1 Again, they're not providing the sort of counterpoint to the 



2 public opinion that would be against not only drilling in the canyons, 



3 but maybe drilling in a lot of other places as well. 



4 Those are just my observations. I know, Pat, you have a lot to 



5 add to that. 



6 MS. HUGHES: I think partly through the Environmental Studies 



7 Program I think generally people have--obviously the people who work on 



8 OCS, but I think also generally the public have a better understanding, 



9 have more information about what makes Georges Bank work or at least how 



10 it functions. 



11 It is in their heads that it is an unusual area of the ocean, very 



12 productive, that it has submarine canyons, that there are species in the 



13 canyons that are not found anyplace else, that there's high biological 



14 productivity, that there are a lot of birds, et cetera. We should have 



15 a better understanding of the system, number one. 



16 Number two, that's come parallel with all of the struggles 



17 surrounding fisheries management which are very complicated, which has 



18 it's own share of resource allocation problems, and should you allow 



19 this, and should you allow that, that offshore oil has been faced [with 



20 similar struggles] in the North Atlantic as well as in other areas. 



21 [The fishing questions experience] similar kinds of political 



22 tensions between the federal governments and the States as offshore oil, 



23 but Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine area have been identified, at 



24 least in this region, as the most important fishery area for more than 



25 150 years. 



26 So, there's an improved understanding of how sort of special, if I 



27 may call it that, the Georges Bank system is. How important the fishery 



28 is and the challenges surrounding conservation and management of the 



29 resource that we now share jurisdiction over Georges Bank with Canada, 



30 that we have very different attitudes at the federal level regarding 



31 resource exploitation, both mineral and fisheries. 



32 So, I think that has all combined to heighten the importance of 



33 what happens out there in people's minds. I think as Bruce indicated, 



34 if you were to ask the average person in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, 



139 



