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STATEMENT OF HIGH CHIEF UFAGAFA RAY A. TULAFONO, DI- 

 RECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF MARINE AND WILDLIFE RE- 

 SOURCES, PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA 



Mr. TULAFONO. Chairman Inouye, Senator Akaka, good morning. 



I'm honored to be here this morning on behalf of the Governor 

 and the American Samoan Government to testify before your com- 

 mittee on this important bill. 



I have long been involved in developing our educational system 

 and managing our natural resources in the territory. I also am a 

 member of the Western Pacific Region Fishery Management Coun- 

 cil. I would like to use my experience to offer a few comments 

 about resource comanagement systems and how they relate to the 

 proposed Magnuson Act amendment. 



The distinction between comanagement and cooperative manage- 

 ment is not clear to everyone. In the field of resource management, 

 cooperative management is the situation that exists when two or 

 more groups or units work together to actively protect, conserve, 

 enhance, or restore natural resources. Comanagement is similar, 

 except that the cooperating groups or units each nave legally estab- 

 lished management responsibility. 



The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency with the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior, has a draft policy regarding its relationship 

 and comanagement responsibilities with federally-recognized tribal 



fovernments. The Native American Policy is the guiding principle 

 ehind the Fish and Wildlife Service's government-to-government 

 relationship with Native American governments for the conserva- 

 tion of fish and wildlife resources. The Fish and Wildlife Service 

 wants to cooperate with Native Americans in protecting, conserv- 

 ing, and utilizing their lands and resources. The Policy is intended 

 to be flexible and dynamic and to allow for variations and adjust- 

 ments that are necessary with each Native American government. 



The proposed amendment is needed so that Congress can repair 

 a flaw in previous legislation. The flaw is that people indigenous 

 to the American-flag Pacific Islands are not considered Native 

 Americans. This legislation will allow Pacific Islanders from Ha- 

 waii, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands 

 to have the same kind of self-determination that the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service has granted mainland Native Americans. 



Pacific Islanders deserve to be allowed to use traditional commu- 

 nity-based fishery projects to manage their fisheries and have those 

 practices approved and supported by United States law, just as 

 they are for mainland Native Americans. 



Fishery management in Samoa today is a form of comanagement 

 between the local villages and the Department of Marine and Wild- 

 life Resources. The matai system or the chief system of the village 

 council has responsibility for the affairs of the village. The village 

 matai are responsible for wise management of their resources, par- 

 ticularly their reefs and nearshore areas which historically pro- 

 vided a bounty of fish. 



In addition to the local Samoan style of matai management, it's 

 the more general responsibility of the Department of Marine and 

 Wildlife Resources. The Departments works cooperatively with the 

 village to manage reef fisheries and is the principal agent for con- 

 servation of offshore fishery resources. 



