8 



New Bedford will be loaned out quickly and we'll probably need a 

 whole lot more. 



I would encourage you to make more funds available when the 

 time comes, and it probably will be sooner than we think. 



Last, I just want to let you know that fishermen here in New 

 Bedford really do need some form of simple financial assistance. All 

 they want to do is go fishing and pay their bills. Others who are 

 unemployed simply want money to live on and get new jobs. If we 

 can make this possible, they will go back to work again, they'll con- 

 tinue to fish again. 



There's a lot of serious concerns in this industry, and what we 

 need right now is money directly to ease these burdens, not Gov- 

 ernment redtape filled with extensive mindboggling requirements. 



I thank you for your consideration and all your help. 



Senator Kerry. Thank you very much. Bob. 



STATEMENT OF ROBERT K. GRIFFITH, CHIEF, OFFICE OF 

 STRATEGIC PLANNING, RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF 

 ADMINISTRATION 



Mr. Griffith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



I, too, appreciate the opportunity to represent the people of 

 Rhode Island who are involved directly and indirectly in this indus- 

 try. I'll try to tailor my remarks and trim them further. 



I will echo many of the things that Gary has already said. I am 

 lately come to this issue and am not an expert on fisheries manage- 

 ment, but I may venture some opinions during the discussion 

 phase. My primary role is as staff director to a State effort to re- 

 spond to this issue, and that's where I'll focus my attention. 



We, in Rhode Island, appreciate the efforts and the assistance 

 that have been offered, and if my remarks sound like a laundry list 

 of problems and negative, they are not intended in that fashion. My 

 purpose is to point out areas where we can improve rather than 

 just to harp at shortcomings. 



One of the concerns that has been expressed by a number of peo- 

 ple, yourself included, is that this is a regional issue, and we need 

 to be responding to it in a regional fashion. 



Since March, I've been logging about 1,000 miles a month travel- 

 ing on this issue alone, and getting to other States and meeting 

 with folks. What I find is that meaningful interaction with other 

 States in the region is very difficult until most recently. Relevant 

 agencies of State government have been busy responding to in- 

 State constituencies and developing their own response. 



We recently had a meeting of representatives from five New Eng- 

 land marine fishing States literally to make introductions and to 

 compare notes. While all of us agreed on the need for some level 

 of regional cooperation on this issue, we remained at a loss to de- 

 fine it or a mechanism. 



The failure to articulate a regional response to date stems, in 

 part, from the nature of the Federal response. The highly pub- 

 licized announcement of emergency funding last March fostered an 

 expectation of aid immediately forthcoming. That led to a frenzy 

 which had the aspect of every man for himself at the State and 

 local level. We've now had time to settle out of that, and are com- 



