36 



Donut Hole/NAFO Hearing 



H. Con. Res. 135/H.R.3058 



Questions and Answers 



Subcommittee on Fisheries Management 



Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 



U.S. House of Representatives 



Ambassador David A. Colson 

 U.S. Department of State 



Q. Am I correct in my impression that many of the same nations 

 that refused to limit catch in the Bering Sea despite U.S. 

 appeals are now loudly objecting to U.N. efforts to address 

 straddling stocks and highly migratory stocks? 



A. The unregulated "straddling stock" fishery for pollock 

 begun in the mid-1980 's and conducted by vessels of the 

 People's Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, 

 and Poland on the high seas "Donut Hole" area of the 

 central Bering Sea has been of serious concern to the 

 United States and Russia. In 1991, the U.S. hosted the 

 first "Conference on the Conservation and Management of the 

 Living Marine Resources of the Central Bering Sea." Seven 

 conferences have been held since, and the U.S. will host 

 the Ninth Conference in November. Some successes have been 

 achieved with the foreign fishing countries: a voluntary 

 fishing suspension was agreed to and is in effect for 1993 

 and 1994; cooperative scientific research is being 

 conducted; and preliminary agreement has been reached on a 

 level of pollock biomass which must be reached before the 

 fishery is allowed to resume. However, much work remains 

 to be done. A draft "Agreement for the Conservation and 

 Management of the Pollock Resources in the Central Bering 

 Sea" remains uncompleted; the two most recent meetings 

 produced marginal results in finalizing the text. We have 

 been disappointed in the lack of timely progress on 

 concluding a long-term management regime, but will continue 

 our efforts. With regard to the United Nations Conference 

 on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, 

 the Conference has had one substantive session, a basic 

 negotiating text has been produced, but it has not yet been 

 decided what the form of the outcome of the Conference may 

 be. The U.S. position, which enjoys the support of many 

 other delegations, is the development and implementation of 

 strong regional conservation and management regimes which 

 include all the relevant countries and which are effective 

 in responding to specific regional needs of the resources 

 and the people dependent jOn them. 



Q. How do we convince these nations that reasonable 



conservation efforts serve everyone's best interests? 



A. As more and more vessels have begun to fish on the high 

 seas during the past decade, and the status of world 

 fishery resources has declined, it has become apparent that 

 effective conservation and management measures are a must 

 for the long-term sustainability of fishery resources. 

 This requires, in many cases, the willingness of 

 governments to participate as full and active partners. 

 For too long the short-term economic interests of industry 

 have been put forward first; the long-term sustainability 

 of the resources must have primacy. In the end, the 

 resource will be better off, as will the industry. 



