Ill 



COMMONWEALTH OF 



THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 



Statement of Jesus C. Borja 



June 1, 1995 



plicable to the Northern Marianas and that the waters surrounding 



the islands to the extent of 200 miles were part of the United 



22 

 States fishery conservation zone. 



Almost immediately, the Magnuson Act was applied to restrict 

 the right of our indigenous local tuna fishermen to fish in their 

 traditional waters, even though at that time foreign tuna fisher- 

 men enjoyed a unrestricted "open season" in the exclusive eco- 

 nomic zone adjacent to our islands. In 1979, a small group of 

 local fishermen organized themselves as a nonprofit tuna fisher- 

 ies development project, known as Marianas Fisheries, Inc., and 

 secured a small skipjack tuna vessel, the M/V Olwol . They pre- 

 pared her for sea and announced plans for her maiden fishing voy- 

 age. A priest was invited to bless the undertaking. Friends and 

 relatives were invited to attend the launch. 



The big day was spoiled, however, by agents of the Federal 

 Government. The National Marine Fisheries Service informed our 

 fishermen that the voyage would be in violation of the Magnuson 

 Act and other federal laws because the Olwol was of Japanese man- 



1 Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior, 

 The Application of Federal Laws in American Samoa, Guam, the 

 Northern Mariana Islands [and] the U.S. Virgin Islands 447-48 

 (1993) . 



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