11 



"While we are trying to the best of our ability to live up to the 

 stringent requirements of the act and the directives of the Court of 

 Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, we cannot be sure that 

 we will be able to satisfy all the divergent interests with the revised 

 regulations. The administration is determined to move as quickly as 

 possible and is watching developments closely. If, due to future prob- 

 lems, we find that we are unable to reach an accord, the existence of 

 both the tuna industry as well as the porpoises will be in jeopardy. It 

 may come to a situation where we will be forced to consider legisla- 

 tion, and I think you mentioned that yourself, Mr. Chairman, de- 

 signed to minimize some of the obvious conflicts. 



Mr. Chairman, I have tried in my statement to give a brief history 

 of the problem and to put the recent developments into perspective. 

 Obviously, however, I did not go into detail on all our activities, nor 

 did I try to anticipate every inquiry. I recognize that this issue is very 

 complex, and you undoubtedly have many questions. We will try to 

 answer whatever questions you may have. 



Thank you. 



Mr. Leggett. Thank you. 



Does Mr. Schoning have a separate statement? 



Mr. Schoning. I do not. 



Mr. Leggett. All right. 



And you did indicate, that to your knowledge, none of the boats are 

 fishing, setting on porpoises at the present time ? 



Mr. Pollock. On porpoise with purse seine sets, that is correct. 



Mr. Leggett. Of your knowledge, do you know what they are 

 doing ? 



Mr. Pollock. Well, I would have to defer to my fisheries people, 

 but I would presume that the fishermen are out taking other species 

 of fish, which is quite within the law. 



Mr. Leggett. Maybe your fisheries people could respond to that. 



How many boats are out, where are they fishing, and what are they 

 taking ? 



Mr. Pollock. I think I would like to have Dr. William Fox from 

 the La Jolla Laboratory respond. 



Dr. Fox. My information indicates that most of the fleet is out 

 fishing. They have been fishing in widely dispersed areas off Baja 

 California, but mostly concentrating in the vicinity off the northwest 

 coast of South America. 



From the information that we presently have indications are that 

 the catch of yellowfin tuna is down by about 10 percent over the first 

 5 weeks from previous years. The catch of skipjack is down appre- 

 ciably more than that, on the order of a third. 



Mr. Leggett. Do you get that information by landings, or by tele- 

 communications contact ? 



Dr. Fox. We get this information from the Inter-American Tropi- 

 cal Tuna Commission, that maintains a system of radio reporting by 

 vessels. 



Mr. Leggett. Of your knowledge, are the— does the Inter-American 

 Tropical Tuna Commission report only American, catch, or all ships* 

 catch ? 



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