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statement of 



William J. Goldsborough, Fisheries Scientist 

 Chesapeake Bay Foundation 



The Atlantic Coastal Fisheries 

 Cooperative Management Act of 1993 



before the 



Subcommittee on Fisheries Management 



Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 



U.S. House of Representatives 



May 19, 1993 



Chairman Manton, members of the Subcommittee, ray name is Bill 

 Goldsborough, and I am the Fisheries Program Chief with the 

 Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a non-profit conservation organization 

 with 85,000 members throughout the Mid-Atlantic area. Thank-you 

 for the invitation to address the Subcommittee on what we consider 

 to be the most important legislation this year affecting inshore 

 stocks of migratory fish. 



The mission of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is to "Save the 

 Bay." While this catchy phrase means many things to many people, 

 to us the clearest indicator of success in this endeavor is the 

 restoration of the Bay's living resources. In support of this goal 

 the Foundation has devoted substantial resources to the 

 preservation of aquatic habitat. But it has become clear to us 

 that all the efforts underway to restore habitat cannot maintain 

 fish populations if they are not accompanied by efforts to conserve 

 fish. 



Thus, we have become an advocate for effective fisheries 

 management, and we have found that this takes us far beyond the 

 boundaries .pf Chesapeake Bay. Virtually all of the important 

 fisheries in the Bay depend on fish stocks that are shared by other 

 coastal states, in many cases by a dozen or more. Not only the 

 striped bass, whose migratory ways have been well appreciated by 

 Congress, but also weakfish, summer flounder, American shad, red 

 drum, river herring and many more species move annually up and down 

 the coast and support a variety of fisheries along the way. 



Those of us in Chesapeake Bay cannot manage these fisheries. 

 Neither can those whose interests lie in Narragansett Bay or 

 Delaware Bay or Long Island or Pamlico Sounds. All Atlantic Coast 

 jurisdictions share this problem: they must work together to manage 

 and maintain these joint resources. This need for cooperation was 

 recognized fifty years ago when Congress created the Atlantic 

 States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) . While the Commission 

 has become an important forum for the development of cooperative 

 management plans, the states have a poor record in implementing 

 these plans. The result has been a general decline in our coastal 

 fishery resources. 



The best illustration of this phenomenon from the point of 

 view of Chesapeake Bay is the American shad. While it once 

 supported the most valuable commercial finfishery in the Bay and a 

 vibrant recreational fishery, the American shad is severely 

 depleted in the Bay and supports essentially no fishing now. In 

 Maryland waters a total moratorium has been in place for thirteen 

 years with almost nothing to show for it. In contrast, after a 

 five year moratorium on striped bass, a similarly important fishery 

 is rapidly being rebuilt. 



The key difference between these species lies in fisheries 

 management. Both species are the subject of ASMFC management 



