56 



.J»MAlil9. IW2 



Tm> WA»HiNcmM Pott 



Rush Campaign Aide Seeks Break for Japanes 



.4s Fresideni .Wegotiaies in Tokyd, Lobbyist Battles Over Alaska Fish Processing Industry 



Dy Tom Kerworlhy 



WMiun|i«n Pwt IWI *rtw 



While Prt»id«nl BuBh has been in 

 Tokyo on • high-profile miMion to 

 wreji economic ind tride conces- 

 Mon« from the Japinwe. one of the 

 tenior •dvisen lo hta pitwdentWI 

 reelection c<mp4ign his bten it 

 home trying to win (4vor«ble tieat- 

 mem from the Commerce Dep«rt- 

 ment for a Jtp»neae-<iomin»le<) lec- 

 tor o( the Alaska fi* proceninj 

 indusifv 



Chnrlea R BUck Jr.. who heads 

 the Waihinston pu()bc iflai" ""l 

 lobSving firm Black, Manafon. 

 Siont and Kelly and who *" 

 named last month to Buah's reelec- 

 tion leadership loam, is one of a 

 bev7 of powerful Washington lob- 

 biiMJ locked in a brmair.g, high- 

 atikei "battle over allocating the 

 1800 milhon-per-yeAT pollock fiih- 

 ing industry in the north Pacific off 

 Alaska. 



Black 18 part of a team rep.-eient- 

 ing the Pacific Seafood ProceMors 

 Aiaociation. whose membership 

 mciudtf aeveral Japanese-owned 

 (ish procfMUig companies that 

 dominate ihi- Bering Sea onshore 

 pollock proceiiing mdusiry. The 

 onshore proceiiors stand to gam 

 hundredk ol millions of dollars ov»i 

 several vears il thf secretary of 

 commerce approves a June harvest 

 allocation recommendation by the 

 Ncrtn Pacific Fishery lvl»na«ement 

 Cour.:i; 



Undei the council plan, onshore 

 proce»sor5 would get control of 

 about 45 percent of the nearly 3 

 b.lhonpound pollock c*lch by 1994. 

 reducing the current 80 percent 

 share en)oye<l by their compeil 

 tiun— a factory trawler fleet that 

 luell las hu-ed some hJgh-pricM 

 Washington help to persuade the 

 Commerce Depanmem to overturn 

 the fishery council's decision 



According to a recent General 

 Accouminj Office report, published 

 before another Japanese-owned, 

 onsnore piocesimg plant was com- 

 pteted. Japsnesa interests own 

 abnui 70 percent of the shoreside 

 processing industr). The trawler 

 processing fleet is about 20 to 30 

 percent forelgtvownsd. with Nor- 

 wegian interests holding the largest 

 foreign share. 



iJim CiUnors. t Washington rop- 

 re^ntalive of the American P»c 

 tory Trawler Aasocistion thet is 

 fighting to overturn the fishery 

 cotmdl's recommended ellooitlon. 

 said it IS "beyond irony" that one of 

 Btlsh't top csmpsign adviien is 

 miJrtilng to advance lh« Interests of 

 Jstunese coropanioi at the same 

 Uilie the president >s trying to score 

 doknestK politlcil points by taking • 

 totgh trsie line In Tokyo. 



"^ the one hand wo ate trying 

 to' promote U.S. anpotti. create 

 jobs in AiTwnca lad tight a rtces- 

 aion. iix) on tbe other tht Com- 



f~ iptrtmem b considering s 

 I tint la designed to re- 

 Tihje of U.S. enporte and 

 mcreM* the proflti ef two 

 coinptnie* at the expense 

 IMen st-eea U.S. cwipa- 

 niM.' Mid Glbtiore 



;But Buck and Oennla J. Phelan. 

 vice president o< the Pacific Seafood 

 PiocMMcs Association, md the 

 lt«ue cannot be C4tt ai a domeslic 

 versus Japaneif foonomic eiruggle 

 because both parts o( the industry 

 halve foreign components and be- 

 cikiae all the jobs at stake are 

 Atierictn 



"There Is all kinds ol foreign in- 

 vojvemcni on both sides." seid 

 Buck "There art a lot of American 

 jo»s ai suke here that we are Tight- 

 ing lor ' 

 : Joseph Bkjm. a fithery council 

 number who a director ol the Wash 

 iflgton state Fiabetiea Deptnment. 

 auo uld 11 was a "phony argument' 

 to portray the dispute as one be- 

 tween US. and foreign inlereats. 

 "ft a a toesup." said Blum, who voted 

 aisintt the slkxition formula and 

 w>nis II overturned by the Com 

 mrrce Department. "There's foreign 

 inveatment in both places.' 



;Black declined to say whether he 

 hid discussed the laaue wiih Robert 

 A^ Mosbechcr. who is leaving his 

 past as secretary of commerce to 

 bocome genersl chatniMn ol Bush's 

 reelection effort. I'd taiiier not get 

 into my eaetgnmenu." Black said. 



Tlie (iatl Ariaion on the fishery 

 council's tOocelion formula re$t« 

 with the secretary of commerce. 

 who rarely rejects the dedaions of 

 the eight regional councils th«t reg- 

 ulate fiitmig catches within the 

 MO-raile U.S. fishing lone. \^it6 

 Moabacher leavinj Commerce, the 

 teaslon, wtiich is to be mada In ear- 

 ly March, would pass to secretary- 

 dcaignate Barbara Hackman Frank- 

 lin if ahe la confirmod Li tune by the 

 U.S. Senate. 



The battle over poUock— a 

 groundfiah proceMod into surlmt 

 paste uaed mostly in Japan m arti- 

 Iklll crab legs and ihhmp— also u 

 a fight over Jobs between Waahing- 

 lon state ind Alaska, two sutea 

 whose congiotsiona] delegations 

 have joined the fray. Sen. Tod Ste- 

 vena (R-Alaska) is aggressively pro- 

 tnotmg tlie mierestt d the commu- 

 nities in his eute that (epend on 

 nnshore processing jobs. Tha entire 

 Washington slate deleiation. In 

 turn, has pressed Moabacher to 

 ovenum the fishery council's de- 

 cision because the trawler fleet Is 

 based primanly In their state 



Tlie issue hsa also been compU- 

 caied by Oisrges that the 11 -mem- 

 ber fishery council is awash In cosy 

 fllcu of Interest and that the pollock 

 allocation could directly affect sev- 

 eral council members. The Seattle 

 Times (eponed In November thai s 

 number of council members had i 

 financial stske in the pollock dod- 

 slon and other Issues before the 

 council. As an advisory body, the 

 council Is exempt from federal con- 

 flict-ofinlerest laws. 



The corrfttcl-of-inierest alien- 

 tkina have prooiptad Rep. John D. 

 Dingell (D-Mich.), chairTTUO of tbe 

 House Energy and Commerce aub- 

 committee on ovemgnt and Invee- 

 ligations, to begin an inquiry Into 

 the matter. 



