Just to give you some idea of where you are, Bristol Bay is a vast 

 region, some 30 communities, a mass of some 40,000 square miles, 

 about the size of the State of Ohio, we have numerous fisheries, ba- 

 sically salmon. 



I, too, want to support the reauthorization of the Magnuson Act. 

 It is of critical importance to us in terms of protecting and promot- 

 ing the basis of our region's economy and social fabric. 



The commission that I represent was organized in 1992 to pro- 

 mote economic growth and long-term stability of our fishery re- 

 sources. Since its inception, the measure of the North Pacific Coun- 

 cil and the State board of fish, we have played an active role with 

 both those organizations and we support both the organizations. 

 After all, if we as fishermen and as representatives of fishermen 

 organizations do not promote conservation, the No. 1 objective of 

 the Magnuson Act, we will not have fisheries for ourselves or for 

 our children to pursue. 



I echo what Myron says, that — it is surprising that there is little 

 knowledge of our conservation opinions, that we are strong con- 

 servationists and we want to protect the fish that we have, because 

 without it, I doubt that there would be a Dillingham and we would 

 not be sitting here. 



The Chairman. Right. Well, Senator Stevens continues to remind 

 us of that, but it is nice to hear firsthand at these hearings. The 

 other Senators think he is making a political statement; he is mak- 

 ing an accurate statement. 



Mr. Nielsen. And that is usually what he does make, is accurate 

 statements. 



The Chairman. He is doing all right. It sounds like this panel 

 is fixed. 



Mr. Nielsen. Basically our lifestyle in Bristol Bay has been 

 based on traditional fisheries, salmon, herring, and halibut, either 

 for our subsistence use or for commercial operations. In this part 

 of the State, subsistence and commercial fishing can be inter- 

 related, but in both cases the health of the fisheries stocks is highly 

 dependent upon the vigilance of our fisheries regulatory agencies 

 and on the dedication of our fishermen toward conservation. 



All that by way of background, the region's fishermen are very 

 concerned about the bycatch issues facing the council. Bycatch gen- 

 erally, and perhaps euphemistically, refers to obtaining other spe- 

 cies when prosecuting a directed fishery for another species, salm- 

 on caught in the pollock fishery, for example. 



In the case of prohibited species, such as salmon, the catch must 

 be returned to the sea and is so generally dead or in a weakened 

 condition. In the case of other unwanted species or undersized or 

 less desirable sized fish, they are discarded. As much as 100,000 

 salmon and 1 million pounds of herring are discarded at sea annu- 

 ally, and that is probably conservative. 



During the prosecution of our fisheries, other fisheries, when 

 salmon and herring do not return to their streams of origin, this 

 has a multiple year effect and can actually devastate the run in a 

 specific river system, and that is what Myron referred to earlier. 



In a word, the commission encourages the approach whereby in- 

 telligent human beings come together before the council to address 

 the issue of bycatch. You see, we have had generally good luck with 



