Minority Statement

• Ted Stevens

  Senator
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  Minority Statement

  Ted Stevens

  Just over a year ago, President Bush signed into law the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act which mandates science-based catch limits and an end to overfishing in the U.S.  Now the primary threat to sustainable fisheries are the foreign fleets that pillage the worlds oceans by practicing Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing or I.U.U. fishing.  We simply cannot allow this high seas piracy.

   

  I am committed to making sure that the U.S. has every authority, resource, and tool we need to bring an end to I.U.U. fishing.  The Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act contains international fisheries compliance and monitoring provisions, but there is much more to do. 

   

  In December, the President signed into law my legislation requiring NOAA to maintain a list of I.U.U. fishing vessels around the world, so that the U.S. can take action against them in our waters.  I have also DRAFTED a Senate resolution calling for an end to harmful foreign fishing subsidies that lead to I.U.U. fishing, as well as a resolution urging U.S. leadership on efforts to prepare for future management of Arctic Ocean fisheries.  Additionally, I am committed to closing the gaps in international agreements that still leave large areas of the high seas in the North Pacific unregulated.

   

  Despite all these efforts, there are still loopholes that allow I.U.U. fish to come into the U.S., and this must stop.  I am currently preparing a bill that would strengthen the laws that make it illegal to trade in fish or fish products harvested from I.U.U. fishing.  This bill would strengthen civil and criminal penalties and establish a strong and effective inter-agency International Fisheries Enforcement Program.  I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort.

   

  I thank Ambassador Negroponte for his statement today and his ongoing support for ratifying the Law of the Sea Convention.  Ratifying this Convention would further strengthen our presence in the global effort to sustain our international fisheries.

   

  I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today.  I would especially like to thank Coast Guard District 17 Commander Rear Admiral Gene Brooks and Dave Benton, Executive Director of the Marine Conservation Alliance, for making the long trip from Alaska to be with us.  I would also like to thank Jim Balsiger who was recently appointed as Acting Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service following many years of service as Alaska’s Regional Director. 

• Olympia J. Snowe

  Senator
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  Minority Statement

  Olympia J. Snowe

  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening today’s hearing on International Fisheries: Management and Enforcement.  As Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, I am fully aware of the vital implications of these issues not only for our domestic industries, but in some cases for the global viability of entire species. 

  In a seminal article first published in the journal Science in 1968, Garrett Hardin described the “tragedy of the commons” – a scenario in which the freedom of individuals to exploit commonly held property must inherently lead to its ruin.  Hardin based his theory on the assumption that individuals will seek to increase their yield from the common property because in the absence of regulation, if they don’t do it, someone else will.  As pressure increases the resource is used up faster and faster until it is completely destroyed. 

  Part of passage of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976 was Congress’ recognition that the tragedy of the commons was occurring in the fisheries of the United States.  Fish stocks were declining, fishing pressure was increasing, and catch rates were spiraling into an abyss from which we feared our stocks might not recover.  Today, I see that tragedy once more playing itself out, this time on a global stage, and while the United States cannot manage this crisis alone, we can and must be world leaders in the fight to protect the fisheries that put food on our tables, and to safeguard the species that are in danger of abject collapse.

  I would point to the example of bluefin tuna, a species that has been a vital component of the New England fishing industry for decades.  In recent years, demand for this fish, prized by sushi connoisseurs, has skyrocketed leading to dockside prices that can reach tens of thousand dollars per fish.  Despite out best efforts to manage bluefin stocks under an international agreement, the world’s population is estimated to have declined by over ninety percent in the last 30 years.   These figures are reflected in New England where the catch in 2006 – the most recent year in which figures are available – was just 124.3 metric tons, less than 10 percent of the fishery’s peak of 1,390 metric tons.  In Maine, the problem was even more acute, with just 9.1 metric tons landed in 2006, a level of futility that exceeds anything we have experienced in the past half century. 

  We in the U.S. are doing our part to prevent overharvesting of bluefin, but this is a problem that extends beyond our waters, across the Atlantic Ocean, and into the Mediterranean Sea.  And until the other countries that share this valuable fish stock stop overfishing and start managing the resource for the long term, the bluefin population will continue to dwindle.

  The bluefin tuna fishery is just one example of the struggles our fisheries currently face to meet the rising demand for seafood while maintaining sustainable harvest levels and healthy fishing communities.  The U.S. cannot go it alone, but we can influence global policy through more than a dozen Regional Fishery Management Organizations to which we belong.  To enhance our efforts in this regard, I worked alongside many of my colleagues on this Committee – Senator Stevens notable among them – to include in the most recent reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act several provisions enhancing our authority to enforce international treaties and agreements to which the U.S. is a party, and to impose import restrictions on nations that fail to adhere to these standards.

  And as we strive to protect the world’s dwindling fish stocks, we must also protect our domestic fisheries.  The fishing industry has been integral to my home state of Maine for generations, and in 2006, Maine’s fishery landings were valued at over $368 million.  Given our state’s reputation, it should surprise no one that the vast majority of that figure, nearly $300 million, came from a single species: lobster.  Today, Maine’s lobster industry faces numerous challenges, but paramount among them are new regulations that will require our lobstermen to fish using sinking rope, ostensibly to protect endangered species of whales.  The Maine Lobstermen’s Association has estimated that these regulations will cost each fisherman $10 to $15,000 in the first year alone, and will pose a serious safety risk in some areas. 

  Meanwhile, lobstermen working just across the Maritime Boundary Line in Canadian waters face no similar restrictions despite plying the same type of ocean bottom for the same lobsters and interacting with the same endangered whales.  This blatantly flawed system creates a double-standard for the lobster industry, allowing Canadian lobstermen to pocket additional profits, and to the extent that lobster gear poses a risk to whales, it fails to protect these critically endangered species on one side of a line that is entirely meaningless from an ecological perspective.  This is why I introduced a resolution calling for the U.S. to enter into bilateral negotiations with Canada to develop a joint management system that will level the playing field for our fishermen while affording increased protection to our endangered species of whales.

  Ultimately, if the world is to avoid turning its high seas into a vast “tragedy of the commons,” it will require a legitimate commitment from all fishing nations to recognize that the future of fishing lies not in vacuuming the life out of our seas today, but in responsible, forward-thinking management practices that allow fish populations to regenerate themselves tomorrow.  I want to thank Deputy Secretary Negroponte, and all of our witnesses for taking the time to be here today to address these critical issues and to help find a way toward a sustainable future for the world’s fish stocks and our fishing communities.

  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Testimony

• The Honorable John D. Negroponte

  Deputy Secretary of State

  U.S. Department of State
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Witness Panel 2

• Dr. James W. Balsiger

  Acting Assistant Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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• Mr. David A. Balton

  Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries, Bureau of Oceans, Environment ,and Science

  U.S. Department of State
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• Rear Admiral Arthur E. Brooks

  District 17 Commander

  U.S. Coast Guard
  Download Testimony (50.88 KB)

Witness Panel 3

• Mr. James Cook

  Vice President

  Pacific Ocean Producers, LLC
  Download Testimony (186.46 KB)

• Mr. David Benton

  Executive Director

  Marine Conservation Alliance
  Download Testimony (116.91 KB)

• Ms. Lisa Speer

  Water and Oceans Program

  Natural Resources Defense Council
  Download Testimony (59.56 KB)