105 



COMMONWEALTH OF 



THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 



Statement of Jesus C. Borja 



June 1, 1995 



section 315(c). In the original, the Council was required to 

 take into account "traditional fishing rights". The new proposal 

 requires that "traditional fishing practices " be taken into ac- 

 count. We prefer the original. Our right to fish, including the 

 right to use modern techniques and equipment, should be recog- 

 nized and protected. 



All of these draft bills contain positive proposals, worthy 

 of support. Those bills that establish quotas recognize individ- 

 ual, private rights in fisheries resources. The bills that rec- 

 ognize traditional rights or practices honor the historical fish- 

 ing customs and methods of native Pacific islanders. None of 

 the bills, however, addresses the fundamental issue: how to rec- 

 ognize and implement the current, collective and public fishing 

 rights of the people of the Pacific insular areas as exercised 

 through their contemporary governments. Efforts to reach a work- 

 able compromise on that subject have been underway for more than 

 a decade. 



THE RIGHTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH 



The people of the Northern Mariana Islands collectively have 

 a legitimate claim to the ownership, control, use, and benefit of 

 the surrounding sea and its resources based upon the traditional 



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