[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 29 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E418-E419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE CORAL REEF FISHING PRACTICES 
                               WORLDWIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 10, 1997

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing a 
resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the United States and 
the United Nations should condemn fishing practices that are harmful to 
coral reef ecosystems and promote the development of sustainable coral 
reef fishing practices worldwide.
  Coral reefs are vital to the environment and the economy of many 
island and coastal nations. They are among the most biologically 
diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth, rivaling the tropical 
rainforests on land. The hard structure of the reef is built up over 
thousands of years by the secretions of the tiny living coral animals. 
So, a coral reef is truly a living structure. And, as a living 
structure, thousands--perhaps millions--of individual coral animals are 
dying and others are taking their place on the reef at any one time.
  The problem is that now human activities have shifted that balance 
and coral reefs are dying off at an alarming rate worldwide. Corals are 
very sensitive to water pollution, sedimentation, damage from boat 
groundings, and even simple physical contact by divers. These largely 
inadvertent injuries are a significant cause of the well-documented 
decline of coral reefs worldwide. Coral reefs are, in a sense, the 
canary in the coal mine of the oceans.
  A great deal of injury is being inflicted on coral reefs, mainly in 
Southeast Asia, through easily preventable, largely illegal fishing 
techniques. Cyanide, other poisons, and surfactants like dishwashing 
liquids, are being used to stun and capture fish for the aquarium trade 
and for the live food fish trade. These chemicals kill nearby coral, 
and divers scrambling to get fish out of nooks and crannies in the reef 
often inflict further damage on the reef. Although illegal virtually 
everywhere, dynamite is still being used on some reefs to stun or kill 
fish. Afterwards, they float to the surface where they are easily 
harvested. The effect on the reef is obviously devastating. Most of the 
aquarium fish captured in this way end up in hobbyists' tanks in the 
United States. Most of the live food fish end up on plates in the homes 
and restaurants of Southeast Asia.
  Although the State Department, NOAA, Department of the Interior, and 
other agencies are working, through the International Coral Reef 
Initiative, to identify and reduce threats to coral reefs, they need 
our help. These kinds of unsustainable fishing practices would not be 
occurring if powerful market forces were not at work. United States and 
Asian consumer demand for reef fish is, in part, driving the 
destruction of coral reefs. Yet how many aquarium hobbyists would 
purchase a wild-caught

[[Page E419]]

reef fish if they truly understood that in doing so, they were aiding 
the destruction of the reef environment that they sought to reproduce 
in their tank. Furthermore, if affordable alternatives to wild-caught 
fish were available, wouldn't the educated consumer choose them? This 
has worked very well in the exotic bird trade; we could do the same for 
reef aquarium specimens.
  Many of the countries where the reefs are being destroyed--Indonesia, 
Malaysia, the Philippines, and others--have laws on the books 
protecting their reefs. But there is little money for enforcement, and 
the more lucrative the market, the more people are willing to risk the 
penalties in any case. So the keys are information and education. Only 
by identifying these destructive practices and the consumer demands 
that drive them can we begin to eliminate or modify them. And only 
through the development of sustainable coral reef fisheries can the 
reefs be saved.
  That is what the resolution I am introducing today seeks to do. It is 
intended to raise the issue of these destructive fishing practices and 
associate them with the consumer demand that is driving them. It is 
intended to bring this issue before Congress and before the United 
Nations, raise the level of awareness of policymakers, and ask us to do 
more. The scientific and environmental communities have declared 1997 
the International Year of the Coral Reef. We cannot stop ships from 
running aground on reefs and we may not be able to stop global warming. 
But what better time for us to pay attention to the global plight of 
coral reefs, and seek practical solutions to those threats that we can 
address. If we don't do something soon, there may not be any reefs left 
to save.

                          ____________________