Ill 



views of those tasked to administer the Magnuson Act were 



overridden, if it was politically expedient. It was in this 



political environment that the Council developed the 1993 

 allocation. 



The 1993 Pacific Whiting ailocatlpn Deciaion. 



The April, 1993 Pacific whiting decision, which is consistent 

 with the position outlined by the agency last year before election 

 year politics intervened, maintains the status quo in the fishery. 

 The allocation guarantees both the at-sea and shoreslde sectors 

 roughly th© same percentage of the harvest that they processed lest 

 year. 



Some argue that the Secretary should not have altered the 

 Council's plan. AFTA disagrees. The Council's proposal failed to 

 adhere to the requirements of the Magnuson Act. The Secretary is 

 obligated to uphold these standards specifically set out in 

 statute. Perhaps the Secretary made an error in Judgement by not 

 rejecting the rule outright, instead of publishing the proposed 

 rule for public comment. AFTA urged such a course of action, and 

 though we were heartened that the preamble to the proposed rule 

 exposed many of the flaws in the Council's plan, we felt that the 

 proposal was contrary to law and lacked Justification. 



The Council's stated rationale for allocating 75 percent of 

 the 1993 whiting quota to shoreslde processors that processed only 

 25 percent of the 1992 catch was twofold. First, the Council 

 sought to maximize benefits for coastal communities. Second, it 



