53 



stock can only be efTectively managed if the management measures are applied 

 equally and uniformly throughout the range of the resource. Efforts must be made 

 to balance the sovereignty concerns with this scientific fact. 



The United States, being both a Coastal Nation and a DWFN for tunas, is in a 

 unique position to effect the outcome of this issue at the UN Conference. To date, 

 the U.S. position has been steadfast that any agreed upon management principles 

 or measures for highly migratory fish stocks must be applied uniformly throughout 

 the range of the resource. We support the U.S. position and submit that there is 

 really no viable alternative for the effective management of this valuable resource. 



Senator Kerry. Thank you very much, Mr. Burney. Mr. Kaelin. 



STATEMENT OF JEFFREY H. KAELIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 



MAINE SARDINE COUNCIL 



Mr. Kaelin. My name is Jeff Kaelin and I am executive director 

 of the Maine Sardine Council. I am also here today representing 

 the Associated Fisheries of Maine. I appreciate the opportunity to 

 be here to provide you with our views about U.S. membership in 

 NAFO, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization. Today's 

 hearing has also given me the opportunity to consider our lack of 

 support for joining NAFO against the related issues of U.S. imple- 

 mentation of the FAO Flagging Agreement and the ongoing U.N. 

 Conference on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks we 

 have heard so much about this morning. 



The lack of support for joining NAFO in our region comes from 

 the realization that NAFO is not a straddling stocks regime. Fish- 

 eries resources under NAFO jurisdiction are not resources which 

 are also under the jurisdiction of the New England Fisheries Man- 

 agement Council. NAFO membership, it is believe, could drain 

 scarce fisheries research and enforcement resources from the Gulf 

 of Maine and Georges Bank area. 



While some of the fishing grounds within NAFO jurisdiction are 

 U.S. historical fishing grounds, we do not believe that NAFO mem- 

 bership will ultimately lead to allowing Maine groundfish vessels 

 to regain access to these areas. During the past several years, as 

 this issue has been discussed time and time again, NAFO coun- 

 tries, under Canadian leadership, have not been able to offer even 

 the smallest fishing quota in return for U.S. participation in the or- 

 ganization. 



While a few Maine boats did fish in the NAFO area immediately 

 after the World Court gave nearly one-third of Georges Bank to 

 Canada in 1984, taking no more than 4,000 or 5,000 metric tons 

 of fish annually, these explorations produce limited amounts of 

 marginal quality product and negative balance sheets. This fishery 

 is not in these boats' business plans today. Instead, cooperative 

 management efforts with Canada focusing on Atlantic herring, cod, 

 and haddock — true straddling stocks of the U.S. and Canadian 

 EEZ's — are ongoing today. We believe that these efforts should be 

 built upon to ensure the development of sustainable cross-border 

 fisheries in our region. 



Turning to the flagging agreement and the straddling stocks con- 

 vention, it is important for the committee to understand that our 

 day-to-day fisheries management focus is not on FAO and U.N. ne- 

 gotiations, but on our coastal fisheries problems and opportunities, 

 with significant time commitments dedicated to New England 



