47 



Mr. Radonski. Mr. Chairman, I would go on record as endorsing 

 your move to have a centralized data collection system. One system 

 that works fairly well, although the fishery is stressed, is the At- 

 lantic salmon. The Atlantic salmon are managed internationally 

 through NASCO, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organi- 

 zation. 



They don't collect any data themselves. This management organi- 

 zation identifies problems by the member countries and they raise 

 management questions which are then contracted to ICES which is 

 the International Convention for the Exploration of the Seas. They 

 answer the questions. 



If they don't have the research in hand, they institute research 

 programs to get the answers to the question. I think that is the 

 way we should be managing the fisheries. That presently is being 

 done somewhat by the Mid-Atlantic Council. 



The Mid-Atlantic Council does not have a staff that goes out and 

 collects data. They depend on the states and the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service and then they collate all this data. It is just an- 

 other extra step and another reason that I think that we don't need 

 the Mid-Atlantic Council in the bluefish process. 



The last thing I would like to add is when we say that the Mid- 

 Atlantic Council is not needed in the bluefish plan, we don't mean 

 they are excluded. They still have a seat at the table as Dr. 

 Matlock explained earlier and also my organization does not sum- 

 marily support removal of the Council process from all fisheries. 

 We are looking at this on a fishery-by-fishery basis and our posi- 

 tion only pertains to bluefish. 



Mr. Pallone. If I could follow up on that, Jim, the one thing that 

 Gil mentioned that I didn't quite understand, you were talking 

 about the need for a protocol from management between these var- 

 ious councils. You didn't really tell us, do you see that there is a 

 problem right now with this joint management? Have there been 

 problems because of the joint management? 



Mr. Radonski. Well, we wouldn't be here if there wasn't a prob- 

 lem with the joint management. There is a problem. Really we are 

 still managing on the basis of the Magnuson Act. In 1994 we put 

 a new Act in place, the Atlantic Coastal Fishery Cooperative Man- 

 agement Act. 



Mr. Pallone. But in the case of the bluefish, is there any reason 

 to believe that this joint management hasn't worked? Are there any 

 examples? 



Mr. Radonski. Well, I can't give you reasons why it hasn't 

 worked specifically in the context of your question. How this proto- 

 col would help is that they would identify respective roles in the 

 various fisheries. The protocol should identify fisheries where one 

 or the other organization has a lead. I think that the logical conclu- 

 sion one would come to in bluefish would be that the ASMFC 

 would have the lead. 



Mr. Pallone. The only reason I mention it is because on the one 

 hand, there has been a lot of expression here about the fact that 

 if you abolish the Mid-Atlantic Council's role or at least the joint 

 management the way it is now, there would be less public input 

 so even though you may feel that it would be better to have one 

 or the other or at least one regardless of which one, I hesitate to 



