61 



NOVEMBER 20 ^(,. 



PUGEl SO. .J CUSINLSS JOURNAL 



Opinion 



Politics are poisoning Nortliwest fislieries 



You donl have to look any farther ihan 

 Seattle's Pier 66 for proof that recettl 

 actions by the North Pacific Fishery Man- 

 agement Council and the Bush administra- 

 tion have inflicted great harm upon the 

 Pacific Nonhvvest economy. 



At last count. 18 factory trawler vessels 

 sat idle along Seattle's waterfront because 

 of poliucal decisioni made that severely 

 limit the at-sea fleets access to the 

 groundfish resource that the fleet, ironi- 

 cally, first fully developed. 



Last year at this time. I was working 

 aboard one of these boats earning family 

 wages The al-sea processing fleet 

 employed thousands of people while meet- 

 ing a multimillion-dollar payroll that 

 directly benefitted economic growth in the 

 Pacific Northwest 



Today, that same boat sits tied up at 

 Pier 66 My personal income has declined 

 ^•le to the current admiiustrauon's poliu- 

 decision. Yet — for the time being — I 

 ■eel lucky Unlike some of my colleagues. 

 I still have a job. This time next year, I 

 may not be so lucky 



I am one of 10,000 Pacific Northwest 

 workers fortunate enough to be employed 

 by an at-sea seafood processing industry 

 that has provided me with high wages and 

 important health care benefits This indus- 

 try stands to lose over 3 .000 of these well- 

 paying jobs because of a poliucal process 



How could this happen at a lime when 

 politicians each day claim they're fighting 

 hard for "jobs. jobs, jobs'"' Words are 

 not deeds Those boats sit unused because 

 politicians in Alaska and Washington. 

 DC. are ignonng the intent of the Mag- 



MANAGING 

 RESOURCES 



John McVea 



nuson Aa (meant to Amencanize our fish- 

 eries) while creating a $101 million net 

 loss to the nauonal economy by guarantee- 

 ing a percent of the catch to foreign shore- 

 side concerns in Alaska. 



Although Bush proclaims his support 

 for expanded free trade, his administration 

 has stifled our industry's ability to com- 



Pon of Seattle to be $348 million 



• The fleet contributed $500 million to | 

 the United States' balance of trade \ 



If you worry about the effect of more ^ 

 Boeing layoffs on the region, you might j 

 also wonder about the potential impacts of | 

 losing the at-sea fleet's considerable con- 5 

 tnbutions to our way of life. \ 



What's the solution? Open access to 

 Amenca's fisheries by all segments of the 

 US fishing industry, subject to observ- . 

 ance of good conservation practices 

 That's what the Magnuson Act intended 

 The American factory trawler fleet should 

 be able to fish for groundfish in the North 

 Pacific and Pacific whiting off the Oregon 



How could this happen at a time when politicians 



each day claim they're fighting for ''jobs, jobs, jobs'? 



Words are not deeds. 



pete Furthermore, we are an American 

 industry that makes a positive contribution 

 to the nation's balance of trade. 



While Japanese-controlled shoreside 

 processing plants continue to send their 

 catcher boats out to harvest pollock and 

 other groundfish. our segment of the 

 industry is forced to either tie up its boats 

 or fish outside of Amencan waters. Mean- 

 while, laid-off workers collect unemploy- 

 ment from the state of Washington to feed 

 their families Vessels financed by feder- 

 ally guaranteed loans and designed for 

 year-round fishing float dormant 



Sure, the Pon of Seattle generates reve 

 nue ($1 per foot per day) on the vessels 

 tied up at Pier 66 But at what trade-off 

 Consider that just two years ago 



• The ai-sca fleet's payroll expenditures 

 totaled $130 million in Washington stale 

 alone 



• The fleet spent $240 million with 

 Washington state busmesses 



• The fleet's economic impact on 

 Washington state was estimated by the 



and California coasts, just like everyone 

 else. 



Take it from someone who has been 

 there We are an Amencan fleet that 

 catches and processes groundfish By law. 

 over 75 percent of our crews are U S citi- 

 zens We positively contnbute to the 

 nation's balance of trade We make signif- 

 icant economic contributions to local 

 communities and the nation as a whole 



This contnbution should be recognized. 

 Since the future of Amencan fishenes is 

 our livelihood, we are commined to long- 

 term preservation and management of the 

 resource By the same token, employees 

 of the ai-sea processing fleet urge our 

 elected officials to be forward thinking 

 The future of Amenca's al-sea resource is 

 our livelihood — a qualir> of life that is 

 very impcinant to the Pacific Nonhwesi's 

 vital interests 



John McVe3. an employee ot Golden 

 Alaska Seafoods, is a lechnicun on t/ic 

 factory trawler Golden Alaska 



78-917 0-94-3 



