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and comment on stock assessment and interaction decisions already 

 made by the NMFS . 



Authorization to Take Marine Mammals 



The Maine Sardine Council's primary motivation for becoming 

 involved in the negotiations was to work towards the development of 

 a regime that would not threaten to shut down our Category III 

 herring fishery due to any impacts that New England's sink gillnet 

 fleet might be having on the region's harbor porpoise population. 

 We signed on to the negotiated critical stock regime because we 

 believe that this possibility would be eliminated by the proposal. 



The NMFS' proposed regime would make it possible for any 

 fishery interacting with a marine mammal stock of concern - such 

 as, potentially, the harbor porpoise - to be shut down once a 

 potential biological removal level of take was reached. 



Unfortunately, the Committee's proposed regime mirrors the 

 NMFS proposal in this regard. Also, like the NMFS proposal, 

 according to the Committee's draft, herring fishery vessels would 

 be required to register, pay fees to fish, and display "Marine 

 Mammal Interactor" decals - even if the fishery is known to have no 

 significant impact on the marine mammal species involved. This 

 approach is difficult to understand. We must oppose it as an 

 unwarranted regulatory burden and cost without scientific 

 justification . 



Conservation Teams 



We are pleased to see the Committee adopt the regional 

 Conservation Team approach suggested in the negotiated critical 

 stock regime. Like those suggested in the negotiated agreement, 

 Conservation Teams established by the Committee's bill would be 

 selected from a broad cross section of interests. 



While I do not directly represent the Maine Gillnetters 

 Association, I worked closely with that organization during the 

 negotiation process as President of the Associated Fisheries of 

 Maine. At the close of the discussions, the Maine Gillnetters 

 Association agreed to support the critical stock regime. 



In my view, they took this position primarily because the 

 Conservation Team concept represents a partnership between 

 government and industry which is intended to develop strategies to 

 mitigate takes while allowing for the continued viability of a 

 fishery. As envisioned by the negotiated agreement, this approach 

 will develop cooperation and, ultimately, will focus scarce 

 resources where they can be expected to have the greatest impact. 



Even though Maine's herring fishery could potentially be a 



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