Fish have been a staple in our diet and an important part of our country's economic engine since its beginning. In 2006 alone, recreational and commercial fishing activity supported more than 2 million jobs around the United States, and Americans spent more than $69 billion on seafood.
Unfortunately, we have been too lax about protecting our marine resources and the communities and jobs dependent on the ocean. A new bill in Congress, however — the Coastal Jobs Creation Act of 2010 — could help our coastal environment, as well as fishing communities — and the jobs they support — in the Gulf of Mexico and across the nation that have been hit hard by declining fish populations.
We've damaged our nation's fish populations by overfishing (taking more fish than nature can replenish), or by failing to protect the habitats fish need to survive. In the United States, nearly a quarter of our commercially important ocean fish populations — including some tuna, cod, flounder, snapper and grouper species — are severely depleted. The collapse of the salmon fishery along the Pacific Coast presents a compelling case in point.
Read the complete opinion piece from The Miami Herald.