44 



Of course, one of the most important pieces of federal legislation 

 affecting the Bering Sea fisheries was the Magnuson Fishery 

 Conservation and Management Act (MFCMA) which implemented the U.S. 

 policy to "Americanize" the fisheries off Alaska. The MFCMA was a 

 dramatic success in this regard, and the foreign fleets which once 

 dominated our waters were displaced by U.S. vessels. 



Unfortunately, in response to losing these fishing grounds, the 

 fleets of Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) , the Peoples Republic 

 of China (PRO , and Poland moved offshore to areas beyond the 

 newly created 200 mile zone. As a result, since the mid-1980s, 

 the state has been deeply concerned about the growth of an 

 unregulated fleet of foreign trawlers fishing in the Central 

 Bering Sea. The impacts of unregulated fishing in this area by 

 these fleets has led to what the United States and the Russian 

 Federation have labelled a "conservation crisis, " and has resulted 

 in the U.S. and Russia declaring their intent to use all necessary 

 measures to achieve a solution to this crisis. HCR 135 speaks to 

 this issue clearly, and is therefore strongly supported by the 

 State of Alaska. 



Mr. Chairman, it is important to put this issue in perspective. 

 The area of the Bering Sea which we refer to as the Central Bering 

 Sea "donut hole" is a small enclave which encompasses less than 10 

 percent of the total area of the Bering Sea, or about 15 percent 

 of that portion of the Bering Sea where depths exceed 200 meters. 

 This deepwater area is referred to as the Aleutian Basin, and 



