138 



Before leaving the subject of trawl impacts, a few clarifications are in order. Some 

 in the the trawlindustry maintain that all fishing groups, no matter what gear they 

 employ, inflict bycatch mortality. What those people do not care to point out is the 

 fact that the impacts vary greatly among the gear types. Trawlers, by the nature 

 of their non-selective bear inflict mortality not only on their target species, but also 

 on the target species of most other gear groups. Thus, trawlers impose direct costs 

 on other sectors of the industry by reducing the immediate and future harvests of 

 the other gear groups. 



Fixed gear fishermen, employing pots or longlines, have little impact on non-tar- 

 get species. The bycatch of this gear, principally juveniles and females of the target 

 species, represent foregone future harvests for responsible fishermen. Consequently, 

 these gear groups have a vested interest in minimizing bycatch mortality through 

 gear design and fish handling techniques, as well as through strict quotas and time 

 and area closures. In sum, fixed gear does not impose direct costs on the trawlers' 

 target species. Moreover, the bycatch mortality in the pot and longline fisheries is 

 far Delow that experienced in trawling operations. As for the crab industry, we have 

 taken the initiative to propose gear design requirements that greatly increase selec- 

 tivity. In addition, when confronted with data suggesting declines in crab stocks, the 

 ACC has been in the forefront of efforts to secure the needed time and area closures, 

 reduced quotas, and other conservation measures. 



Of course, these are not the only problems facing the fisheries off the coast of 

 Alaska. It is an unfortunate fact that rapid overcapitalization of major fisheries in 

 the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, as well as elsewhere in our Exclusive Economic 

 Zone, has given rise to severe pressures on fisheries managers to permit levels of 

 exploitation that cannot be reconciled with basic conservation principles. Further- 

 more, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Regional Fishery Management 

 Councils have felt compelled to dedicate their meager fiscal and administrative re- 

 sources principally to the development of systems for the allocation of limited — and 

 all-too-oiten declining — fisheries resources among competing sectors of our industry. 

 In addition, special interest groups have succeeded in engineering the appropriation 

 of scare federal dollars to dubious purposes. 



The Committee should find it interesting that, in the international context, when 

 our federal fisheries managers have been freed of the intense pressures of certain 

 sectors of our fishing industry, conservation properly has been the center of atten- 

 tion. At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 

 ("UNCED") in Rio, the United States Government played a highly constructive, 

 leadership role in the articulation of conservation guidelines, principles, and com- 

 mitments under the new rubric of "sustainable use". At a 1992 conference in 

 Cancun, Mexico, the U.S. contributed importantly to the development of inter- 

 national standards of "responsible fishing". A report issued by the ACC and pub- 

 lished by the American Fisheries Society on the landmark achievements of the 

 Cancun conference is attached to this statement. 



Also attached is a document from a 1993 meeting of nations in Mexico to prepare 

 the way for the development by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza- 

 tion ("FAO") of an international code of conduct for fishing in 1994. The FAO has 

 recognized, among other significant factors affecting the sustainable utilization of 

 fisheries resources, that overcapacity contributes to overfishing. In fact, a paper pre- 

 pared by FAO for the 1992 Cancun Conference stated, "The excessive level of fishing 

 effort now existing in the world should be the primary concern in terms of sustain- 

 ability of the fisheries resources." 



The ACC closely followed the work of UNCED on sustainable development of liv- 

 ing marine resources, and participated actively in the Cancun conference on respon- 

 sible fishing practices. Our organization applauded the results of those conferences. 

 Several developments are worthy of particular note. 



UNCED proclaimed that, "States commit themselves to the conservation and sus- 

 tainable use of living marine resources under national jurisdiction". The Conference 

 recognized "mounting problems" in the world's fisheries, including "overcapitaliza- 

 tion and excessive fleet sizes * * * insufficiently selective gear, [and] unreliable 

 data bases". 



UNCED declared that, "[I]t is necessary to * * * promote the development and 

 use of selective fishing gear and practices that minimize waste of catch of target 

 species and minimize by -catch of non-target species * * * [and] preserve rare or 

 fragile ecosystems as well as habitats and other ecologically sensitive areas * * *" 

 UNCED further declared that nations should "* * * [tjake measures to increase the 

 availability of marine living resources as human food by reducing wastage, post-har- 

 vest losses and discards, and improving techniques of processing, distribution and 

 transportation * * * [and] [djevelop and promote the use of environmentally sound 

 technology under criteria compatible with the sustainable use of marine living re- 



