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www.e2.org |
February 2, 2006
The Honorable Diane Feinstein The Honorable Barbara Boxer The Honorable Ron Wyden
The Honorable Maria Cantwell
The Honorable Patty Murray
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senators:
As members of Environmental Entrepreneurs, we are writing to urge you to prevent S. 1549, the Cooperative Hake Improvement and Conservation Act, particularly the current Sec. 5 ("Conservation of Pacific Whiting"), from being enacted into law as it jeopardizes the sustainability of many Pacific groundfish and the profitability of industries dependent on these marine resources.
E2 is a national community of business professionals who support sound environmental policy based on its economic merits. As business leaders, we recognize the huge impact of the fishing industry on our region's economy and the economic benefit of restoring depleted fish populations. A recently released study, Fish Economics: The Benefits of Rebuilding U.S. Ocean Fish Populations, found that the net economic value of rebuilding depleted fish populations is three times the net economic value of allowing those populations to remain at current levels.
As you are likely aware, in July of 2005 Senator Smith introduced S. 1549, which relates to the management of the Pacific whiting fishery. We are particularly concerned about Sec. 5, which would significantly weaken protections for the many species of depleted Pacific groundfish caught as bycatch in the whiting fishery. This is a bad idea, both from an ecological and economic point of view.
At this point in time, seven of the other Pacific groundfish species are classified by the government as overfished. Existing provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act provide a system to end overfishing of these already depleted stocks and to rebuild them as quickly as possible. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also contains a requirement that conservation and management measures must be designed to minimize both incidental catch as well as mortality rates where by-catch is unavoidable. S. 1549, Sec. 5 takes a very different approach; bypassing measures to avoid incidental catch of other groundfish species in an effort to reduce limits on the Pacific whiting catch. S. 1549 would lift protections for groundfish that are intended to prevent overfishing, enable depleted stocks to rebuild and minimize bycatch.
Overlooking the management needs of seven overfished groundfish species in order to increase the volume of the whiting industry sets a dangerous precedent for management of our fisheries and ecosystems. In addition, this approach would have an extremely negative effect on fishermen and others who derive their livelihoods from the harvest of Pacific groundfish. According to data managed by the Pacific Fisheries Information Network, in 2004, the shore-side value of all Pacific groundfish was over four times greater than shore-side value of Pacific whiting alone. In California, the shore-side value of all Pacific groundfish was over 12 times greater.
S. 1549, Sec. 5 outlines provisions that would benefit some fisherman and marine industries at the great expense of many others. Please take a leadership role in preventing these provisions of S. 1549 from being enacted into law, either as stand alone legislation or through re-authorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Sincerely,
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Curtis Abbott CEO, Lucesco Lighting Inc Maryvonne Abbott Larry Bain Director, Food From the Parks Lianne Barnes Jessica Barrows Lance Batten President, Tilden Park Software Jayne Battey Co-founder, Essex Environmental, Inc. Mark Battey Miramar Capital Andrew Beebe Tony Bernhardt, PhD Northern California Director, Environmental Entrepreneurs Gary Bettman Senior VP, The Miller Group Advertising Suzanne Biegel Maureen Blanc Director, CHARGE ACROSS TOWN Eric Bowen Executive Director, Business Development & Legal Affairs, Renewable Energy Group Susie Bowman George Brandt Evan Brooks Founder, DigiDesign Violet Brooks Barbara Brenner Buder CFO, San Francisco Theological Seminary Marisa Bueno Doctoral Student, Stanford University Buzz Burlock Leslie Burlock Meg Caldwell Director, Center for Ocean Solutions Peter Carson Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP Priscilla Carson Renato Cedolin Matt Cheney CEO, CleanPath Ventures LLC Roger Choplin Proprietor / Owner, Our Earth Music, Inc. Tom Cole CEO, Consuming, Inc. Stephen Colwell Executive Director, Philanthropy Associates Christine Comaford Venture Partner, Novus Ventures Holly Corn Holly Corn, MD, Children's Hospital Los Angeles Paul Danielsen VP Business Development, MMA Renewable Ventures Peter Danzig Tim Dattels Managing Director, Newbridge Capital Duncan Davidson Senior Advisor, NetServices Venture Group Jean Davidson Managing Director, VantagePoint Venture Partners Evie Davis Matt Davis Mateva Capital, LLC Peter Davis Retired Attorney John Dawson Co-founder, Zentek Technology Rick DeGolia Partner, Exigen Capital Andrew Deitz Co Founder, Climate Earth Sally DeSipio Nathan Diemer Founder and Executive Vice President, DreamHammer, Inc. George Dies Scott Dietzen CEO, Pure Storage Eileen Donahoe Visiting Scholar, CISAC Brian Dougherty CEO, AirSet Inc. Ted Driscoll Director, Digital Healthcare Lead, Claremont Creek Ventures John Dunham Caw Foundation Alvin Duskin CEO of Clean Coal Energy Dave Edwards Chief Executive Officer, Koru Bob Epstein Co-founder, Sybase, New Resource Bank, Environmental Entrepreneurs Rob Erlichman Founder & President, Sunlight Electric, LLC Lynn Feintech Anne Feldhusen Noel Fenton General Partner, Trinity Ventures Sally Fenton Kacey Fitzpatrick President, Avalon Enterprises Inc Peter Fortenbaugh Executive Director, Boy and Girls Club of the Peninsula Cole Frates Renewable Resources Group Ivor Frischknecht Investment Director, Starfish Ventures Lisa Gansky Entrepreneur & Speaker, Digital Tapas Don Garman Senior Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager, Morgan Stanley - Global Wealth Management Mindy Garman Aaron Gershenberg Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank Ken Goldsholl CEO, x.o.ware, Inc. Nancy Goldsholl Marianna Grossman President & Executive Director, Sustainable Silicon Valley
| David Groves Representative, Angeles Medical, Inc. Joseph Guth Legal Director, Science and Environmental Health Network Tom Haggin Co-Founder, Sybase and Tilden Park Software Vicki Haggin Russell Hall Managing Director, Legacy Venture Anna Halpern-Lande Manager, Biofuels, Royal Dutch Shell Bob Hambrecht Self-Employed Gary Hammer Chairman, Great Circle Water, Inc. Xenia Hammer R.B. Webber & Company Patricia Hansen Pres. Legal & Licensing, Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises Laura Hattendorf Carol Hazenfield James Higgins Partner, Lakeside Enterprises Jill Tate Higgins General Partner, Lakeside Enterprises Russ Holdstein Susan Holdstein Janet Huseby Volunteer coordinator, Berkeley High School Stuart Jacobson Tom Jacoby CEO, Tymphany Corporation Kristine Johnson Director, Kingfisher Foundation Charlene Kabcenell Former Vice President, Oracle Corporation Derry Kabcenell Former Executive Vice President, Oracle Corporation Jonathan Kaufelt Private Investor; Former Attorney Holly Kaufman CEO, Environment & Enterprise Strategies Robert Keith Partner, Beartooth Capital Partners Arthur Keller Managing Partner, Minerva Consulting Adrienne Kentor Eric Kentor Michael Kieschnick President, Working Assets Meg Kingsland Sam Kingsland Managing Director, Granite Ventures Stephanie Kiriakopolos Bob Klausner Chip Koch Partner, Petrosus Energy Stephen Koch Portfolio Manager, AIG Global Real Estate Jeff Lawrence Founder, President and CEO, Clivia Systems Inc. Sue Learned-Driscoll Administrator, Stanford University Noelle Leca Vice Chair, Chair-Elect, NCPB, Inc. Nicole Lederer Co-Founder, Environmental Entrepreneurs Betty Lee Ross Levy Principal, Levy Art & Architecture Inc. Anna Lijphart East Bay Sanctuary Donna Liu Former policy analyst, NRDC Ron Lloyd VP Advanced Manufacturing Projects, Tesla Motors Alison Long Poetsch Principal, SHR Investments Chris Lynch NY Life Steve MacKay Principal, Scourie Network Partners Joel Makower Chairman and Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group Ughetta Manzone Attorney-at-Law Drew Maran President, Drew Maran Construction, Inc. Daniel Maskit Technical Director, Digital Domain Julia Massa Patti McClung Bill McClure Attorney/Partner, Jorgenson, Siegel, McClure & Flegel LLP Christina McClure Community Volunteer Renee Miller President/ Creative Director, The Miller Group Advertising Kate Mitchell Managing Partner, Scale Venture Partners Wes Mitchell Board Member, Foto Forum, SFMOMA Carol Moné Producer, Our Earth Productions John Montgomery Chairman, Montgomery & Hansen, LLP Jeffrey Mora Chef Michael Moradzadeh Commodore, Corinthian Yacht Club Allen Morgan Principal, Mayfield Kathy Murphy CFO and Administrative Partner, Trinity Ventures Tom Neff Jeffrey Neu President, TLE Properties Tori Nourafchan
| Rick Nowels Kathy Nyrop Consultant Lise Olson Larry Orr Managing Partner, Trinity Ventures Alex Osadzinski Jiali Osadzinski Jack Oswald CEO, SynGest Inc. Jim Panttaja Vice President, Corporate Development, RebelVox Mary Panttaja Vice President, Product Management, RebelVox Jen Parker CEO, Canopy Cards Vic Parker Managing Director Mark Parnes Attorney, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Sunil Paul Co-Founder, Managing Director, Spring Ventures Ron Pernick Co-founder and Managing Director, Clean Edge Sam Perry President, Ascendance Ventures Jeff Poetsch Principal, JCP Advisors Randy Rosenberg Curator, Natural World Museum David Rosenstein President, Intex Solutions Amy Roth Eric Schmidt Executive Chairman, Google Wendy Schmidt Founder, The 11th Hour Project Bette Schuster Stu Schuster Novus Ventures David Schwartz President, COO, PIX System Kris Seeman Paul Seeman Anneke Seley CEO, ALIO Inc. Joel Serface Co-Founder and Managing Director, Clean Range Ventures Ann Shulman President, Philanthropy Associates, Inc. Steve Silberstein Co-founder, Innovative Interfaces Inc. Aimee Silver Project Manager, Silver Consulting Sandra Slater Owner, Sandra Slater Environments Bob Smith Former COO & CFO, Nellcor Inc. Jennifer Solow Author June Stein Virtual Group, LLC Lee Stein Chairman and CEO, Virtual Group, LLC Tricia Stone Founder, Stone Communications Scott Struthers Co-Founder, Sonance Ed Supplee Former CFO, UTStarcom Sally Supplee Former Chief Financial Officer, various companies Gary Swart CEO, Odesk Kathy Swart Lava Thomas Bill Unger Partner Emeritus, Mayfield Fund Kathleen Unger Of Counsel, Freeman, Freeman & Smiley Stephen Unger Managing Director, KSMU, LLC Thomas Van Dyck Sr. Vice President, RBC Wealth Management Maria Vidal Cindy Walden Mark Walden COO, Data Robotics, Inc. Kirby Walker Independent film/video producer Lisa Wan Mark Wan Founding Partner, Three Arch Partners Mal Warwick Founder & Chairman, Mal Warwick Associates Nick Wechsler Nick Wechsler Productions Stephanie Wechsler Bill Weihl Sustainability guru, Facebook Dave Welch Chief Technology Officer, Infinera Corporation Heidi Welch Donna Wengert-Neff Bob Williams General Partner, Bay Partners Diana Williams Cindy Winebaum Jake Winebaum Founder & CEO, Business.com, Inc. Robert Wright Principal/CEO, Marketing Arts, Inc. Stephanie Yulga Deitz Head of Lower School, Hillbrook Stephen Zimmerman
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