WELCOME TO BILL'S CORNER!June 2004 | (archive)Dear Constituents: In continuing efforts to develop new and better ways to communicate with you, I am pleased to kick off this new forum called “Bill’s Corner,” a monthly e-note where I will highlight important fisheries issues and address public topics you might find interesting. I believe the most successful communication is open and honest dialogue, so I would like to start this inaugural message by thanking everyone who attended the constituent sessions I held last year. I enjoyed getting out into local communities around the country, meeting hundreds of you face-to-face, and hearing your concerns about the future of our oceans. Your energy and enthusiasm have been driving forces behind many changes currently underway at NOAA Fisheries. A synthesis report of the sessions has been finalized and posted online, and I welcome you to take a look at your suggestions and the changes we are making at NOAA Fisheries in response. Only through collaboration with our constituents can NOAA Fisheries continue to evolve and adapt to the changing world and needs of the American people. I want you to know I heard you, and I appreciate your ideas and suggestions. It seems fitting for me to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone for the tremendous progress we made in 2003 toward meeting our most important goal of rebuilding the nation’s fisheries. This week, we reported to Congress that four more fish stocks have been fully restored to sustainable population sizes, and that 10 are no longer overfished as they continue rebuilding. We have stopped overfishing activities on five stocks. While these numbers may seem small, they represent the largest annual rebuilding success to date. I have often said that NOAA Fisheries is making steady and cumulative progress, but this year’s achievement was a large leap ahead. I look forward to reporting similar progress next year when we release our 2004 numbers. The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy report recently highlighted some major global ocean problems, but it stopped short of informing Americans that U.S. fisheries are on the rebound. We have come a long way in other areas as well, such as bycatch reduction and fishery habitat protection. Though we have a lot of work ahead of us, we are succeeding. Our goals are within reach. Please look on our Web site for new postings from me during the middle of each month. Some upcoming issues I will address include seafood and healthy diets, sustainable seafood choices, managing fisheries through litigation, negative rhetoric in the media, and recreational data collection. Until July, please stay safe, and thank you for your high level of support and confidence in our role as stewards of America’s ocean resources.
 Bill Hogarth Director, National Marine Fisheries Service References Constituent Sessions Synthesis Report: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/PartnershipsCommunications/constituentsessions/docs/synthesisreport.pdf Status of Stocks Report to Congress (2003):
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