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work in a true co-management system. This is the underlying philosophy of the 

 Council system. 



The western Pacific region is unique in that the traditional management 

 practices of our indigenous peoples are still in the minds of our citizens, and are 

 still practiced in some communities. Although these traditional practices were 

 very effective in their day, they have become diluted by increased human 

 populations and encroaching western (indeed, foreign) management approaches. 

 While the goals of conservation and the tools of traditional management (e.g., 

 allocation of resources, limited access to harvesting activities in relation to seasons 

 and areas, etc.) are still pervasive in our current practices, the lack of local 

 involvement often makes their implementation less than effective. 



Now is the time that we should modify our most important federal fishery 

 law to bring elements of resource management back to the community. We must 

 strive to preserve our societies as strongly as we strive to preserve our fish. We 

 need to preserve the cultural and religious beliefs, and the principles of resource 

 stewardship, of our region'; native peoples. To do this under the constraints of 

 the overlying federal system, however, we need to formally acknowledge the 

 uniqueness of these indigenous people and their social values. This is not 

 possible under the current Act, but the proposed amendments would change this 

 and require our Council to recognize these communities, and to consider them 

 and their traditional management practices when developing federal management 

 plans. 



Fishing and related activities are interwoven with all aspects of community 

 and cultural identity in our region. An integration of customary management 

 practices with western regulations would be an ideal way to manage our fisheries. 

 Traditional fishing practices and rules could better emphasize education and 

 ensure the concept of sustainable use by promoting ancestral knowledge. In this 

 regard, a community-based management system would be consistent with 

 community-based development quotas. For example, once given the authority to 

 recognize our indigenous people under the Act, our Council could authorize any 

 number of management tools to be employed at the community level. Under 



