6 



International cooperation in management, research, can ensure 

 that conservation goals are sound and that measures are appropri- 

 ate. Our fishery today is better off, thanks in large measure to the 

 judgment of this Committee that American fishermen should not 

 be made to bear a disproportionate share of the conservation 

 burden. 



I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to testify. 



Mr. Manton. Thank you, Mr. Beideman. 



[The statement of Nelson Beideman can be found at the end of 

 the hearing.] 



Mr. Manton. Mr. Bogan. 



STATEMENT OF RAY BOGAN, LEGAL COUNSEL FOR THE UNITED 

 BOATMEN OF NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK 



Mr. Bogan. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, fellow mem- 

 bers. 



My name is Ray Bogan and I am legal counsel and represent the 

 United States Boatmen of New Jersey and New York, which are a 

 group of party boat and charter boat fishermen. 



I am also an adviser on the ICCAT Advisory Committee and fi- 

 nally, my family has been involved in this fishery for well over 65 

 years. 



As a prelude to the testimony I would like to give today, it is im- 

 portant to point out that the New York Bight region has dispropor- 

 tionately suffered as a result of implementation of domestic policy 

 as to Atlantic bluefin tuna. 



In that regard, we have suffered significant economic harm 

 which has threatened the very viability of this important fishery. 

 To a great extent, the mechanisms necessary to promulgate equita- 

 ble regulations to carry out ICCAT recommendations are already 

 in place in the Atlantic Tuna Convention Act, and in that regard, 

 we support the reauthorization of the act. 



In particular, the act provides that to the extent practicable, the 

 regulations affecting highly migratory species must be consistent 

 with fishery management plans prepared and implemented under 

 Magnuson. 



I would like to highlight some of the standards under Magnuson 

 to show how they can particularly focus on Atlantic bluefin tuna 

 and other highly migratory species. 



I submit that the following recommendations would achieve 

 equity, while not compromising effective conservation and manage- 

 ment. The first standard in Magnuson which we would point to is 

 the achievement of optimum yield from each domestic fishery 

 while preventing overfishing. Totally precluding certain regions 

 from engaging in a fishery or inhibiting that fishery by extremely 

 short seasons or unpredictable closures, both of which have been 

 suffered by our region, wind up resulting in a failure to achieve op- 

 timum yield. That is because by the very definition of optimum 

 yield in Magnuson, a well established and significant portion of the 

 party and charter boat industry from these two States which are 

 engaged in this fishery add significantly to the overall benefit to 

 the national economy, which is most fundamental in Magnuson. 



