Mr. Chairman, the Department of Commerce strongly supports 

 the basic concept of the Committee's bill to use the Commission as 

 the centerpiece of a renewed and strengthened effort to conserve 

 and manage the coastal migratory fishery resources along the At- 

 lantic seaboard. This approach builds upon successful efforts under 

 the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act. This landmark Act has 

 been largely responsible for the ongoing recovery of that species. 

 The Department has consistently supported reauthorization of the 

 Striped Bass Act each time it was considered for reauthorization. 

 We anticipate that passage of the 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. 



Several species on the Atlantic Coast are badly in need of im- 

 proved management. Indeed, the Commission has already prepared 

 a list of species which it believes are in need of interstate coopera- 

 tive management by member States. Many of these species are ex- 

 tremely important to the commercial and recreational fisheries of 

 the Atlantic Coast, especially the summer flounder, the bluefish, 

 and the American lobster. 



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. However, 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 action or inaction. 



In other words, fisheries for these species take place predomi- 

 nantly in State waters, and, thus, the Secretary is unable to invoke 

 the preemption procedures of Section 306[b]. Therefore, we believe 

 it is imperative that an alternative legislative mechanism be pro- 

 vided to deal with situations in which one or more States are able 

 to stymie a cooperative interstate management strategy supported 

 by the majority of the cooperating States. 



In particular, the populations of weakfish and summer flounder 

 have experienced very high levels of fishing mortality in recent 

 years. Since immediate reduction of exploitation rates can only be 

 accomplished through regulatory action by the States, passage of a 

 mechanism similar to the proposed bill would provide significant 

 legislative support and incentive for these States to implement ap- 

 propriate management measures for these species. 



While we strongly support a strengthened coastal fishery man- 

 agement program that builds upon the established expertise of the 

 Commission and its members, we believe some changes to the bill 

 are necessary to ensure its constitutionality and to further improve 

 its effectiveness. In this regard, we expect to provide the Subcom- 

 mittee with our detailed comments shortly. Also, we are reviewing 

 and may present to the Subcommittee for its consideration a few 

 suggestions that we believe would improve the implementation and 

 enforcement of the bill's provisions. 



Concluding, Mr. Chairman, the Department finds the circum- 

 stances currently surrounding the management of migratory inter- 

 state fisheries along the Atlantic Coast roughly parallel to the cir- 

 cumstances surrounding the management of migratory waterfowl 



