105 



But now there are too many boats 

 and not enough fish Representative 

 Gerry E. Studds, the Massachusetts 

 Democrat who heads ihe House Mer- 

 chant Marine and Fisheries Commit- 

 tee, has proposed that the Government 

 pay fishermen to get out of the busi- 

 ness. Here in Seattle, home port for 

 most of the North Pacific trawlers, 

 fishermen spend as much time in bank- 

 ruptcy court as they do mending nets. 



"The problem of foreign overfishing 

 has been replaced by even more seri- 

 ous overfishing by the American fish- 

 ing industry." said Valerie Christy, a 

 spokeswoman for the Marine Conser- 

 vation Networlt. a coalition of major 

 environmental groups. 



With boat mortgages and equipment 

 costs to meet, some fishermen are 

 loath to limit their tal<e as a way of 

 providing for future years, although 

 some fishermen criticize that as short- 

 sighted. 



"The ocean is a farm." said Harold 

 Lashley, a 78-year-old retired Glouces- 

 ter fisherman. "If you take away all 

 the feed and the females, when it 

 comes time to plant, you haven't got 

 any seed. Leave it alone. Seed the 

 ocean and allow the fish to grow." 



To protect the fish that are left, the 

 Government has closed a large part of 

 Georges Bank, the continental shelf 

 east of Cape Cod whose stocks of cod. 

 haddock and flounder have been ex- 

 hausted, and has approved a plan that 

 by restricting fishing days will reduce 

 the catch off New England by 50 per- 

 cent over the next five to seven years. 



The measures were put in place only 

 after the council that is supposed to 

 regulate New England fishing was 

 sued in Federal court. Similarly, on the 

 West Coast, several groups are threat- 

 enmg lawsuits to force the regional 

 council to protect fish species. The 

 council considered a total salmon-fish- 

 ing ban two years ago but did not 



Declining Fish Catches 



The Magnuson Act. passed in 

 1976. regulates fishing in United 

 States waters. Commercial 

 catches since the act: 



Chinook salmon on the West 

 Coast, not Including Alaska. 



5.00 million fish 



3.75 

 2.50 



lillllk 



Source: NaJlonaJ Marlns nsn&nss SarWcs 



A way of life on 

 the verge of 

 disappearing. 



proceed, and the region is now seeing 

 j the lowest number of fish returning to 

 j spawn in memory. 



I There are several bright spots in 

 ■ American fishing waters, primarily in : 

 areas with heavy regulation. New Eng- 1 

 land lobster fishing has remained I 

 steady. Striped bass and mackerel 

 have made strong comebacks on the 

 East Coast after conservation meas- 

 ures were put in place. In Alaska, the 

 nation's most productive fishing wa- 

 ters, the salmon catch last year was a 

 record 200 million fish. 

 Some experts point to Alaska salmon | 



The pnmary commercial species, 

 or 'groundfish" — mostly cod, 

 haddock and flounder 



200 thousand tons of fish 

 150 



as an example of how 'j manage fish. 

 In Alaska, fishermen are allowed to go 

 after the catch only after state officials 

 determine that enough fish to sustain 

 future generations have relumed to 

 spawning grounds. And there is a limit 

 on the number of fishermen. Most oth- 

 er Amencan fisheries are wide open, 

 with no restrictions on either fish or 

 who catches them. 



If present trends hold, not only will 

 major American fishing areas contin- 

 ue to decline, but the culture lives that 

 revolve around them may also disap- 

 pear. The Magnuson Act requires fish- 

 ing managers to consider preserving 

 "a way of life" as they try to conserve 

 fish. But putting that into policy has 

 been difficult. 



Mr. Lashley. the Gloucester fisher- 

 man, says his family has been in fish- 

 ing for hundreds of years, but that will 

 change. Mr. Lashley said his grandson. 

 Michael Lashley. 28. "will definitely be 

 the last fishermen in the family." 



