I support the petition to enact a moratorium on purse seine landings by the Menhaden reduction fleet in the Chesapeake Bay. I believe that the recommendations promote the general welfare of the seafood industry and conserve and promote the seafood and marine resources of the Commonwealth. My particular concern is that Menhaden play an important role in the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The Commonwealth has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years supporting actions aimed at restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay in both the private and municipal sectors, only for those same actions to be potentially undermined by the harvest of menhaden by the reduction fleet. The allowance of menhaden reduction within bay waters and near the shoreline is a slap in the face to Virginians whose tax dollars support Bay restoration efforts and makes every dollar we spend potentially less effective. In order to support the efficient use of capital towards restoration of a public resource, end socialistic subsidization of a limited private industry, and to support economic diversity it is in the interest of the Commission and the Commonwealth to enact the recommendations in this petition.