117 



Another important issue is the by-catch of prohibited species like salmon, halibut, 

 crab and other fully utilized species. Bycatch is inevitable with the method and 

 means to harvest ground fish. Hard on bottom trawling is a dirty business no mat- 

 ter how hard you try to keep it clean. The North Pacific Management Council, cre- 

 ated by the Magnuson Act to manage the fishery in federal waters, has done an ex- 

 cellent job in the protection of crab nursery grounds and halibut stocks and need 

 to continue that strategy. My observation of where it gets controversial is when fish- 

 ermen are short on their quota of allowable catch within the optimum yield. The 

 Council will often deviate from the management plan and extend fishing seasons to 

 allow the quota to be filled when fishermen appeal to them to do so. During this 

 process, the grounds often are reopened to fishing. 



Prohibited species like salmon, crab, black cod and halibut are present on the 

 grounds due to run timing. An example of this is the fall cod fishery in the 

 Shumagins. Immature salmon are present during this phase of the fall fishery, ob- 

 server coverage is not always 100 percent on all vessels under the mandatory ob- 

 server program. Another example is the spring yellow fin sole fishery in the Round 

 Island area, and another is the sole fishery in the Port Moller area. In both areas, 

 fully utilized species like salmon and herring are present. In the Round Island area, 

 sole is taken at halibut nursing grounds as well as at the migration path of a world 

 premier herring stock. The Council has addressed these issues but as stated, will 

 often forgo the strict order of conservation so that fishermen can harvest their 

 quotas. In 1992, the State of Alaska commissioned a report to document the 1992 

 levels of bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and in the Bering Sea/Aleutians. The report 

 concluded that over 507 million pounds of groundfish were thrown away as by-catch. 

 Specifically, 20.4 million crab, almost 100,000 salmon and over I million pounds of 

 herring were discarded. I do not have specific amendments to offer. I do know that 

 when the Magnuson Fishery and Conservation and Management Act was enacted 

 by the US Congress in 1976, it established a 200 mile fishery conservation zone. 

 It provided protection for the salmon returning to Alaskan waters. We need only to 

 look at the salmon returns to the Bristol Bay in the 1980s and 1990s to see that 

 the Act has worked as the Congress intended. 



Finally, I would like to commend the North Pacific Management Council for pro- 

 viding an opportunity for the Western Alaska coastal communities share in the ben- 

 efits of the bottom fishery in the Bering Sea through community development 

 quotas (CDQ). They have sat and watchea the bottom fishery since it first started 

 with foreign harvesters and then through the Americanization process under Mag- 

 nuson with American harvesters. The cash that comes from this program will pro- 

 vide an opportunity for increasing opportunities. Thank you for allowing me to tes- 

 tify. 



Prepared Statement of Rear Adm. Roger T. Rufe, Jr. 



Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, it is a pleasure to appear before you 

 today. I appreciate the opportunity to report on the Coast Guard's fisheries law en- 

 forcement program in the waters of the North Pacific and Alaska and the Coast 

 Guard's views regarding the reauthorization of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation 

 and Management Act (MFCMA). 



As the Seventeenth Coast Guard District Commander, I am firmly committed to 

 supporting fisheries management goals through an effective enforcement program. 

 The 950,000 square mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska and the adja- 

 cent waters of the North Pacific support many of the world's largest populations of 

 groundfish, salmon, shellfish, marine mammals, and seabirds. With the displace- 

 ment of foreign distant-water fleets by U.S. vessels, groundfish stocks of the Bering 

 Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) annually produce the Na- 

 tion's largest domestic fish catch by volume and one of the world's largest single- 

 species fisheries (walleye pollock). In 1993, the BSAI and GOA are expected to yield 

 a harvest approaching 2.4 million metric tons (mt) of groundfish ana 20,000 mt of 

 halibut. This harvest, combined with abundant salmon and shellfish harvests, is of 

 tremendous economic importance to the region and the nation. 



The Coast Guard was protecting the fishery resources of the North Pacific and 

 Alaska even before the MFCMA was enacted 17 years ago. As the threat to con- 

 servation of the living marine resources of the North Pacific changed, the Coast 

 Guard's law enforcement program changed with it. At one time, our primary con- 

 cern was ensuring foreign fleets that worked within sight of Alaskan shores com- 

 filied with laws and treaties. Today, our fishery resources are fully utilized by U.S. 

 ishermen. The Coast Guard now provides a Federal presence in the EEZ to promote 

 compliance with domestic fishery management measures. 



