153 



h^d equal footing with the U.S. han^ester In relation to the ^eign component 

 Congress believed that, having cstabh'shed an advantage for doraestic companies 

 n<> fiirthcr preference should be given. Furth^-, if one were to interpret the above, 

 the indcpqidcnt American fishermen ftarvestefB') right to harvest and syll hii fia>i 

 Uf)idor free and open marked condttioni waa given the highest priority of all 



Many U.S. processw* took advantage of this legislation by building factory 

 trawlers, and shof^lants sprang up from Crescent city, Ca, to IXrtch Harbor, Ak. 

 Diiring these years, the fishery was orderly, much easier to manage, and not 

 oyercapitaliz^ h was only later that excessive investment occurred as a resuh of 

 the general interpretation by the US, Coast Guard of Congress's intcjtl in the anti- 

 RiflaggingActofl987. 



"rte result of this overcapitaliTation in both the processing the harvesting sectors 

 hjjs been contentious allocation battles, with each side asserting its right to tlw 

 fishery. The role ofthe traditional catcher boats in developing tlie fishery if 

 bciyond question; however, it is the catcher boats delivering in their traditional 

 mi>de to at-sea processors tfiat bav« been denied their historical place in the fishery. 



LT^padatoOre^ion 



There are three ftiU-tirae mothcrships that participate in the whiting fishery: 

 EXCEl ,1 ,KNCE, OOIDEN AI-^SKA and OCEAN PHOENIX. Collectively, 

 they are capitftlized at $120 million and are 80% U.S. owned In 1992 they 

 employed 619 Americans aboard the ships, of which 157 were OregonJans. The 

 payroU tot Oregc^ employees for the years 1991-1993 is : 



1991 1992 1993 



$4,320,000 $2,860,000 $194,000 



R?di»ction torn 1991 34% 95.5% 



These numbers show a 95% reduction ofthe payroll of Oregon crew aboard 

 m()thcrshipt from 1992-1993 of $4,126,000. 



During those three years, the motherships contracted with a total of 27 catcher 

 vessels, 10 of them fixan Oregoa These boats are 75-120 feet in length and 

 cn'iploy a total of 130 people, of which 62 are from Oregon. Ihe catchw boats are 

 100% American owned and have a capitalization of around $40'$60 million. 

 While I do not have a coHcf^ve crew share for those catcho* boats, I can use one of 

 thbm as an example of ihe eccoomic impact J3x)m 199M993. 



