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Statement of Joe Easley 

 Administrator OTC Page 2 



Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, my name is Joe Easley, I am the Administrator of the 



Oregon Trawl Commission. I have been involved in fishery management issues since the late nineteen 



sixties. I was an advisor to the U.S. Department of State on bi-lateral negotiations with Japan, Poland 



and the USSR in the first half of the seventies. I served on the Pacific Fishery Management Council for 



eleven years, two of those years I was Chairman of the Council I was part of the negotiation team that 



was negotiating with Canada on boundaries, hydrocarbons and all fish except salmon,in the late seventies. 



I am an industry advisor involved in negotiations with Canada on sharing of the Pacific whiting stock at 



present. I am also Chairman of the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Advisory Committee that is 



working with the Coast Guard on fishing vessel safety. I was an owner and operator of fishing vessels for 



twenty five years. 



I do not believe that the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act needs a great deal 

 of change. I will try to answer some of the cries I have heard raised about what a failure the act is. 



1). As far as conversation is concerned the Secretary of Commerce has all the tools to hold the 

 Council's feet to the fire if he has the wilL To try to hold every fishery to the same narrow definition will 

 only bring chaos to the fisheries of the United States. 



2). Conflict of interest is another one getting a big play in some corners. Every one has conflicts 

 of interest, it just depends on how you look at it. Even the States have conflict of interest when it comes 

 to how a resource it harvested and in our area the States also have a money conflict because they all 

 collect landing fees. The so called conservation organizations also have a conflict of interest, many of them 

 are using their rhetoric as a fund rising method as much as anything. The law already requires 

 disclosure of any interest a member might have related to fishing. I know what the interests of the 

 members of the Pacific Fishery Management Council are without any disclosure. 



