridge between blue-collar fishermen and environmental communities," said his successor, Tim Sloane.