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some regions, councils have simply failed to effectively manage 

 fishery resources. Fortunately, the North Pacific Council, which 

 for its first ten years largely managed stocks harvested by foreign 

 fishermen, established sound conservation practices and maintained 

 those practices. However, the North Pacific Council is not above 

 reproach. It drew sharp criticism last year from the Commerce 

 Department's Office of Inspector General (010). The Inspector 

 General reported that the Council's analysis of the largest, and 

 possibly most controversial, allocation scheme yet proposed was 

 inadequate. A separate ethics investigation of the North Pacific 

 Council and its staff was also conducted. 



Arctic Alaska offers the following thoughts on Congressional 

 review of the the regional council process. First, confidence in 

 the regional fishery management council process will continue to 

 erode unless adequate ethical standards are applied to council 

 members. Second, if Congress remains committed to having user 

 groups comprise the council membership, some check on the authority 

 of councils is needed. Several ideas for improving the regulatory 

 review process are also offered. 



a. Ethical Standards for Council Members. Council members, 

 of course, are appointed to their positions by the Secretary of 

 Commerce. These individuals are exempt from federal conflict of 

 interest statutes that govern the conduct of other federal 

 officials who may face conflicts of interest when carrying out 

 their duties. Also, financial disclosure requirements are 

 inadequate. 



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