15 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Reeff can be found at the end of 

 the hearing.] 

 Mr. Lancaster. Thank you, Mr. Reeff. Mr. Colvin. 



STATEMENT OF GORDON COLVIN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF 

 MARINE RESOURCES, STATE OF NEW YORK 



Mr. Colvin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon. On 

 behalf of Commissioner Tom Jorling, I would like to thank the Sub- 

 committee for inviting the New York State Department of Environ- 

 mental Conservation to testify on the vital subject of managing the 

 migratory marine and anadromous fisheries of the Atlantic Coast. 



In 1990, Governor Cuomo appointed a task force of citizens, sci- 

 entists, and agency representatives to assess the status and needs 

 of New York's coastal resources and management programs. 

 Among the many issues addressed by the governor's task force on 

 coastal resources was the management of marine fishery resources. 

 One recommendation of the final report issued in November of 

 1991 was that New York State urge Congress to adopt Federal leg- 

 islation that penalizes States for noncompliance with management 

 plans adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Comm-ission. 

 In doing so, the task force did note the successful program pursu- 

 ant to the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act as has been testi- 

 fied to here by a number of witnesses already. 



The task force's recommendation recognizes that restrictive man- 

 agement measures to control fishing mortality need to be imple- 

 mented in virtually all inshore interjurisdictional fisheries of the 

 East Coast. However, while States and their scientific advisors may 

 agree readily on how and how much to reduce exploitation, individ- 

 ual States frequently find it difficult to pass legislation or adopt 

 regulations when confronted with strong opposition. 



If key States fail to implement needed regulation, an entire 

 coastwide management strategy may fail, and an important fishery 

 could collapse. Moreover, when some States adopt restrictive regu- 

 lations but their neighbors do not, strong pressures emerge for 

 States to backslide into noncompliance. 



Legislation which authorizes the Federal Government to inter- 

 vene only when an individual State has been unable to implement 

 measures agreed to by the States jointly through the Atlantic 

 States Marine Fisheries Commission preserves an appropriate bal- 

 ance between State and Federal interests in regulation of migrato- 

 ry fisheries in State waters. This approach has effectively resolved 

 the noncompliance problems for striped bass and needs to be ex- 

 tended to all East Coast interjurisdictional species. 



With respect to the draft legislation and the specific issues on 

 which you have requested comments, we offer the following: With 

 respect to the roles of the Secretaries of Interior and Commerce, 

 New York recognizes and appreciates the strong involvement of 

 both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service in ASMFC's Interstate Fishery Management Pro- 

 gram. We support establishing a role for each Secretary in imple- 

 mentation of sanctions under the proposed legislation. The consul- 

 tation process established in the proposed legislation is one way of 

 establishing such roles. 



