28 



I should say that many of the activities that our laboratories do 

 are region-specific, and that is one reason that we have regional 

 laboratories. 



I should also say that in recent years we have seen some very 

 good cooperation, for example with the fisheries oceanography ac- 

 tivity that has gone on in Seattle between the fisheries lab and the 

 Pacific Marine Environmental Lab, where we are looking at the en- 

 vironmental conditions on the Alaskan pollack, and so we have 

 some very good examples of collaboration. But we are in fact con- 

 ducting — just starting — a review of the science that we have to try 

 to answer that question. 



Senator Kerry. Fair enough. Well, again, I think that might be 

 something that we want to try to get a sense of. I do not know how 

 rapidly that could be done in the context of this budget. 



If I could also ask Dr. Foster or Mr. Hall, what are we looking 

 at now, as we go down the road here, for the New England ground- 

 fish fishery? Can you give me a sense of that? 



Mr. Hall. Senator, as you know, the council is now meeting on 

 amendment 5. They are working, and I think that is what will be 

 the next big test of what happens in New England. We are working 

 with the council to make some decisions that may be difficult, but 

 will be absolutely necessary for the long-term good of this fishery. 



As we go into that, some of the things that we are looking at are 

 ways to deal with the whole problem, and not just deal with the 

 management issues. We are exploring a number of options inside 

 NMFS and in other parts of Commerce, and working with the eco- 

 nomic development agencies in Commerce to deal with some of the 

 problems that will be involved in that. 



Senator Kerry. Well, we talked about that at the meeting that 

 you and I had in my office. Picking up on Senator Stevens' concern 

 that he expressed about the economics of fisheries in Alaska, this 

 is going to be a universal problem. 



We really need in short order to come up with some kind of pro- 

 posal, notwithstanding other budget problems, that provides some 

 help to these fishermen who we all want to have fishing 9 or 10 

 years from now, and catching more fish. There has to be some way 

 to help them through the storm. 



Mr. Hall. Senator, we are in the process of having a number of 

 internal meetings at this point, and I think we would like an op- 

 portunity to meet with you and your staff to go over some of those 

 ideas in the next few weeks. 



Senator Kerry. I appreciate that very much. I look forward to 

 working with you, and recognize that we have a very tough prob- 

 lem to try to work through. 



We are anxious to try to help you. First, I think it is essential 

 to get a handle on how we are going to deal with the investment 

 package shortfall and begin to get a sense of how we arrive at a 

 budget that works within the caps or changes the cap. I know you 

 want to do that. 



We will do the best we can. Senator Stevens who thankfully is 

 also on the Appropriations Committee can and has been very help- 

 ful to us, so we will try to work together. I thank him for chairing 

 for a moment. 



