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Senator Wirth. Kay Andrews. 



Before we keep going, what is the difference between seiners and 

 gillnetters? As a mountain person I do not know. 



Mr. Bacon. This is just a gear that they use. We use drift gill- 

 nets and they use seines. 



Senator Wirth. What is a gillnet versus a seine? 



Mr. Bacon. A purse seine has got a name like a purse string, it 

 has a series of rings along the bottom and you push it up under- 

 neath the fish and then bring them on board and this is speaking 

 as a seiner. A gillnet strangles them. [Laughter] 



Senator Wirth. Now would the seiners and the gillnetters fish in 

 various areas or are there different ways of fishing for the same 

 fish in the same areas, is that right? 



Mr. Bacon. We have allocated areas that you argue about all 

 winter. In different spots, the purse seine fleet works in one certain 

 area and the gillnet fleet will work in another area and we spend 

 quite a bit of time arguing about that. 



Senator Wirth. You are either a seiner or a gillnetter, nobody is 

 both? 



Mr. Bacon. Well, you cannot use the same permit the same area. 



Senator Murkowski. I am going to take the liberty to draw my 

 colleague a diagram. 



Senator Wirth. Now I will look forward to that. 



And I did not take any of your time, you can now start, Kay. 



STATEMENT OF KAY ANDREW, REPRESENTING UNITED 

 SOUTHEAST ALASKA GILLNETTERS ASSOCIATION 



Ms. Andrew. My name is Kay Andrew and I am a life-long resi- 

 dent of Ketchikan. I am representing the United Southeast Alaska 

 Gillnetters Association. Our organization is eleven years old and 

 has 200 members throughout Southeast Alaska and Puget Sound. 



We as commercial fishermen are directly affected by the man- 

 agement of the Tongass. Therefore it is our privilege and responsi- 

 bility to present our concerns regarding current Tongass Manage- 

 ment. 



I would like to speak to you about the importance of protecting 

 the major river and stream systems in Southeast Alaska. By using 

 roadless, not wilderness withdrawal, to protect major rivers and 

 streams, and using riparian zones of the recommended 100 feet by 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service Policy around all fish 

 streams, and having a specific mechanism to enforce this, we feel 

 the destruction of our resources would be better protected. 



The 2,000 or more spawning streams in the Tongass that produce 

 our famous Alaska salmon are as of now not being protected. We 

 cannot afford to have any more of our major rivers and streams 

 destroyed or damaged. We must protect all rivers and streams such 

 as the 23 major systems listed in H.R. 987. I have enclosed copies of 

 some examples of one system that was damaged to show how the 

 problems were handled within our state departments. I would sug- 

 gest you obtain a copy of Alaska Nonpoint Source Pollution Assess- 

 ment Report, Section 319 to the EPA December 1988 to enforce our 

 concerns on rivers and streams. I cannot stress strongly enough 

 that United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters is also very concerned 



