fishermen continued to harvest the same stocks and sell it in U.S. markets, our fish- 

 ermen sought cooperation from Canada to jointly manage these stocks. Yet, if we 

 continue to expect cooperation from each of these nations, however, it seems logical 

 that similar cooperation be expected of the U.S. with regard to NAFO. 



At the same time, if the U.S. does join NAFO, our fishermen deserve a quota to 

 harvest fish within the regulatory area managed under the Convention. I believe 

 historical fishing practices support this assertion, and without a quota, there is little 

 incentive for our fishermen to support such an effort. 



Also entered into the record is a statement of Mr. Fields, the 

 ranking minority member of the Full Committee. 



Statement of Hon. Jack Fields, a U.S. Representative from Texas, and 

 Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 



Mr. Chairman, this hearing will examine two issues relating to international 

 agreements among neighboring nations to manage fisheries stocks in international 

 waters. 



In the case of the "Donut Hole" in the Bering Sea, the agreement would bring 

 several nations together to better manage the stocks of straddling species of fish, in 

 particular the pollock, which migrate through this area of international waters. 

 While a temporary moratoria on fishing in the Donut Hole is currently in place 

 among several nations, allowing the U.S. to negotiate a more permanent solution is 

 important. 



The second issue before us today is the implementing legislation to allow the U.S. 

 to participate as a signatory nation to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organiza- 

 tion. While the U.S. was a party to the original agreement and actually signed the 

 convention in 1983, implementing legislation was never enacted. If the U.S. is to 

 become a full participating member of this organization, we should move forward on 

 this organization. 



I look forward to hearing the testimony of the witnesses to see whether these 

 agreements do, in fact, represent the best course of action for the U.S. to better con- 

 serve and utilize our fisheries resources. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Manton. We will move to our panel. 



Our first witness is the Honorable David A. Colson, Deputy As- 

 sistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries Affairs, U.S. Depart- 

 ment of State. 



STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DAVID A. COLSON, DEPUTY AS- 

 SISTANT SECRETARY FOR OCEANS AND FISHERIES AFFAIRS, 

 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 



Mr. Colson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for your 

 opening comments. I could not agree with you more. 



I do have a prepared statement and ask that it be placed in the 

 record. 



Mr. Manton. Without objection. 



Mr. Colson. I would like to summarize the administration's ap- 

 proach for dealing with the problem of straddling fish stocks. I will 

 skip over the efforts to define them and to identify the various con- 

 servation and management problems that arise in this connection 

 since you so clearly laid those out in your own statement. 



I think it is fair to say that in the mid-1970's, when the United 

 States established its 200-mile exclusive economic zone, we did not 

 fully understand the nature of this problem nor did we foresee that 

 we would have a major straddling stock problem in the Bering Sea. 



But as the U.S. trawl fleet in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska 

 displaced the foreign presence in our waters, we found that some of 

 those foreign vessels entered the Donut Hole area, the area of the 

 Bering Sea beyond 200 miles from the U.S. and Russian coasts. 



