87 



recommended management options. We propose that you direct the Secretary to ap- 



¥oint teams from the ICCAT Advisory Committee established under the Atlantic 

 Unas Convention Act to develop and recommend plans for the Secretary's review 

 and adoption. 



Retain and strengthen provisions to allow U.S. fishermen a "Reasonable Oppor- 

 tunity" to harvest U.S. share 

 If anything, the "reasonable opportunity" language needs to be strengthened. The 

 rights of U.S. recreational and commercial fishermen to have a "reasonable oppor- 

 tunity" to harvest the Nation's international share should be protected. This section 

 only reinforces the fact that the U.S. cannot conserve these internationally-har- 

 vested resources by U.S. restrictions alone. Current protective phrases have not pre- 

 vented the Secretary from implementing several regulations for highly migratory 

 fisheries that are more restrictive than the relevant international recommenoations. 

 After establishingthe U.S. share, traditional allocation decisions will continue to be 

 domestic issues. The concern about "locally available stocks" is an allocation issue 

 at this time and should not cloud the issue of the Nation's rightful share of an inter- 

 nationally-set Total Allowable Catch. 



Clarify references to "Quota or Allocation" in MFCMA and ATCA 



Under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), "no regulation promulgated 

 under this section may have the effect of increasing or decreasing any quota or allo- 

 cation of fish to the US agreed to pursuant to a recommendation of the Commis- 

 sion." NOAA improperly interprets the terms "allocation or quota" to exclude the 

 "fishing mortality levels" adopted by ICCAT for the North Atlantic Swordfish Stock 

 Recovery Program. This occurred despite the fact that NOAA scientists have rec- 

 ommended that fishery management could be improved by calculating quota levels 

 based on fishing mortality rate targets. NOAA also asserts that US harvests can 

 be reduced below those levels negotiated with other foreign nations. 



Delete the duplicate consultative role of the Councils 



Each Atlantic Regional Fishery Management Council has the privilege of holding 

 a voting seat on the U.S. ICCAT Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section of the 

 ICCAT. In addition, each affected State is an ex -officio members of the U.S. ICCAT 

 Advisory Committee. There is no need to require the Secretary to consult with the 

 Councils twice. Given their limited resources and increasing workload. Councils and 

 their staffs should be relieved of this duplicate task to allow them to concentrate 

 on the species under their authority. 



Extend Secretarial Authority to all HMS in U.S. EEZ 



Current Pacific Management regimes lack authority to take a full international 

 perspective of their highly migratory species into account. Unless reauthorization 

 addresses this now, we may not have international systems on line to deal with it 

 when conservation measures are needed. The lATTC has been gathering fisheries 

 data in the Pacific since 1949 and is professionally capable to play a similar role 

 as ICCAT presently does in the Atlantic. 



Exempt HMS from Extension of State Jurisdiction 



Discussions are underway regarding the extension of State jurisdiction out to 200 

 miles, to apply in cases where no Federal FMP exists. BWFA is concerned that 

 State landing restrictions could be placed on internationally shared resources such 

 as Albacore, Yellowfin or Bigeye Tunas. BWFA suggests that Secretarial Authority 

 should preempt State Authority for Highly Migratory Species. 



MAGNUSON ACT REAUTHORIZATION PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION ITEMS: GENERAL ISSUES 



Proposed National Standard No. 8 



The present wording of DOC proposed National Standard No. 8 may take our na- 

 tion further down the road of regulatory discarding. Although this may benefit the 

 political agendas of some groups, it does little for conservation and nothing for ad- 

 dressing the problem of waste. U.S. management measures should begin to resolve 

 the implementation of wasteful regulations. Suggestion: reword the new National 

 Standard to read "* * * minimize the unnecessary waste of the incidental catch of 

 non-target living marine resources. 



Definition of Overfishing 



We agree this is an issue which needs to be addressed. Until we have data and 

 management systems that consider entire "Ecosystem Impacts" relative to conserva- 

 tion plans and regulations, we are concerned about relying on the existing "best 

 available information". The National Academy of Science definition would be viable 



