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relief from the pressures of the expanding populations of seals and 

 California sea lions. 



Our Pacific Coast supports the management regime proposed by 

 the conservation and fishing community working group, and we are 

 here today to encourage you to accept that proposal in its entirety 

 and transform it into law. The proposal was difficult to formulate, 

 and it is a tough pill to swallow for many in the fishing community. 

 Yet, we support it as a compromise. 



We compliment the commitment from those in the conservation 

 community who stuck with the fishing representatives throughout 

 the entire exercise and who helped fabricate this product. From our 

 perspective, there are seven highlights of this agreement. 



First, it is a focus of our Nation's limited resources at solving the 

 few hot spots of fishery interactions through the development of 

 conservation plans for critical stocks. There are but a few of these 

 hot spots, and conservation teams will tackle these problems. 



The teams which the negotiations propose are quite progressive. 

 They would be regional in nature, capable of focusing on not just 

 one species, but several stocks at the same time. The teams consist 

 of experts from all affected parties, and the tools available to the 

 team would be diverse and tough enough to get the job done. 



Second, the proposal reaffirms the MMPA goal for commercial 

 fisheries to reduce mortalities to a rate approaching zero. And if 

 progress is not made within 3 vears, the fishing community agrees 

 that the Secretary could mandate significant reduction in take to 

 achieve that goal. 



Third, the agreement prohibits any and all intentional lethal 

 takes by commercial fishermen. We would no longer kill mammals 

 that cause substantial damage or loss to our gear or catch, and we 

 would no longer kill mammals to assure our own personal safety 

 on board boats from animals that are tangled in our gear. 



We agreed to this provision with tremendous controversy within 

 our Pacific Coast industry, but it was our key tradeoff for other 

 provisions of the compromise. 



Fourth, the majority of marine mammal stocks are not critical, 

 and it is very important to us that the regime for these noncritical 

 stocks does not include across-the-board permits, quotas, observer 

 programs, and fees. 



Fifth, the program explicitly recognizes the treaty rights of our 

 Northwest Indians, which include the subsistence, ceremonial, and 

 commercial use of marine mammals. 



Sixth, important to our Pacific Coast is the proposal to allow all 

 citizens the legal opportunity to nonlethally chase mammals from 

 private property, such as harbors, docks, and sport fishing boats, 

 just the same as citizens can do for other wildlife. 



And, finally, just as significant as any other component of the 

 agreement for the Pacific Coast is resolution of the issue of nui- 

 sance animals. This aspect of the deal is a requirement long sought 

 by our west coast, and one we respect the conservation community 

 for accommodating. 



So,those are our seven highlights. We prefer this compromise 

 proposal to the solution proposed by the National Marine Fishery 

 Service for the following reasons: 



