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GOALS AND PRIORITIES OF THE MARINE FISH CONSERVATION NETWORK 



• 



Eliminate overfishing and rebuild depleted fish populations 



• Adopt a precautionary, risk averse approach to fisheries management 



• Reduce the conflicts of Interest on the fishery management councils 



• Improve conservation of large pelagic fishes 



• Minimize bycatch problems 



• Protect marine habitats 



• Enhance monitoring and enforcement 



• provide adequate funding for fisheries research and enforcement. 



Prepared Statement of Andy Rauwolf, Alaska Marine Conservation Council 



The Alaska Marine Conservation Council is a broad-based community organiza- 

 tion comprised of Alaskans, many of whom live and work in small remote commu- 

 nities along the Alaska coast. 



Our members come from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds and many of 

 us depend on marine resources for sustenance, culture and livelihoods. From Ketch- 

 ikan in Southeast Alaska to Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands to Tununak in the 

 Bering Sea, our members are, or have been, gillnetters, seiners, crabbers, trollers, 

 long-liners, trawlers, jiggers and other commercial fishers and fish workers. 



Some of us come from Native communities where we still subsist on marine re- 

 sources as our ancestors did before us. When marine ecosystems are at risk, not 

 only are our livelihoods as fishermen threatened, so is our subsistence way of life. 

 If declines in the health of marine ecosystems are allowed to continue our very fu- 

 ture is at risk. 



Our membership also includes conservationists and scientists who track the 

 health and decline of marine resources. The Alaska Marine Conservation Council is 

 a diverse group. Although our personal interests in marine resources are very dif- 

 ferent, we share a dependence on, and commitment to, healthy marine ecosystems. 



As coastal residents, we have seen alarming regional declines in Steller sea lions, 

 harbor seals, fur seals, certain bird species including murres and kittiwakes, her- 

 ring, king crab, dungeness, shrimp and rockfish. These declines concern us not only 

 because of the adverse impact they may have on many of our livelihoods, but as in- 

 dicator species they warn us of distressing changes. 



Although we do not fully understand the complex interactions which occur in the 

 oceans, we must expand our vision to include food chain interactions as well as 

 human harvest when exploiting marine resources. We must be conservative and we 

 must proceed with caution. 



We take this opportunity to let you know our priorities and recommendations re- 

 garding needed changes to the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management 

 Act (Magnuson Act). Although generated from Alaskan fishing and conservation ex- 

 periences, we believe they can be beneficially applied to all areas of the United 

 States EEZ. 



SUMMARY 



Our specific recommendations are outlined in full on page eleven. To summarize 

 however we propose you amend the Magnuson Fishery Conservation Act to: 



1) Clearly establish conservation as the top priority; 



2) Mandate clean fishing; 



3) Institute a precautionary multi-species ecosystem approach to management 

 and research; 



4) Make fisheries and marine habitat protection a priority. 



MANDATE CLEAN FISHING 



A guiding principle of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council is that our living 

 marine resources have intrinsic value in and of themselves within the ecosystem. 

 Among the most flagrant problems of abuse associated with commercial fisheries in 

 the North Pacific and Bering Sea is bycatch and economic discards (wrong size or 

 color, quality, etc.). In 1992 alone over 507 million pounds of groundfish were 

 thrown back over the side according to a State of Alaska report. 1 This unnecessary 

 and inappropriate waste and disregard of marine life is a public disgrace. It points 



1 Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Commissioner Carl Rosier's Testimony before the 

 House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, June 1993. 



