APPENDIX 



Prepared Statement of Holland A. ScHMirrEN, Assistant Administrator for 

 Fisheries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: I am Rolland Schmitten, Assistant 

 Administrator for Fisheries of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- 

 tion, U.S. Department of Commerce. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss S. 2138, 

 the Administration's proposal to amend the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and 

 Management Act (Magnuson Act). 



First, I would like to thank you, Senator Kerry, for introducing this legislation. 

 The Administration looks forward to working closely with you and the Committee 

 as Congress considers this legislation. Hearings sucn as this one are critical steps 

 in developing changes to the Magnuson Act that will ensure the iuture of the Na- 

 tion's marine fisheries. 



The amendments in S. 2138 were developed over the last year and a half by the 

 Administration, and have built on Congressional hearings, consultation with the re- 

 gional fishery management councils, and discussions with members jf the industry 

 and numerous other interested parties. Overall, I believe that this package of pro- 

 posfds addresses needed changes to the Magnuson Act and will improvf- the man- 

 agement of the Nation's living marine resources. While a comprehensive package of 

 about 20 specific amendments is proposed, my testimony will locus on several major 

 amendments. The additional proposals are described briefly in an attachment to my 

 testimony. 



Although problems are found in the fisheries across the Nation, nowhere are they 

 more concentrated and debilitating than in New England. I need not go through the 

 litany of problems we are dealing with at this time. The fact that haddock, which 

 used to be the mainstay of the I^w England fishery, are now commercially extinct 

 in the Gulf of Maine speaks volumes regarding the situation we are now experienc- 

 ing. During the past year, we have been very active with the industry and the Coun- 

 cil in attempting to resolve the problems specific to New England fisheries. A major 

 step was taKen this year in the approval and implementation of Amendment 5 to 

 the Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. In addition, we have worked closely 

 with industry to mitigate the eiiects of our management programs by designating 

 $30 million for assistance. 



While we are working on the immediate problems at hand, we must look forward 

 to make adjustments in our legislative mandates and policy initiatives to ensure 

 that these problems are rectified and not repeated in the future. We have attempted 

 to do this in our proposal to add the phrase "rebuild depleted stocks" to the current 

 requirement to prevent overfishing in National Standard 1 of the Magnuson Act. 

 Such a change is needed to ensure that stocks, such as New England groundfish, 

 are rebuilt once overfishing is stopped. To complement this proposal, the definition 

 of optimum yield would be amended to define the level to which depleted stocks 

 must be rebuilt. This change provides that stocks should be rebuilt to a level con- 

 sistent with that necessary to produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), i.e., 

 the long term average for the stock and a level that can be measured for manage- 

 ment purposes. This requirement would not negate the current provision, which al- 

 lows MSY to be modified by any relevant economic, social, or ecological factor to ar- 

 rive at a calculation for optimum yield, as long as it does not cause the stock to 

 fall below a level consistent with the MSY. 



A related amendment would require a council to prepare an FMP or regulatory 

 amendment to prevent a stock that is approaching an overfished condition irom be- 

 coming overfished, or to rectify an overfished condition, council action would be re- 

 quired within one year of receiving a report from the Secretary that the stock is 

 approaching an overfished condition, or is overfished, based on a definition con- 

 tained in the FMP. It would also require the Secretary to take action if the council 

 has not submitted the necessary amendment within the required time. This provi- 

 sion would ensure that action is taken within a reasonable time period to protect 



(49) 



