63 



Presented by Mark Reeff 

 Research Specialist, lAFWA 



TESTIMONY BEFORE THE 



FISHERIES MAMAGEMENT SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE 



MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES COMMITTEE ON THE 



DRAFT ATLANTIC COASTAL FISHERIES COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT ACT 



by R. Max Peterson, Executive Vice President 



International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 



May 19, 1993 



Mr. Chairinan and members of the subcommittee, I am R. Max 

 Peterson, Executive Vice President of the International Association 

 of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The International Association of 

 Fish and Wildlife Agencies, founded in 1902, is a quasi- 

 governmental organization of public agencies charged with the 

 protection and management of North America's fish and wildlife 

 resources. The Association's governmental members include the fish 

 and wildlife agencies of the states, provinces, and federal 

 governments of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. All 50 states are 

 members. The Association has been a key organization in promoting 

 sound resource management and strengthening federal, state, and 

 private cooperation in protecting and managing fish and wildlife 

 and their habitats in the public interest. The Association 

 appreciates the opportunity to share our perspectives with you. 



We are pleased to discuss the draft bill before the 

 subcommittee to provide for the enhanced management of Atlantic 

 Coastal interjurisdictional fishery resources. This is an area of 

 great importance to state fishery management agencies as states 

 have primary management authority over fishery resources in state 

 territorial waters. 



The underlying basis for this bill is the decline and 

 overfishing of Atlantic Coastal fish stocks. To ensure their long- 

 term sustainable yields, these fish must be managed on a 

 cooperative, interstate basis due to their highly migratory nature. 

 This migratory nature causes them to move between states and 

 generally stay within states' coastal waters during much of their 

 life cycle. The absence of such a cooperative management approach 

 could lead to the collapse of these and other migratory fish 

 stocks. 



Interstate management plans exist, or could be drafted, for 

 these fisheries, but effective implementation of fishery management 

 plans requires all states to enforce regulations and take 

 management actions consistent with the management plans. If one or 

 more states do not comply with provisions of a plan, the 

 effectiveness of interstate management of the fishery can be 

 defeated. Many of those stocks are so fragile that it is 

 imperative that something be done. 



The proposed bill would provide for federal enforcement of 

 provisions for interstate fishery management as determined by the 

 Atlantic Coast states acting through the Atlantic States Marine 

 Fisheries Commission. The recognition of the need for federal 

 intervention illustrates the gravity with which the states see this 

 problem. State managers, under normal circumstances, view such 

 intervention with great concern. The states' recognition of the 

 need for this approach, however, emphasizes the seriousness of the 

 situation regarding these fishery stocks. 



This draft bill uses as a model the successful Atlantic 

 Striped Bass Conservation Act, which served to address overfishing 

 of striped bass and the Atlantic Coastal States' inability to gain 

 100% compliance with an interstate management plan for the species. 



The proposed Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management 

 Act provides for an appropriate state-federal relationship with the 

 federal government serving to support the cooperative fishery 

 management efforts of states. This support would include ensuring 

 that regulations in the Exclusive Economic Zone are consistent with 

 those specified in interstate fishery management plans, providing 

 cooperative data collection and research, and where states are 



