54 



Fisheries Subcommittee -3- October 20, 1993 



tlieir controversial "two stock working hypotliesis". 



On behalf of more than 400 fishermen in our East Coast organization and 

 more than 50 support industries. I am raquestino that your 

 Committee carefully Inveatigate thit matter. We hope that the 

 investigation will include the inappropriate expenditure of U.S. 

 government funds to send seven U.S. scientists to Madrid on a week long 

 junket to carry out their crusade against the U.S. commercial bluefln 

 fishery. The politics of the Miami scientists now threatens to result in a 

 permanent disproportionate share of the burden of conserving Atlantic 

 bluefin being forced upon U.S. fishermen. Here are the facts Mr. Chairman: 



1. United States fishermen, since 1975, are doing more to conserve 

 Atlantic bluefin tuna than fishermen from any other country in the world. 

 It is important to note that U.S. fishermen began to voluntarily conserve 

 bluefin even before ATCA was originally passed in 1975. 



- Since 1981 our bluefin quota has been reduced by 65% and our 

 share of the Atlantic total catch of bluefin is now less than 3 1/2% 

 (all western Atlantic catches now account for less than 7% of total); 



-- U.S. fishermen comply with an absolute minimum size of 14 lbs; 

 we have a restricted quota on fish below 66 lbs and we prohibit the 

 sale of bluefin up to 70 inches or about a 150 lb bluefin; 



-- U.S. fishermen also protect the Atlantic bluefin when they 

 migrate through the known spawning grounds in the Gulf of Mexico. 



2. These expensive conservation sacrifices by U.S. fishermen for bluefin 

 are in stark contrast to the continuing situation on the eastern Atlantic 

 and Mediterranean bluefin fishing grounds. 



-- Since 1981 the reported catches of bluefin from the eastern 

 Atlantic and Mediterranean fishing grounds have increased by more 

 than 42%; ICCAT scientists continue to point out that catches from 

 these grounds are known to be under-reported and some fishing 

 countries do not provide any statistics on bluefin catches; 



-- Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean fishing countries have 

 flagrantly violated the 1975 ICCAT agreement to cap fishing 



