Greetings Mr. President,
Congratulations on your victory and wishing you the greatest success in your second term.
I am writing this to request your help in resolving a long-standing problem, and the solution will make a significant contribution to your goal of making America great again.
This is BIG! Bigger than anything you’ve ever done. You’ve never seen anything like it. (Well, I’ll have to admit that your $500 billion AI deal is really, really big, this is just big in a different way)
There is an entity out there that has demonstrated nearly 500 years of outstanding production, provided goods to many but, after being plundered by the Soviets, the production sadly collapsed. Under the current management, which has been in place for about 50 years, production has continued to collapse. In one critical division, production dropped 88% in the 7 years from 2014-2021. Prices for that product skyrocketed, and small businesses that depended on that product were given disaster relief by our government so they could stay in business. (Instead of addressing the issue) Jobs are being lost across the industry and America must increase imports of that product to supply American demand.
The solution to this problem is simple and cheap, and everything is in place for rebuilding, but only you, in your position, can put it together. The entrenched bureaucracy is not inclined to fix it.
The results will create tens of thousands of jobs in the private sector, add billions to the American economy, improve recreational opportunities, reduce government costs, reduce dependence on foreign goods, clean up the environment, improve our health and reduce our cost of food. To top it off, the cost to implement it will be minimal.
The entity that I am talking about is the Atlantic Ocean (which is pretty big) off the US coast (Shown in the header above), and the product is fish. It has tremendous potential but is being mismanaged by our government. The results of nearly 50 years of federal and state management are shown on the attached stock status graphs from NOAA. In most cases, the estimated catch and/or stock assessments are single digit percentages of historical levels. The management practices took a fishery that was in bad shape and made it worse. Cod, which have been harvested for over 500 years, remains at historical lows with no sign of recovery. On the positive side, these stock status graphs also show the tremendous and proven potential that is available for our country.
From NOAA Stock Smart https://apps-st.fisheries.noaa.gov/stocksmart?app=homepage
The stock status charts tell all you need to know. The system currently being used is a total failure. It is a classic case of the definition of insanity: Continuing to do the same thing but expecting different results. Tragically, it has led to a decline of the fishing industry and associated jobs all along the Atlantic Coast.
The Portuguese were among the first to begin fishing for cod off the north Atlantic coast of the US and Canada about 1500. Many nations fished in this ocean until the 1970’s when the fisheries collapsed after overfishing, particularly from the Soviets who sometimes had as many as 100 boats fishing in the Grand Banks area. In 1976, the United States extended their territorial waters from 12 nautical miles to 200 nautical miles under the Magnuson-Stephens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The marine fishery is managed under NOAA. Unfortunately, under MSA, the goal was to obtain “optimum yield” which was basically to maximize the harvesting of the fish while maintaining a sustainable stock, not rebuilding the fishery to its historical level. Sustainable is a very low bar. It is actually a level of population that can be harvested without the species going extinct, yet it is the thing that NOAA brags about as a measure of their success, even though the populations of most species are in single-digit percentages of their historical levels. How is sustaining a fishery at those population levels even considered optimum? Would you run a hotel at a 10% occupancy rate because some pencil pushers said that was the optimum? What is the harm in maintaining a population level at 80%, or above, of historical levels? A healthy, robust population of fish would tolerate increased catch limits without affecting their population and also easily rebound from normal population fluctuations.
As if it wasn’t bad enough, NOAA has allowed the foundation of the fishery’s food chain, the forage fish and particularly menhaden to be depleted to historical low levels. Now you may have an issue with some fish, but this one is special. Menhaden have been called “the most important fish in the sea”. It is more than that, it is a super fish, a national treasure! It feeds voraciously on algae, and is able to digest cellulose, which takes cows a 4-compartment stomach to do. The fish’s flesh is high in omega 3 fatty acids, which makes it very nutritious. It reproduces in unbelievable numbers and migrates from its home in and around Chesapeake Bay to sacrifice itself to feed predatory fish along the entire Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. The menhaden, being an oily fish, gives off a scent that attracts their predators, which include striped bass, cod, bluefish, weakfish, and even bluefin tuna, and marine mammals including seals, porpoises and whales. Birds, including osprey, cormorants, gannets, gulls and pelicans also feed on the menhaden. This fish served as a replacement for whales as a source of oil in the mid-1800’s, has survived heavy fishing for over 150 years, and is still the most plentiful fish on the Atlantic coast, although it’s population is now at single-digit percentage of its historical level. Over 150,000 metric tons of menhaden are harvested each year for the menhaden reduction factory, Omega Protein, in Reedville, VA and made into fish oil, fish meal and food for farm-raised salmon in Canada. This Canadian company is pillaging our American waters of our vital forage fish. The processed menhaden pellets are fed to the salmon, which are then exported to the United States. It’s a crime what they are allowed to do to our country.
The operation of a reduction factory is a net loss to the American economy because menhaden left in the ocean are twice as valuable than if they were harvested. Left in the water, they feed more valuable fish which people eat. In Chesapeake Bay alone, there has been a loss of 1500 jobs due to the decline of recreational fishing while Omega Protein only employs 350 people. The benefit from restoring the Atlantic Coastal fishery would be felt by various organizations and businesses, commercial and recreational fishing groups, charter and party boat operators alll along the coast from Maine to Florida.
What needs to be done is close the Atlantic coast to menhaden harvesting for reduction. That’s it. It will probably need some sort of executive order, but you know how to do those. The forage fish will take care of the rebuilding, and it won’t cost a thing. The menhaden will lead the recovery with an explosive growth in numbers like nobody’s seen before. Menhaden’s growth will take predator pressure from other forage fish and young of all species, leading to an expansion in population of valuable fish such as cod, halibut, striped bass and tuna. All that is necessary to sit back and count the fish.
KISS-Keep It Simple Stupid. I suggest a management system where statistics would be used to measure success and detect issues, while science would be used to resolve issues. That would be the simplest way to manage the fishery and give the greatest visibility of what is happening.
I live in Pt. Judith, RI, which has a long history as a fishing community. There are a number of related businesses that are impacted by the declining availability of fish. Recreational and professional fishermen, charter boat captains, lobstermen, party boat operators, environmentalists and all those who enjoy a meal of delicious, fresh, and healthy wild caught seafood will support fixing this problem. This will be true up and down the east coast, from Maine to Florida.
Sincerely,
Bruce Kindseth, email bkindseth@cox.net
Pt. Judith, RI.