157 



participants-in the affected fishery. We believe that this section needs to be fine 

 tuned and amended to ensure that minimum I6ss of life, limb, and vessel occurs. 



Sec. 304(aXD ACTION BY THE SECRETARY AFTER RECEIPT OF PLAN the 

 secretary shall * * * Hereinafter is a very precise timeline that the Secretary of 

 Commerce shall follow, but very seldom does, shows that there is a great neecf for 

 and amendment to nail down this timeline. When the Congress of the United States 

 passes a law the citizens of the United States are expected and required to obey 

 these laws, and yet when the Congress passes a law that another branch of the gov- 

 ernment is expected and required to obey and that branch does not comply shows 

 the need for this amendment. The cliche of "Don't do as I do, do as I say should 

 not apply to the Government. 



Conservation should be put back into the Magnuson Act as the first priority. Eco- 

 nomic allocation needs to t>e put back on the shelf, and selective gear needs to be 

 pursued more aggressively. 



Prepared Statement of Capt. Ronald Leighton, F/V El Sol 



I feel fortunate to be able to testify before this panel and voice my concerns con- 

 cerning the Magnuson Act and it's affect on the Alaska fish economy. 



Firstly: Even though Canada is a Signator to the Magnuson Act of 1978, she is 

 not following it as it was intended. Canada believes that her border runs IV2 miles 

 south of Cape Chacon to and across the tip of Cape Muzon. Canada has seized two 

 U.S. fishing boats to my knowledge and towed them to Prince Rupert for Court proc- 

 essing. These boats were seized about two miles off of our coastline between Cape 

 Chacon and Cape Muzon. 



The U.S. Dept. of Commerce chart No. 17420 shows two zones near the middle 

 of Dixon Entrance, one called the Contiguous Zone and the other the Exclusive Eco- 

 nomic Zone, or Fishery Conservation Zone. The latter located approximately 19 

 miles south of Cape Chacon and 14 miles south of Cape Muzon. The Exclusive Eco- 

 nomic Zone was brought forth through the Magnuson Act which Canada became 

 signator to. 



I found quoted in the nineteenth edition to the United States Coast Pilot Dixon 

 Entrance to Cape Spencer, page 25. The U.S. Fishery Conservation Zone which 

 gives the United States exclusive fishery management authority over all species of 

 fish except tuna. According to Canada, I cannot fish without risk of seizure by them 

 any further than IV2 miles south of Cape Chacon and no further south than Cape 

 Muzon. This is in direct conflict with Federal Laws 50 CFR 611 and 16 USC 1801- 

 1888. 



According to these laws, no foreign vessel other than U.S. vessels may fish, aid, 

 or assist vessels at sea in the performance of any activity relating to fishing, prepa- 

 ration, supply, storage, refrigeration, transportation or processing within the Fish- 

 ery Conservation Zone or fish for anadromous species at the U.S. Canada is ignoring 

 it's obligation to the Act by seizing our vessels while fishing within our Fishery Z9ne 

 and by allowing and having their Coast Guard protect 100 of their troll fleet while 

 they fish 18 miles inside our line. 



To my knowledge, none of the 100 or so Canadian trollers have sought or obtained 

 a permit to fish this area. At any given day during June, July or August, I have 

 observed approximately 50 boats fishing IV2 miles off of Cape Chacon and about 50 

 more fishing just off 01 Cape Muzon. 



To show the impact of the Canadian troll fleet upon the U.S. Fisheries, two of 

 us, the F IV High C and myself the F/V El Sol, spent a day fishing outside of Nunez 

 Rocks in the disputed zone. Our catch per boat is as follows: 50 Cohos; 8 Kings 

 which were released; 3 sockeye; 4 dogs; and 300 pinks which were released. 



This totals 365 salmon at a very low conservative estimate as we only fish 10 

 hours and use 4 tag lines. The Canadian fleet can use up to 8 tag lines and fish 

 about 13 hours. Assuming this and their abilities to target species, I believe I can 

 conservatively double our catch to 700 fish per boat per day times 100 equals 70,000 

 salmon per day. In one month 2,100,000 salmon. 



While we are closed down from King retention and are on our Coho closure, this 

 fleet is still fishing. The fleet also is allowed to use our harbors, McLoud Bay and 

 Nicholas Bay, while fishing this area. The Canadian Coast Guard 20 years ago 

 made our U.S. troll fleet leave their Canadian harbors because the wind was blow- 

 ing less than 20 knots. This was during the time of the 12 mile limit. 



I was informed at the Snake River Salmon Meeting held at the American Legion 

 Hall in May of this year by the Department of Fish and Game that Canada does 

 not supply tagged fish information to the U.S. or State on how much tagged fish 

 they intercept or where or when they are caught or the origin of the tagged fish. 



