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need for increasingly painful measures aimed at turning around a decline. 



Among the reasons that striped bass management has been so successful is the 

 cooperation among various jurisdictions. The states have worked together with the 

 federal government through the Commission to achieve a conunon goal. One of the 

 integral parts of this program has been the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act, 

 which provides an effective framework for insuring that needed actions take place. 

 The states, the Commission and our federal partoers can be justifiably proud of the 

 progress that has been made, while at the same time seeing these efforts through to 

 full recovery. 



Other coastal fishery resources today are facing the same kinds of problems 

 that striped bass did in the 1980s. Recent fishery nianagement plans for sununer 

 flounder and weakfish have focused on the critical need for cooperative measures to 

 conserve these species. As fishing effort naturally diverts away from stressed 

 resources, it often places new burdens on other species — which in turn become 

 stressed themselves. Only a comprehensive and coordinated program, with all 

 jurisdictions that have authority working together, can effectively address these 

 problems. 



These and other examples underscore the need for effective cooperation among 

 all the states in order to provide for needed conservation. We find, however, that it 

 is often easier for states to agree on what should be done than it is for them to do it 

 The former — agreeing on what is necessary — has been successfully accomplished 

 for many years and in a wide variety of circumstances through the Commission and 

 the ISFMP. There have been continuing problems, however, with the ability of many 

 states to follow through with implementation of what they have agreed through the 

 Commission to do. 



The Conrunission has concluded that this is a serious problem. It affects 



