[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 95 (Friday, June 28, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1008]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN HONOR OF DR. CHRIS GODDARD FOR HIS EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE TO THE GREAT 
                                 LAKES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 28, 2013

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, as co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force, 
I rise today to honor Dr. Chris Goddard, executive secretary of the 
Great Lakes Fishery Commission, who retires this month after nearly 20 
years of exceptional service to the organization and a career of 
commitment to the health of our treasured Great Lakes.
  The Great Lakes Fishery Commission is a U.S./Canadian institution 
established by the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries, a treaty 
between the two nations. Under the treaty, the commission advances 
science; helps the States, the province of Ontario, and the U.S. tribes 
work together to manage the Great Lakes fishery; and carries out the 
essential sea lamprey control program, an effort upon which the very 
existence of the $7 billion Great Lakes fishery depends.
  Because the commission stands alone in the Great Lakes basin as the 
locus for multilateral fishery management, its executive secretary must 
be a savvy leader and must motivate cooperation. Chris is enthusiastic, 
passionate, dedicated to the institution, committed to science, and 
driven by a deep-seated motivation to simply do what is right for the 
Great Lakes.
  During his tenure, Chris led the commission into the new millennium 
with a positive vision for the future of the fishery and a plan to 
create a commission capable of responding to the basin's biggest 
challenges. He made it a priority to acquire the funds necessary to 
increase the control of sea lamprey--a destructive, invasive fish that 
changed the way of life in the basin but is now suppressed by 90 
percent. In doing so, he helped create the conditions necessary for a 
thriving and healthy fishery. Perhaps most notably, he helped the 
commission make prominent and essential contributions to the 
President's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by focusing commission 
projects on native species recovery and invasive species control.
  Chris' time at the commission is the culmination of a long and 
productive career. A native of Canada, he grew up in Virginia Beach 
(his father was stationed there while serving NATO), was educated in 
Toronto, and managed Ontario's fishery assessment, fishery research, 
client services, and remote sensing programs. He was the district 
manager of Algonquin Provincial Park and was responsible for Canada's 
freshwater fishery program. I am proud to note that he lives and works 
in Ann Arbor, Michigan, part of my district.
  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Chris Goddard is largely responsible for the active, 
vibrant, and respected Great Lakes Fishery Commission that we see 
today. I honor Chris for all he has done for the commission, for the 
two nations, and for the Great Lakes. Please join me in thanking Chris 
for his unparalleled leadership. We wish him well in his retirement.

                          ____________________