Comment from Seasider Charters LLC

I am the owner of Seasider Charters LLC, a local ecotourism business that operates in the regional coastal environment of the proposed area. I strongly oppose the potential commercial mineral leasing offshore Virginia. Seasider Charters is an ecotour guide company that is dependent on the conservation of the Virginia Coast Reserve and seeks to uphold the years of conservation efforts that help maintain a stable ecosystem for important marine habitat and biological diversity. Excavation of bottom sediments and extraction of minerals would destroy the marine resources of this area, change the biological characteristics of the seafloor, and cause many adverse impacts to our marine fisheries and all species dependent on this fishery. As a Virginia certified ecotour guide, this level of extraction and disruption to the marine environment in which I work would negatively impact my business, impact my ability to make a living, and impact my ability to continue providing my customers a coastal experience in a pristine marine environment. Areas of this seafloor were degraded by industrial bottom trawling in the past and adversely impacted our fishery. Seafloor habitat takes years to recover and recovery is dependent on healthy bottom sediments. BOEM should deny Odyssey Marine Exploration’s unsolicited request for a mineral lease sale offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia. We need to continue protecting our marine habitat for its natural purpose and habitat. Captain Tom Burkett Seasider Charters LLC