[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO VERNON MINTON, DIRECTOR OF THE ALABAMA MARINE RESOURCES 
                                DIVISION

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 16, 2011

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Mr. Vernon Minton, 
one of the best friends of Alabama's Gulf Coast recreational and 
commercial fishermen, who recently passed away at the untimely age of 
61. Vern Minton was a major force behind protecting and building 
Alabama's coastal fisheries and his loss will be sorely felt.
  A graduate of Auburn University where he earned a master's degree in 
biology, Vern Minton began his life's work as a steward of Alabama's 
coastal fisheries in 1978 at the state Department of Conservation and 
Natural Resources. For the next 32 years, Mr. Minton would have 
increasing impact upon the science and the quality of Alabama's marine 
life. He assisted in the development of techniques for raising many 
species of fish and authored papers on raising marine animals in 
captivity.
  By December 1990, Vern Minton was appointed director of the Marine 
Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation which 
manages estuaries and saltwater resources along the state's Gulf Coast. 
He is credited with both the modernization of his department's 
enforcement methods as well as the creation of the state's inshore and 
offshore artificial reef programs.
  Although Alabama has the smallest seacoast of the Gulf states, fish 
stocks in our state waters are robust, thanks to the leadership of Vern 
Minton. As a member of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 
he was a consistent voice for the need of updated data to accurately 
calculate red snapper populations and set snapper fishing limits.
  On behalf of the people of Alabama and the Gulf Coast who have 
benefitted from Vern's efforts to enhance and protect our marine life, 
I wish to extend my condolences to his wife Sharon; their children, 
Randal and Kristen; grandchild, T.J., and all their family and friends. 
You are each in our thoughts and prayers.

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