Comment from Elizabeth Field

I mainly want to say that I learned more in a quick round table meeting AFTER the hearing than I did at the hearing - that's sad, don't you think ? - the program was full of information about monk seals and addressed nothing of the main concerns on the minds of many Hilo residents - when one man asked if we couldn't have people's questions presented to the entire room, he was unceremoniously shot down, given the excuse that it "didn't go well" when they tried that approach at another venue - he was told to wait until after the hearing to speak to NOAA individuals - WHAT ??- why did they have a meeting if people's concerns would not be addressed for the whole group to hear ? - I was lucky enough to be able to stay for another hour or so but most of the room could not, so the majority basically got nothing from their time spent there Also, NOAA sadly missed the mark as to the fact that the people most concerned here in Hilo are fishermen, surfers, people who are on the water literally every day - why didn't NOAA take the time to draft reports that addressed these different groups concerns and hand them out at that hearing ? Why haven't they bothered to sit down with the fishing groups and organizations in the area to make sure they know exactly how this will impact them ? Instead, the NOAA people who were there pointed out the many ways they "got the word out", basically like they were blaming the target audience for not making themselves aware of the hearing - again, WHAT ?? - how disrespectful is that to local natives with generations of families in Hilo ?? NOAA should be ashamed If you don't give respect, please don't expect to get respect - I thought the few fishermen who did make that hearing showed great restraint in the face of the lack of respect they were being shown - they asked direct questions and got anything but direct answers in return