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industry may be incapable of remaining viable during the time 

 necessary to rebuild wild stocks. 



We believe the government should and must play a proactive role 

 in restoring the economic viability of the fishing industry. We 

 estimate that a fully productive industry could increase 

 commercial fishing net revenues annually by $2.9 billion , 

 resulting in htindreds of thousands of new jobs, large benefits to 

 recreationists, consumers, and the American people in general. 



Management of U.S. fisheries is at a critical juncture. In an 

 effort to solve these problems, all eight Fishery Management 

 Councils are developing plans to control access to the fisheries. 

 Ultimately, we hope that market forces, rather than government 

 edict, will bring the system into a more rational balance. 



The Strategic Plan outlines a seven-step program to build 

 sustainable fisheries. First, NOAA will expand and improve its 

 assessments of fishery resources. We do not know, for example, 

 the status of 34 percent of the species we are responsible for 

 managing. Without more and better scientific information, NOAA 

 is forced to make conservative fisheries management decisions to 

 guard against accidental overfishing, potentially wasting 

 immediate economic benefits. This also adds greatly to the 

 controversial nature of fisheries management decisions. To meet 

 this need for information, NOAA is committed to completing its 



