recreational fishing in order to ensure that seafood will remain safe for consumers. that is slightly more than 22% of the federal waters in the waters of the gulf of mexico. a closure of this size is bound to have devastating impact on the fisheries in the gulf where commercial fishermen harvested more than 1 billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2008. on monday, secretary of commerce gary locke determined that there had been a fishery disaster in the gulf of mexico due to the economic impact on commercial and recreation fisheries. the affected area includes the states of louisiana, mississippi and alabama. this determination allows the federal government to provide assistance to affected fishermen and local communities under the magazi magnason conservation act. the administration requested 15 million in supplemental appropriations under the magnason-stevens act while emphasizing these funds will onlye used as a last resort. gentlemen lady s time has expired. i thank