system protection; and strengthening the scientific basis for man- 

 agement. 



To appreciate the achievements of the Magnuson Act over the 

 last 17 years, one must recall the dire threat posed to the Nation's 

 coastal fisheries in the 1960's and early 1970's. The oceans which 

 surround the United States contain some of the most bountiful 

 fishing grounds found anywhere in the world. However, a virtual 

 invasion of foreign fishing fleets off the Nation's coasts plundered 

 vast schools of fish and threatened the livelihood of American fish- 

 ermen. The Magnuson Act, enacted in 1976, put a stop to this in- 

 discriminate depletion of the Nation's precious fishery resources. 

 Specifically, that act provided two important management tools. It 

 staked out a U.S. claim to jurisdiction over the waters within 200 

 miles of the coast, and it set up the network of regional manage- 

 ment councils tasked with managing intelligently the harvest of 

 fish stocks. Despite the inevitable trial and error along the way, 

 this Magnuson Act management system has achieved some notable 

 successes since its enactment in 1976. 



Specifically, the Magnuson Act once again has "Americanized" 

 the Nation's coastal fisheries, guaranteeing to U.S. fishermen their 

 appropriate share of the annual harvest. Further, we now realize 

 that the oceans are not a limitless natural resource that we can ex- 

 ploit — and abuse — as we wish. With factory trawlers and 

 longliners, commercial fishermen and recreational anglers all eye- 

 ing the U.S. fisheries, we must confront a basic fact of life — there 

 will never be enough fish to go around. We must make choices and 

 establish priorities. This is precisely the purpose of the Magnuson 

 Act and the system of regional fishery management councils. 



This is not to say that the Magnuson Act has been an unquali- 

 fied success. Last year, the National Marine Fisheries Service re- 

 ported that almost one-half of U.S. fishery stocks were overfished. 

 Most of us here can attest to the rising tensions and complaints 

 among those competing for fishery allocations. Putting U.S. fish- 

 eries on a path toward sustainable use is likely to require many 

 years of restraint by coastal fishing communities. Furthermore, we 

 must continue the struggle to maintain coastal habitat and water 

 quality upon which these fishery resources depend. 



These hearings have provided ax. important opportunity to bring 

 together all those interested in conserving and managing this Na- 

 tion's fishery resources — the Federal Government, the States, Na- 

 tive Americans, fishermen, researchers, and conservation groups — 

 in a common effort to revitalize the current system. I look forward 

 to today's witnesses to assist us further in that effort. 



Mr. Angasan. 



Mr. Angasan. My name is Trefon Angasan, and you are one of 

 the few people that are capable of saying my name correctly when 

 you first read it. I usually spend a lot of time trying to change that 

 around, but thank you. 



The Chairman. Thank you. 



