Steve Southerland

Do not turn back the clock, help us create fisheries and jobs for tomorrow.

I am tired of being in Commission meetings and having gentlemen come to me my age in tears because their business is crumbling.

We are having to impose highly draconian restrictions upon the ability of our citizens to catch fish, recreationally or commercially.

It seems to be incredibly inconsistent and what I am worried about is that this inconsistency of acknowledging truth is crushing you.

That is not right, it is unfair. That is unacceptable.

And I think to ask what the economic impacts are before we push these regulations over on someone, I think that is a fair expectation.

My sincere hope is that the enthusiasm some members of this committee have shown for engaging on questions of fisheries management may evolve into a sustained commitment to forging policies in Congress that promote healthy fisheries…

We are the victims of endemic seafood fraud, and more must be done to combat instances of our catch being undermined in restaurants and on supermarket shelves by cheap and inferior product.

We're not an industry that's looking for handouts--we're only asking for a hand, to protect our coastal heritage and traditions while fostering sustainable Gulf fisheries for generations to come.

We have to make good decisions with good data.

Why would NOAA continually over and over and over again refuse to count the fish that are making their home on artificial reefs?

I can tell you that if you want fish populations to explode, all you have to do is stop people from fishing, that's easy.

I encourage committee members to do what they can to provide adequate appropriations for fisheries science.

I'm very surprised that Mr. Southerland would presume to suggest that it would never be--and that he would enshrine his misguided conviction on that point in legislation.

My promise was to fight for those who were not just acquaintances but were lifelong friends, my neighbors, my classmates, my friends whose families have been decimated by government bureaucracies that could care less.

But one of the standards, and I want everyone to understand that one of the standards that is clearly inside the Magnuson-Stevens Act that is often overlooked--and I am reading from Section 301 of the National Standards for Fisheries…

the new sector separation schemes and 'individual catch shares' for Gulf of Mexico fisheries is not an answer, it's an agenda, and it will forever change the face of our local community in a way that is not at all what's good for Florida…

I think that it is imperative that men and women who work hard and cannot afford to buy a $1,000 plane ticket and come to Washington, D.C., with $500 a night hotel rooms, and eating $100 meals in restaurants and being away from their…

We need some 'flexibility' in our federal fisheries law . . . there are no deadlines in nature; the last thing we need is to mandate unnatural timelines for rebuilding fisheries.

I find it somewhat disturbing that some of my colleagues claim that those of us who live on the Gulf of Mexico have completely forgotten this disaster.

But until you invite those CEOs, this is not a serious investigation at all.

I am concerned that, in the past, government officials have used their personal email account as a way to avoid scrutiny by Congress and the public.

My heart bleeds for the thousands of hardworking men and women that have been damaged permanently because of your inaction.

I think that it is a self-evident truth, it is common sense, to connect those dots.

We will bankrupt any new coal plants.