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of the draft bill would promote the recovery of several other 

 distressed Atlantic coast stocks, including weakfish and summer 

 flounder, similar to the recovery being witnessed for striped 

 bass under the ASBCA. 



Several species on the Atlantic coast are badly in need of 

 improved management. Indeed, the ASMFC has already prepared a 

 list of species which it believes are in need of interstate 

 cooperative management by member states which declare an interest 

 in those species. The ASMFC list includes: American eel, 

 American lobster, American shad, Atlantic croaker, Atlantic 

 menhaden, Atlantic sea herring, Atlantic sturgeon, black drum, 

 black sea bass, bluefish, blue crab, mullet, northern shrimp, red 

 drum, river herring, scup, Spanish mackerel, spot, spotted sea 

 trout, summer flounder, winter flounder and weakfish. Many of 

 these species are extremely important to the commercial and/or 

 recreational fisheries of the Atlantic coast — especially the 

 summer flounder, bluefish, and American lobster. 



Although three Regional Fishery Management Councils on the 

 Atlantic coast are attempting to manage several of these 

 resources under fishery management plans prepared under the 

 authority of the Magnuson Act, the nature of these resources and 

 the more coastal location of these fisheries preclude any 

 consideration by the Secretary of applying the provisions of 

 Section 306(b) of the Magnuson Act to overcome adverse state 



