West Coast Seafood Processors Association Archives

Grant funding takes West Coast sardine study to next level

May 21, 2020 — The following was released by the West Coast Seafood Processors Association:

A research project started by a Pacific Northwest seafood company and a nonprofit group over coffee with researchers will get $295,800 in federal funding to continue its work. The collaborative survey data will help inform sardine stock assessments and improve the understanding of other coastal pelagic species such as herring, anchovies and mackerel.

Ocean Gold Seafood, based in Westport, Wash., was awarded a Saltonstall-Kennedy grant on behalf of the West Coast Pelagic Conservation Group to continue a collaborative project that will benefit the seafood industry and scientific data collection process. The grants, commonly referred to as S-K grants, are used to fund projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable. The survey includes industry vessels and National Marine Fisheries Service and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife researchers and personnel.

“We learned a lot though this collaborative process,” Ocean Gold Chief Operations Officer Greg Shaughnessy said. “The survey itself is an intricate and energized dance of scientific procedures all happening in real time and at once. The team is professional. I have fished over 50 years, but I learned more about the sardine and other coastal pelagic species than I ever imagined.”

Shaughnessy said the survey was necessary to access some areas nearshore.

“The coastal pelagics industry realized we needed a boat on the water to help assess the shallower areas that the deeper draft federal research vessels couldn’t access,” Shaugnessy said. “We all had open minds and worked together with state and federal scientists to acquire the best available data for the sardine stock assessment.”

The project, “Utilize an Industry-Seine Fishing Vessel to Enhance Data Collection and Improve Assessment of Pacific Coast Coastal Pelagic Species for the Benefit of the Fishing Industry and Fishing Communities,” builds on past proof-of-concept research projects in which the West Coast Pelagic group started to help assess the nearshore stocks. These shallower areas are habitat for large volumes of sardines and other pelagic fish.

Read the full release here

Seafood industry seeks to weather coronavirus

May 19, 2020 — Two of the North Coast’s largest seafood processors have reopened in time for one of Oregon’s biggest fisheries after an outbreak of the coronavirus among workers.

Pacific Seafood in Warrenton and Bornstein Seafoods in Astoria are returning to business with numerous safety precautions in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

Fishing, an industry that always juggles some degree of uncertainty even in the best conditions, now faces many more unknowns because of the coronavirus.

“The whole thing is a nightmare,” said Lori Steele, the executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association.

Read the full story at The Astorian

Saving Seafood Coalition Members Thank Rep. Jared Huffman for Fisheries Listening Sessions

January 8, 2020 — The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) would like to thank Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) and the members of the House Natural Resources Committee for their work in 2019 hosting their series of listening sessions on the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). NCFC members from across the country have participated in the sessions, bringing the concerns of the fishing industry directly into the MSA reauthorization process. NCFC looks forward to continue working with the Committee on MSA in 2020.

The listening sessions, which began in October with two days of hearings in Northern California and continued with additional hearings in Seattle and Baltimore, are gathering input on the state of U.S. fisheries from fishermen and other stakeholders. At each stop, fishermen have shared with the committee how current fisheries management is working—and how it can be reformed.

In Arcata, California, Wayne Heikkila, Executive Director of the Western Fishboat Owners Association (WFOA) discussed funding and science issues, as well as the need to distinguish between fish stocks that are actually experiencing overfishing and those that are depleted due to other causes. WFOA is a non-profit association representing albacore troll-vessel owners and supporting businesses in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.

In San Francisco, Mike Conroy, founder of West Coast Fisheries Consultants, discussed the need for better science to help fill data gaps, and how increased collaboration with the industry could help address this shortcoming.

In Seattle, Lori Steele, Executive Director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association (WCSPA) told the committee about the need for additional flexibility in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, while still honoring the Act’s conservation goals. The hearing also discussed how to meet the long-term needs of fishing communities, especially in the face of climate change. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, WCSPA members are shore-based processors of fish and shellfish in Washington, Oregon and California.

In Baltimore, Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association (GSSA) informed the committee on key successes protecting forage species and adopting protections for critical coral habitats in the Mid-Atlantic. He raised concerns over the impacts of overly precautionary approach to the MSA has led to underfishing of fish stocks. Specifically, he noted that risk-adverse management has led to unpredictable quotas, stemming from fluctuating estimates of scientific uncertainty. GSSA represents fishing industry members who sustainably harvest seafood from New Jersey’s inshore & offshore waters.

“We have been testifying since 2009 on the unintended consequences of the 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,” said Greg DiDomenico. “As part of these hearings we’ve provided the Chairman with 10 years worth of written testimony so that we can finally fix these issues in the next update to MSA.”

West Coast rockfish population rebuild project a success, NOAA says

May 15, 2019 — West Coast fishing communities earned millions of dollars from a trial program allowing fishermen to cash in on rebounding rockfish populations, NOAA announced last month.

Exempted fishing permits (EFPs) were granted to a number of vessels under the trial period, which brought in almost 14 million pounds of fish, with the aim being taking some of the strain off overfished species such as salmon. The catch brought in USD 5.5 million (EUR 4.9 million) in additional revenue, according to Lori Steele, the executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association.

“We were eager for groundfish vessels to take advantage of healthy stocks and high quotas as quickly as possible while being sensitive to the need to minimize interactions with salmon and other protected species,” Steele said. “NOAA Fisheries stepped up and helped us design this EFP to provide fishing opportunities and collect important information the agency needed.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Rebounding Populations and New Flexibility Boost Catches by West Coast Groundfish Fleet

April 16, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

A trial effort that gave West Coast trawl fishermen new flexibility in how they fish helped them take advantage of rebounding rockfish numbers to catch almost 14 million pounds of fish in 2018 while still protecting salmon and other species.

The additional catches brought about $5.5 million in additional revenue to West Coast communities, according to NOAA Fisheries’ estimates.

The initiative made use of exempted fishing permits, or EFPs, which allow NOAA Fisheries to temporarily exempt certain vessels from certain fishing restrictions to test new fishing gear or methods. The trial period also helps NOAA Fisheries determine whether to adopt these changes on a larger scale and create new regulations based on the results.

“We were eager for groundfish vessels to take advantage of healthy stocks and high quotas as quickly as possible while being sensitive to the need to minimize interactions with salmon and other protected species,” said Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, which joined other industry groups in proposing the pilot effort. “NOAA Fisheries stepped up and helped us design this EFP to provide fishing opportunities and collect important information the agency needed.”

Read the full release here

West Coast Trawlers see Highest Groundfish Landings Since 2000 with Rockfish Resurgence

February 13, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Call it a rockfish resurgence — West Coast trawlers and processors are seeing the highest landings in groundfish since 2000, thanks in part to an ongoing exempted fishing permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service. At the same time, rockfish stocks are growing.

The EFP has allowed West Coast trawl fishermen to test changes in the fishery that increased their catch by more than 14 million pounds of fish in 2018, an increase of 300 percent from 2017.

The National Marine Fisheries Service issues EFPs exempting vessels from certain regulations on a trial basis to promote new gear types or methods, and allow industry to work cooperatively with the government and contribute to the scientific knowledge of the fishery and potential changes in regulations. Participating fishermen are able to harvest millions of pounds of abundant rockfish, allowing processors to stock retail markets and provide consumers with fresh, sustainable product – all with minimal bycatch of vulnerable species. Fishing under the EFP brought in roughly $5.5 million in additional revenue in 2018, according to National Marine Fisheries Service statistics.

The EFP program built on success from a similar permit in 2017, and the industry is off to a running start with this year’s EFP: More than 1 million pounds of groundfish have been landed under the EFP in January. Last year, 2018, the industry had the highest non-whiting groundfish landings since 2000, when several species were listed as overfished.

The EFPs follow the 2011 implementation of a catch share program for the West Coast groundfish fishery that substantially reduced discards of fish. Catch limits for several rockfish species have also increased dramatically as stocks listed as overfished have rebuilt. The industry tried for years to get archaic pre-catch shares trawl regulations abolished since fishermen were independently accountable for their catch and bycatch under the quota program. Finally, in 2016, the Pacific Fishery Management Council and NMFS worked with industry to identify trawl gear regulations that were obsolete.

The seafood industry was anxious to remove gear restrictions as the health of groundfish stocks improved, and because it would help assess potential impacts to salmon and other protected species. Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association; Brad Pettinger, former director of the Oregon Trawl Commission; Shems Jud, Pacific regional director, oceans program, Environmental Defense Fund; and Mike Okoniewski of Pacific Seafood; first applied for the EFP in 2016.

“We were eager for groundfish vessels to take advantage of healthy stocks and high quotas as quickly as possible while being sensitive to the need to minimize interactions with salmon and other protected species; NMFS stepped up and helped us design this EFP to provide fishing opportunities and collect important information the agency needed,” Steele, also the EFP coordinator, said.

NMFS was amenable to developing an EFP that would allow the industry to catch more fish while also providing insight into how regulatory changes would actually work with a subset of vessels before they were implemented throughout the entire fishery. NOAA Fisheries used data gathered from the 2017 and 2018 EFPs to permanently revise the trawl gear regulations for the start of the 2019 fishing year.

“The EFP provided the fishing community the flexibility to benefit from the rebound in many West Coast rockfish stocks, while continuing to protect those stocks and other vulnerable species such as salmon that need it,” said Ryan Wulff, Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries in NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. “The results were just as we hoped: a more productive fishery, increased revenue, and improved regulatory flexibility for the fleet.”

Now, with the third year of the EFP program just getting under way, more than a dozen groundfish fishermen are filling their fish holds, processors are hiring workers and the government is getting much-needed information about the impacts of adjusting gear regulations. While the seafood industry worked hard to regain its foothold in markets and provide the public with fresh West Coast rockfish on menus and in stores, it was possible only because NMFS worked with industry to issue the EFPs. It’s a win-win-win-win. And based on the EFP results thus far, the future is looking bright for the groundfish fishery, the EFP applicants said in a press release.

“This EFP has been a remarkable success – millions of pounds of sustainable rockfish landed with almost no bycatch,” Jud said. “NMFS’ recent adoption of changes to trawl gear regulations will enshrine some of the benefits of the EFP, securing greater revenue for fishermen and processors and more abundant rockfish on menus and in seafood markets for consumers to enjoy.”

Of course, big projects like this one aren’t done in a vacuum. The applicants credit both NMFS and the West Coast lawmakers for getting the EFP approved.

“This EFP shows the value of diverse collaboration for solving complex issues,” Okoniewski said. “The genesis for the EFP originated in a conversation among [NMFS West Coast Regional Administrator] Barry Thom, Shems Jud, and me. Brad [Pettinger] became the data expert and adviser. The professional construction of the EFP itself was done by Lori who drove it across the finish line.”

The support of 13 lawmakers was instrumental in getting the project started. Reps. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore.; Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.; Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.; Jared Huffman, D-Calif.; Derek Kilmer, D-Wash.; Denny Heck, D-Wash.; Greg Walden, R-Ore.; Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.; Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore; and Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., all signed a letter supporting the trawl gear changes.

“This EFP is a collaborative success amongst processors, fishermen, an ENGO and National Marine Fisheries Service that added millions to our fishermen’s incomes, created processor jobs, and brought a great U.S. seafood item to the American consumer,” Okoniewski said.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Seafood Industry Harvests Success with Ongoing Pilot Program

February 12, 2019 — The following was released by the West Coast Seafood Processors Association:

An exempted fishing permit (EFP) program allowed West Coast trawl fishermen and processors to test changes in the fishery that increased their catch by more than 14 million pounds of fish in 2018 – an increase of 300 percent from 2017.

NOAA Fisheries issues EFPs, exempting vessels from certain regulations on a trial basis to promote the testing of new gear types or methods, allow industry to work cooperatively with the government and contribute to the scientific knowledge of the fishery and potential changes in regulations. Participating fishermen are able to harvest millions of pounds of delicious and abundant rockfish, allowing processors to stock retail markets and provide consumers with fresh, sustainable product – all with minimal bycatch of sensitive salmon stocks and certain fish species that aren’t as robust. Fishing under the EFP brought in about $5.5 million in additional revenue in 2018, according to National Marine Fisheries Service statistics.

The EFP program built on success from a similar permit in 2017, and we are off to a running start with this year’s EFP: More than 1 million pounds of groundfish have been landed under the EFP in January. Last year, non-whiting groundfish landings, at more than 66 million pounds, were the highest since the 2000 groundfish disaster when roughly 68 million pounds were landed. The average in the intervening years was around 45 million pounds and the low point was around 38 million pounds. When whiting is included, 2018 landings are the second highest on record, eclipsed only by 2017.

The EFPs follow NOAA Fisheries’ 2011 adoption of a catch share program for the West Coast groundfish fishery that substantially reduced discards of fish. Catch limits for several rockfish species have also increased dramatically. NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Management Council worked with industry to identify regulations on the use and configuration of trawl gear that were no longer necessary under catch shares.

The seafood industry was anxious to remove gear restrictions as the health of groundfish stocks improved, and because it would help assess potential impacts to salmon and other protected species. Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association; Brad Pettinger, former director of the Oregon Trawl Commission; Shems Jud, Pacific Regional Director, Oceans Program, Environmental Defense Fund; and Mike Okoniewski of Pacific Seafood; first applied for the EFP in 2016.

“We were eager for groundfish vessels to take advantage of healthy stocks and high quotas as quickly as possible while being sensitive to the need to minimize interactions with salmon and other protected species; NMFS stepped up and helped us design this EFP to provide fishing opportunities and collect important information the agency needed,” Steele, also the EFP coordinator, said.

NOAA Fisheries was amenable to developing an EFP that would allow the industry to catch more fish while also providing insight into how regulatory changes would actually work with a subset of vessels before they were implemented throughout the entire fishery. NOAA Fisheries used data gathered from the 2017 and 2018 EFPs to permanently revise the trawl gear regulations for the start of the 2019 fishing year.

Of course, big projects like this one aren’t done in a vacuum. The applicants credit both NOAA Fisheries and the West Coast lawmakers for getting the EFP approved.

Modern Fish Act passes House: Industry wonders what happened to Magnuson?

December 21, 2018 — The U.S. House voted to pass the Modern Fish Act on Wednesday, just two days after the Senate approved it unanimously, swiftly sending the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature.

The “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act,” or S.1520, has been the subject of debate and compromise among lawmakers, commercial and recreational fishing interests, and environmentalists for months.

The National Coalition for Fishing Communities released a statement on Thursday denouncing the quick passage of the bill and cementing their earlier support for Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, H.R. 200, that was passed over earlier this year.

Unfortunately, the Senate failed to take up the House bill, and instead took up S.1520, the “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act,” read the statement. “In its original form, S.1520 faced widespread opposition from both commercial fishing and environmental groups. After its most controversial components were either totally removed or substantially weakened, it moved forward in the Senate and passed the House yesterday.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Modern Fish Act Falls Short: Full Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Still Needed

December 20, 2018 — The following was released by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

In June, members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities wrote to Congressional leadership in support of H.R. 200, the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. That bill, championed by Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska), would have addressed the concerns of the commercial fishing industry by allowing more flexibility in management, eliminating arbitrary rebuilding timelines, and adding other reforms to better take into account the complex challenges facing commercial fishermen.

Unfortunately, the Senate failed to take up the House bill, and instead took up S.1520, the “Modernizing Recreational Fishing Management Act.” In its original form, S.1520 faced widespread opposition from both commercial fishing and environmental groups. After its most controversial components were either totally removed or substantially weakened, it moved forward in the Senate and passed the House yesterday.

S.1520 is an amendment to, but not a reauthorization of, the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Commercial fishing interests, recreational interests, and environmental groups all agree that the Magnuson-Stevens Act should, as the Environmental Defense Fund recently noted, “be recognized as one of the most successful conservation statutes ever enacted.” But no law is perfect, and there are still reforms that need to be addressed.

“We certainly hope the passage of this bill doesn’t reduce the incentive for the 116th Congress to work with the seafood industry on legislation to reauthorize the MSA in ways that will enhance the law and benefit fishing communities throughout the U.S.,” said Lori Steele, Executive Director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association in Portland, Oregon. “The need for such legislation remains.”

“The enormous amount of energy spent working to turn S.1520 from a widely opposed bill to a diminished version just so it could make it through the Senate would have been better spent on crafting a helpful Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization,” said Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director of the Garden State Seafood Association in New Jersey. “If the President signs this bill into law, the best outcome might be that the public may get a better sense of the significant catch and discard mortality associated with recreational fishing, but the bill does not get us the real reform that both industries need.”

“Any Magnuson-Stevens re-authorization should include two goals,” said David Krebs, president of Ariel Seafoods Inc. in Destin, Florida and a board member of the Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance. “The ten national standards must be maintained, and provisions should be included to ensure balance between commercial and recreational interests on the eight fishery management councils.”

Ms. Steele and Mr. DiDomenico both testified before the Senate this year in favor of needed improvements to the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Some of the crucial issues addressed in HR 200, and that were not addressed by the Senate include:

1) Eliminating the 10-year time requirement for rebuilding fisheries and replacing it with a biologically based time frame. This will allow the Regional Fishery Management Councils (RFMCs) to determine the optimal path and duration for stock rebuilding.

2) Modifying requirements for annual catch limits (ACLs) to allow RFMCs to consider ecosystem changes and the needs of fishing communities when establishing ACLs. In light of changing environmental conditions and the role of the environment in fisheries recruitment, these considerations make both scientific and common sense.

3) Using the term “depleted” instead of “overfished” throughout the Act is a simple yet very important change that will allow the Secretary of Commerce to more accurately characterize stock condition not based solely on fishing mortality. The term “overfished” is perceived negatively and can unfairly implicate the industry for stock conditions resulting from other factors.

4) Maintaining the requirement for a transparent referendum process before any new catch share program can be implemented in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions to ensure the industry has a role in determining its future.

National Coalition for Fishing Communities: An Open Letter to America’s Chefs

October 31, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Members of the National Coalition for Fishing Communities have long believed that the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) is one of the great success stories in fisheries management. Originally co-sponsored in the House over 40 years ago by Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and Gerry Studds (D-Massachusetts), the MSA has become a worldwide model, and is one of the reasons the U.S. has some of the best-managed and most sustainable fish stocks in the world. The bill is named for its Senate champions, Warren Magnuson (D-Washington) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).

But we are concerned by a new “nationwide #ChefsForFish campaign targeted at the new 2019 Congress, to launch after the elections in early November,” being organized by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which the Aquarium calls the “next phase” of its “defense” of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Monterey Bay Aquarium described this campaign in an October 25 email sent to its “Blue Ribbon Task Force chefs.” The email asked this network of chefs to support the “Portland Pact for Sustainable Seafood” (attached).

On the surface, the Portland Pact matter-of-factly states sound principles:

“Requiring management decisions be science-based;
Avoiding overfishing with catch limits and tools that hold everyone accountable for the fish that they remove from the ocean; and
Ensuring the timely recovery of depleted fish stocks.”

However, in the last Congress, the Monterey Bay Aquarium used similar language to falsely characterize legitimate attempts to pass needed improvements to the MSA as betraying these principles. In fact, these changes would have made the landmark law even better.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has repeatedly called on Congress to reject efforts, such as H.R. 200, which passed the U.S. House in July, and was sponsored by the now Dean of the House Don Young, that would amend the Act to introduce needed updates for U.S. fisheries management. If the chefs being asked to sign onto the Portland Pact were to talk to our fishermen, they would know how important these reforms are for the health of our nation’s fishing communities.

Any suggestion that the original co-sponsor of the bill would, 40 years later, act to undermine America’s fisheries, is inappropriate. In fact, most of the “fishing groups” that opposed Congressman Young’s bill, are financially supported by environmental activists and their funders.

No legislation, no matter how well designed is perfect or timeless. In fact, Congress has twice made significant revisions to the MSA, first in 1996 with the passage of the Sustainable Fisheries Act and in 2007 with the MSA Reauthorization Act. Like many other valued and successful laws, the Magnuson-Stevens Act is both working well, and in need of updates.

We agree that “management decisions be science-based.” One of the most significant issues with the current MSA is that it requires that fish stocks be rebuilt according to rigid, arbitrary timeframes that have no scientific or biological basis. Bills like H.R. 200, officially the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, would instead require that stocks be rebuilt according to an appropriate biological timeframe determined by the regional councils that manage the stocks.

H.R. 200 would also introduce other important measures that would better allow the councils to adapt their management plans to fit changing ecological conditions and the needs of fishing communities, which will become increasingly important as our coastal areas experience the effects of climate change.

American fishermen, like many American chefs, are committed to sustainable fishing and healthy oceans. Our businesses need sustainable, abundant fish stocks for us to make a living, and we all want a thriving resource that we can pass down to the next generation. We would never endorse a law that would threaten the long-term survival of our environment or our industry. That is why we endorse changes to the MSA that would ensure both.

We ask that any chef who is considering signing onto the Monterey Bay Aquarium letter to Congress first consult the local fishermen who supply them with fresh, quality products to learn how this law affects their communities.

NCFC members are available to connect chefs with seafood industry leaders, who would be happy to discuss how the MSA can be updated to help both fish and fishermen.

Sincerely,

Alliance of Communities for Sustainable Fisheries
Kathy Fosmark, Co-Chair
CA

Atlantic Red Crab Company
Jon Williams, President
MA

California Wetfish Producers Association
Diane Pleschner-Steele
CA

Delmarva Fisheries Association
Capt. Rob Newberry, Chairman
MD, VA

Fishermen’s Dock Co-Op
Jim Lovgren, Board Member
NJ

Garden State Seafood Association
Greg DiDomenico, Executive Director
NJ

Hawaii Longline Association
Sean Martin, Executive Director
HI

Long Island Commercial Fishermen’s Association
Bonnie Brady, Executive Director
NY

Lunds Fisheries, Inc.
Wayne Reichle, President
CA, NJ

Rhode Island Fishermen’s Alliance
Rich Fuka, Executive Director
RI

Seafreeze, Ltd.
Meghan Lapp, Fisheries Liaison
RI

Southeastern Fisheries Association
Bob Jones, Executive Director
FL

Viking Village
Jim Gutowski, Owner
NJ

West Coast Seafood Processors Association
Lori Steele, Executive Director
CA, WA, OR

Western Fishboat Owners Association
Wayne Heikkila, Executive Director
AK, CA, OR, WA

PRESS CONTACT

Bob Vanasse
bob@savingseafood.org
202-333-2628

View the letter here