Comment from Silvia Hall

I am writing in response to Proposed Rule, RIN 0648-AX85, Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Season and Retention Limit Adjustments. Please withdraw this misguided proposal and instead propose a prohibition on pelagic long-line fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Atlantic bluefin tuna populations are at all time lows. The western stock of mature Atlantic bluefin has declined 82 percent since 1970, yet your agency is proposing to increase the number of bluefin that can be caught and killed. Rather than increase the risk of collapse for this valuable species, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) should act now to protect western Atlantic bluefin tuna in their only known spawning ground: The Gulf of Mexico. On March 18, the world yet again failed to prohibit all international trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna through a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I listing. The Obama Administration had announced U.S. support for the proposal in advance of the CITES meeting, stating: "The U.S. government is committed to working with our many international partners to continue to rebuild Atlantic bluefin tuna and ensure sustained conservation and management of the species into the future." Unfortunately, your current proposal would break that commitment by allowing more killing of bluefin tuna here in the U.S. I urge NMFS to withdraw the current proposed rule and instead propose a prohibition on the use of surface long-lines to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna and other ocean wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.