38 



North Pacific council itself, I do not see that that is going to be 

 changed at all. It is natural in a representative system to have the 

 State with the majority of the fish be represented by a majority on 

 the council itself. 



Otherwise on the council, there have been questions raised with 

 respect to conflicts of interest. The members of the councils are not 

 subject to certain Federal statutes. We got into that issue yester- 

 day. It was good testimony to the effect that, yes, the council mem- 

 bers could have an interest, should have knowledge, but should not 

 have a business interest. 



Seemingly, the biggest problem is the bycatch and whether you 

 can solve that. I come from a State where they harvest shrimp and 

 crab and our fishermen use turtle excluder devices. If you want to 

 see everybody go ape up here in the Alaska area, I will send you 

 a few turtle excluder devices and you will find out what a nuisance 

 it is. But bycatch must be controlled or monitored better. 



Finally, there was a suggestion, seemingly for the first time, that 

 there be some type of fee in order to get better research, better ob- 

 server coverage, and better enforcement, particularly on the matter 

 of bycatch. 



With that in mind, before we take our first witness, let me yield 

 to my ranking member, and thank him for having us here. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR STEVENS 



Senator Stevens. Well, Senator, I thank you for coming, and I 

 know that all Alaskans involved in the fishing industry are pleased 

 that you have taken the time to hold hearings in Dillingham and 

 here in Ketchikan. It does enable people who are not able to get 

 to Washington to bring their testimony to you, but beyond that, it 

 enables you and your staff to see firsthand some of the conditions 

 that our fishing industry faces, and I am delighted that our first 

 witness is Admiral Rufe. They are our great partners in this en- 

 deavor here in Alaska. We — I think the Coast Guard has a greater 

 number of friends in Alaska than anywhere in the country. We 

 really honor them and value their service to us and to our people. 



I also agree with what you said about the importance of the Mag- 

 nuson Act. It certainly has meant more to our area than any area 

 in the country. 



As a matter of fact, the Magnuson Act came in response to 

 overfishing and the great problems that we faced with the foreign 

 fishing within our waters. It has been in part due as well to the 

 Coast Guard's effort that we have gotten back in control of our wa- 

 ters. That and the Magnuson Act. There are no foreign fishermen 

 within our waters, so now we are going to hear about some of the 

 problems that are developing from the luxury of having a real 

 Americanized 200-mile zone. 



So, thank you, my friend, for coming, and we welcome you and 

 I look forward to the testimony. 



The Chairman. Very good. Admiral Rufe will be our first wit- 

 ness. As we all know, the Coast Guard has enforcement respon- 

 sibility for the Magnuson Act. Now, today in Kodiak, I was told we 

 were in the largest Coast Guard facility in the entire system. 



I come from the smallest. In Charleston, SC. I told them, if you 

 open the front door, you will fall overboard. It is the darnedest 



