1 really counting on you to come, so please do show up." We did get a 



2 very good response. 



3 From that spun off that industry-to-industry thing about gear loss 



4 and trying to come up with some sort of alternative mechanism for 



5 compensating fisherman who lost their gear, who snagged their gear on 



6 OCS equipment, or presumed OCS equipment where there was OCS activity. 



7 So, maybe that's what you have to do, you have to try, bend over 



8 backwards a little bit, but you can bring the people to the table. 



9 That's been our experience. I don't know if 8 years has changed any of 



10 that. 



11 You're right, there was the whole looming controversy of drilling 



12 to begin with. 



13 DR. RAY: In California not only did the fisherman have their own 



14 organization, they had a representative that goes to the meetings 



15 because the rest of them are out busy fishing, but they also have a 



16 separate office set up out there that has a full-time staff, as a matter 



17 of fact they have one fellow that's full-time staff that's a Ph.D. 



18 marine-biologist type. 



19 He's kind of a liaison between the two groups. Between he and the 



20 fishermen's chosen representative that goes to the meetings and stuff, 



21 that's how the representation of the fishing community comes to that 



22 meeting and there's a few designated representatives from the oil 



23 industry. 



24 They have a regular newsletter which has updated information on 



25 what geophysical operations are going to be in what areas during what 



26 months and then the fisherman will come back and say, "Well, you can't 



27 do that because we've got a drift-net fishery at this time of the year." 



28 Then they work out all those space conflicts and things of this 



29 sort, trying to minimize the problems with gear and what not. It keeps 



30 the number of people that have to give time down to a minimum, but 



31 there's a good flow of information and you're getting it from both 



32 sides. 



33 Aside from the usual personality conflicts and disagreements from 



34 time to time, it really, so far, seems to have worked pretty well over 



148 



