[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 27, 1996

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska.  Mr. Speaker, sustainable development is a catch 
phrase that is heard a lot in Washington, DC, these days. This is a 
resource management concept which recognizes that renewable resources 
can be harvested without endangering long-term survival of the 
resource.
  While the concept is gaining support in this country and in Congress, 
there are still those who resist the sustainable harvest of some of our 
resources.
  Another concept discussed a lot in management debates is wise-use. 
This concept is closely related to the idea of sustainable development. 
Proponents of the wise-use movement argue that resources of a nation 
can and should be used for the benefit of the nation and its people.
  In order for our renewable natural resources to be managed for long-
term sustainability, it is important to have three things: Good data, 
good science to interpret the data for making sound decisions, and good 
management and enforcement. Without any of these three, the long-term 
viability of the resource may be compromised.
  The U.S. Congress is currently working to reauthorize the Magnuson 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the law which governs domestic 
fisheries. It is important, not only for the health of the resource, 
but also for the health of the commercial fishing industry and coastal 
fishing communities, to manage the Nation's fishery resources for the 
long term.

  In recent years, the United States has experienced resource 
depletions in some fisheries, the most recent and most reported on is 
the situation with New England groundfish stocks. The cause of this 
resource depletion may be a number of things including loss of habitat, 
overfishing, increased predation, or changes in temperature and 
climate.
  Fishery resources are vitally important to many regions of the 
country and the protection oft he stocks is important to keeping many 
coastal communities alive. The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act tries to maintain the balance of allowing the sustained 
harvest of our fishery resources as well as protecting the stocks from 
overfishing. These concepts are transferrable to other renewable 
natural resources; however, other domestic resource laws do not always 
recognize that development and conservation can coexist.
  In the United States, bowhead whales are harvested by Alaskan Natives 
for subsistence purposes at a sustainable level. Care is taken to 
determine the population of the stocks being harvested, the level of 
acceptable harvest is carefully determined, and rigorous monitoring and 
enforcement measures are followed. The villages which participate in 
the hunt for the bowhead must and do continue to remain concerned about 
the long-term health of the stocks and treat the resource with the 
respect it requires.
  This combination of good data, careful scientific use of the data, 
and rigorous monitoring have allowed the sustainable harvest for 
subsistence purposes for these Alaskan Natives in the same manner that 
has allowed fishermen to harvest fishery resources in most areas of the 
country without harming the long-term health of the resource.
  The United States is working internationally to ensure the sustained 
development of marine fishery resources. An International Conference on 
the Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security was held 
December 4-9, 1995 in Kyoto, Japan. The international delegates of this 
conference promoted the enhancement of subregional and regional 
cooperation in establishing conversation and management measures to 
protect marine fishery resources.
  This conference followed up on concerns and ideas discussed at the 
27th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] held in 
November 1993 and detailed in the U.N. Agreement on Straddling Fish 
Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in December 1995. The 
sustainable development of fishery resources will again be discussed 
this coming November at the world food summit which is being convened 
by the FAO of the United Nations.
  The marine fishery resources of the United States and the world will 
obtain the protections they need when the United States and the 
international community work together to develop conservation and 
management measures that allow marine fishery resources to be harvested 
at a sustainable levels. Moreover, these sustainable harvest levels 
will also sustain the livelihoods of those individual dependent on 
marine fishery resources.

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