Help Save America's Fisheries

Dear Dr. Balsiger,

The world's fisheries are in serious trouble. Most have declined precipitously for decades, and U.S. fisheries have fared little better. Barely one quarter of our fisheries are known to be sustainable. Thousands of fishermen have lost their jobs.

The good news is that new science points the way to recovery. Science-based catch shares have been proven to make fish more abundant and fisheries more profitable.

I urge President Obama and Congress to unleash economic and ecosystem renewal in the oceans by following the recommendations of the bipartisan Oceans of Abundance working group.

These recommendations include:

-- President Obama should ensure that all federal fishery management plans are evaluated for catch shares by 2012 and that at least 50 percent of federal fishery management plans feature catch share management by 2016.

-- The U.S. Congress should ease bottlenecks to achieve the President's goal by passing legislation to require that catch shares be considered in all fishery management plans by 2012.

Thank you for your consideration.