85 



STATEMENT 



OF 



GILBERT C. RADONSKI 



before the 



UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SUBCOMMITTEE 



ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE AND OCEANS 



FIELD HEARING AT TOMS RTVER, NEW JERSEY APRIL 1, 1996 



It is indeed an honor and privilege to come before this Subcommittee to express my views 

 and those of the American Sportfishing Association on the status of management of the bluefish 

 fishery of the United States Atlantic Coast. I feel that I am qualified on the basis of training and 

 experience to offer this Subcommittee guidance as it explores the management of bluefish and 

 endeavors to determine the proper Federal role. 



I am a Certified Fishery Scientist (by the American Fisheries Society) and hold the rank 

 of Fellow in the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists. My thirty-sbc years of 

 experience includes hand-on fishery management and research with government (state and 

 federal agencies) and in the business world. In 1994 1 retired as president of the Sport Fishing 

 Institute, a Washington, DC-based fishery conservation organization supported by the sport 

 fishing industry. I went to Washington, DC in 1975 to become the Executive Secretary of the 

 Sport Fishing Institute and participated in the development of a host of federal legislation that 

 impacts fi'eshwater and marine fisheries in the ensuing twenty years. Among the important 

 legislation that I worked on include: The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

 and its Amendments, the Wallop-Breaux Amendments to the Federal in Sport Fish Restoration 

 Act and The Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act. I have been an Advisor 

 to the U.S. Delegation to The International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas 

 and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization, served two three-year terms on the 

 Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee and fi^om 1992-95 was a Member of the Mid Atlantic 

 Fishery Management Council (MAFMC). Since my retirement in 1994 I have been a consultant 

 to the American Sportfishing Association. 



The American Sportfishing Association represents the environmental and business 

 interests of the sportfishing community. The primary goal of the ASA is to ensure the availability 

 of a heathy and sustainable fishery resource. Our nearly 700 members, spanning a broad spectrum 

 of the sportfishing community (including manufactures, retailers, conservation and advocacy 

 organizations as well as state and federal fisheries agencies) recognize that a sound resource is the 

 basis for a sound industry and, as such, are united in their commitment to ensure proper 

 management of fisheries. 



Changes in the abundance or the availability of popular gamefish, such as bluefish, have a 

 dramatic impact on angler expenditures. The changes in the expenditures reverberate throughout 

 the entire economy, causing shifts in employment, state and federal taxes, and the amount of 



