00:00recognizes Mr. Soto for five minutes of questions. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
00:06Major Holcomb, thanks for being here. I appreciate you coming to testify in support of the Florida
00:11Safe Seas Act. Have you seen a higher incidences in shark feeding lately in Florida? Thank you for
00:19the question and thank you for your work on this bill. We do appreciate it. The question was more
00:25shark feeding. Yeah, I've seen a high incidence of that. Obviously, that's what we've heard
00:29anecdotally, but you're on the front lines. So we're constantly working on education. You know,
00:33we do see shark feeding and we do try to have a pretty strong campaign to educate the public and
00:38divers. The importance of not doing that, enticing sharks with food. Obviously, we know that there's
00:43obvious dangers. Anytime you encounter any wildlife, particularly sharks in the water, you're enhancing
00:49the risk of a shark attack. So we try to have a heavy educational campaign on that and I think
00:54we've done a good job reaching out to the public through social media, through outreach events,
00:58and things like that. So you think if we could reduce feedings, then that will
01:04lessen the conditioning of sharks to interact with humans and especially in fishing and some of these
01:09other situations? Absolutely. Absolutely. Any extra layer of protection, you know, to not entice
01:16those sharks to come and associate humans with food, we think that's a step in the right direction.
01:21Thanks. Mr. Corwin, we're excited that you're in our home state of Florida.
01:27What have been some of the major observations you've seen about things like manatees and sailfish,
01:32swordfish, and some of the other issues that you've gotten to see while you've been there?
01:38Thank you very much for that question. And I spend a lot of my time in Florida, in Hope Sound,
01:44in South Florida. I spend a lot of my time in the Everglades. My underwriting partner are the
01:49Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida for our ABC series. We've done a lot of stories on sharks,
01:55which is such an important issue to me. Sharks are very critical to our oceans. And when you're not
02:02hand feeding sharks, you're not only protecting people, you're protecting sharks. There's kind of
02:08a saying in wildlife conservation, like anything that you feed will end up bad for that animal.
02:15So like a fed bear is a dead bear. And the same thing with sharks, it will lead to conflict.
02:22I have hope for manatees because of the work I've done with the conservationists in Florida.
02:27I just finished a big project with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,
02:32their leadership team on manatee conservation. And I have hope, because we need that hope,
02:39because the manatee population is in trouble. I think right now it's probably around six or 7,000
02:45animals. It's because of the ESA and the Marine Mammal Protection Act that they have that crossover
02:53conservation opportunity between those policies. And also, it really is incredible to see the
03:00partnership between the state agencies, the state universities, NGOs, with their federal partners,
03:06all coming together to protect manatees, because Florida manatees are the ultimate symbol of the
03:14watery ways of South Florida. And if we lose them, it's not only an incredible loss of wild legacy,
03:21it's a valuable revenue stream. People come from around the world to see manatees. Florida is the
03:28gateway adventure for people of all economic levels. Not everyone's going to go on a safari. Not everyone's
03:35going to go to see China, a panda bear. But a lot of people can go to Florida and see a gator and see a manatee,
03:41which it's so important that we protect Florida and its natural resources.
03:45Well, and we invite you up to Central Florida, too. It's a great part of the state with
03:51the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, huge bass fishing area, obviously lots of gators and
03:57bald eagles and things of that nature. And then the Indian River Lagoon, which is in the district next
04:01to mine, where you see a lot of strong efforts to try to improve the water there that is so critical
04:08for manatee habitat. Have you gotten a chance to go a little further north than that?
04:13I was just there. So I was working with this really cool project trying to save freshwater turtles from
04:20the impact of invasive species. As you know, invasive species are a world of hurt for South Florida.
04:26If you go to the Everglades, half the fish you're going to catch are from somewhere else. There'll
04:31be tilapia, there'll be cichlids, there'll be Oscars. So, and in that part of the region,
04:36we have challenges with water issues. And the biggest lesson I've learned in Florida
04:40is that it's all interconnected. What you do in a lake is going to affect a coral reef. And in Florida
04:46today, the only coral reefs in North America are in Florida, and less than 5% survive in an ecosystem
04:52that sustains 70% of all of marine life. And we're trying to hold on to the Great Florida
04:58Reef. We had a bipartisan bill a few years ago to fund it, but it's a big fight to keep that funding
05:05going. And with warming seas, that's a challenge too. And so we'll continue to work together. And I
05:10appreciate, gentlemen, both of your perspectives today.
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