ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE WHITING ALLOCA- 

 TION ON OREGON COASTAL COMMUNITIES 



FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1993 



House of Representatives, 

 Subcommittee on Regulation, Business 



Opportunities, and Technology, 



Committee on Small Business, 



Washington, DC. 



The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:55 a.m., in OSU 

 Mark O. Hatfield, Marine Science Center Auditorium, 2030 Marine 

 Science Drive, Newport, OR, Hon. Ron Wyden (chairman of the 

 subcommittee) presiding. 



Chairman Wyden. Let us bring the Small Business Subcommit- 

 tee on Regulation, Business Opportunities, and Technology to 

 order. 



It is a pleasure to convene here in Newport today at the request 

 of my good friend, Mike Kopetski, in order to learn first hand the 

 economic impact of the Whiting Allocation Decision on the Oregon 

 coast and on this community specifically. 



We made a special effort to be here today, because the Small 

 Business Subcommittee on Regulation and Business Opportunities 

 wants to look closely at the impact this decision has had on a 

 number of areas such as small business lending and catch alloca- 

 tion decisions where the Federal Government is directly involved. 



For example, at this time, there are more than 40 Small Busi- 

 ness Administration loans directly related to the fishing industry 

 on the Oregon coast which are at risk because of the whiting deci- 

 sion. In addition to those 40 direct loans, the subcommittee's in- 

 quiry into this issue found that in Clatsop, Tillamook, and Lincoln 

 Counties alone, there are an additional 80 SBA loans supporting a 

 variety of secondary and support businesses — such as hardware 

 shops, boat repair yards, restaurants, and other small enterprises — 

 that directly and indirectly owe their survival to the onshore fish- 

 ing industry. 



So, it's fair to say that already the Federal Government, consid- 

 ering the extent of these SBA loans, has tens of millions of dollars 

 that are at risk because of the Pacific Whiting Decision. My con- 

 cern is that unless this matter is dealt with properly, if those loans 

 fail, if those loans wash up onshore, they are going to take a lot of 

 other businesses with them, and that is something that Congress- 

 man Kopetski and I simply are not willing to accept. 



There are two public policy questions that I have a special inter- 

 est in examining today. First, I am particularly concerned about 



(1) 



