95 



TESTIMONY OF JEFFERY P. KOENINGS, Ph.D. 



DIRECTOR OF THE HSHERIES REHABILITATION, ENHANCEMENT 



AND DEVELOPMENT (FRED) DIVISION 



ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME 



BEFORE THE 



HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND 

 NATURAL RESOURCES 



WASHINGTON, D.C. 



March 9, 1993 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcoramiuec, thank you for this opportunity to come 

 before you today to discuss Alaska's fisheries program; in particular, our experience in 

 culturing salmonids. I am Dr. Jeff Koenings, Director of die Fisheries Rehabilitation, 

 Enhancement and Development (FRED) Division, Alaska Department of Fish and Came. 



First, before discussing Alaska's successful hatchery program, I would like to place it within 

 the context of Alaska's highly successful fisheries management program. 



ALASKA'S SALMON MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 



1. Earh E^fforu to Rationalize Fisheries Under Srat( Management 



Alaska was one of the first fishing regions to implement meaningful fishing restraints 

 in the form of limited entry in salmon and herring fleets. We may not understand all 

 of the efficiency consequences of these actions yet, but there is some evidence that 

 these policies have slowed the growth of fishing fleets and allowed the industry to 

 capture some profits. While these restraints were implemented swiftly by the State of 

 Alaska, in contrast, it has been a struggle for the federal management agencies to 

 consider and implement these types of mechanisms, even in the few cases where 

 interest groups were in favor of them". 



2. Recent Efforts to Assign Limiied Property Rights in Alaska 



If the central problem of coastal fisheries is an inability to assign sufficient property 

 rights to promote efficient use of the resources, some decentralization of management 

 may generate improved efficiencies. In Alaska, regional aquaculture associations and 



" Significant efforts to limit federally managed fisheries and implement measures such 

 as ITQs did not occur until well after the creation of the Magnuson Act. 



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