tional fishery conservation efforts, as demonstrated by the U.S. po- 

 sitions on issues now before the Subcommittee. 



The two matters before us involve the management of high seas 

 fisheries close to our coasts. H. Con. Res. 135 endorses the Adminis- 

 tration's efforts to develop an international regime to govern fish- 

 ing within the area off Alaska known as the Donut Hole. 



H.R. 3058 is implementing legislation to facilitate U.S. participa- 

 tion in the Northwest Atlantic Fishing Organization (NAFO), the 

 international body for regulating fisheries of the northwest Atlan- 

 tic, just off the northeastern United States. 



NAFO is a textbook example of the difficulty in developing a 

 meaningful international fishery conservation regime. While the 

 United States helped develop NAFO and signed the original agree- 

 ment, we have failed to enact the implementing legislation neces- 

 sary to become an active and participating member. Hence, U.S. 

 fishermen are not subject to reasonable restrictions and are free to 

 fish within this area without regard to quotas or other limitations. 

 As a result, many view this situation as undermining the conserva- 

 tion goals of NAFO and endangering the continued commercial via- 

 bility of these stocks. 



So, on the one hand, we have the U.S. pursuing a policy for es- 

 tablishing a strong international management policy for the Cen- 

 tral Bering Sea, while simultaneously failing to live up to its initial 

 commitment to fisheries in the northwest Atlantic. 



I am firmly convinced that cooperative international fishery con- 

 servation efforts are essential if we are to perform the important 

 tasks of protecting these resources for future generations and as- 

 suring the continued viability of our domestic commercial fishing 

 industry. I hope this hearing will further foster these goals. 



I note the United Nations recently held a two-week conference 

 on global fisheries resources, thus highlighting the importance of 

 international cooperation. I was particularly pleased that the U.S. 

 took a prominent position in this conference and came out as a 

 strong proponent of international cooperation in the conservation 

 of fisheries resources. Clearly, more international cooperation is es- 

 sential if we are to protect these valuable resources, and I am 

 pleased that this subcommittee is taking a leading role in this 

 effort. 



Mr. Manton. We await the arrival of our Ranking Member, Mr. 

 Young, who is currently engaged with some constituents. So I will 

 turn to our Member from the State of Washington to see if she has 

 an opening statement. 



STATEMENT OF HON. JOLENE UNSOELD, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 



FROM WASHINGTON 



Mrs. Unsoeld. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I do. 



I would like to add my voice to the others concerned about the 

 conservation crisis brought about by overfishing in the Central 

 Bering Sea. This ecologically rich area is vital to our national and 

 local economies, yet overexploitation and the inability of the inter- 

 national committee to adopt appropriate management measures 

 have threatened not only the environmental integrity of the region 

 but also our ability to use our resources on a sustainable basis. 



