[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 151 (Wednesday, October 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE DUNGENESS CRAB CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT

 Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today Congress passed a version of 
the Dungeness Crab Conservation and Management Act, a bipartisan bill 
which I cosponsored along with Senators Murray, Gorton, and Smith. I 
would like to particularly commend Senator Murray for her strong 
leadership on this issue. She introduced the bill earlier this year and 
worked hard to secure its passage in this Congress.
  Dungeness crab is integral to the economies of Oregon's coastal 
communities. The fishery is successfully managed, from both an 
environmental and an economic standpoint, by the States of Oregon, 
Washington, and California. Under existing law, the Federal government 
would have taken control of the management of Dungeness crab next year, 
costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our legislation 
prevents this from happening. This is a common sense approach: it 
extends the existing authority for the States to manage Dungeness crab 
in Federal waters and eliminates the need to develop a costly Federal 
fishery managment plan.
  The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, enacted 
in 1976, established regional Fishery Management Councils to develop 
Federal management plans for fisheries in need of conservation and 
management in Federal waters. However, in order to meet regional needs, 
the interpretation of this provision has traditionally been flexible, 
allowing states to manage some fisheries in Federal waters. An example 
of this flexibility is state management of the West Coast Dungeness 
crab fishery.
  Since the 1960's, the States of Oregon, Washington and California 
have managed the Dungeness crab fishery in Federal waters. The three 
states and the concerned Indian tribes have worked together to make 
sure fishermen from each state are treated fairly and the fishery 
remains biologically sound. West Coast fishermen, scientists, fishery 
managers, and conservation groups all agree that state management has 
been a success story.
  From a conservation standpoint, state management of Dungeness crab is 
effective. The crabs are harvested in a way that ensures healthy 
populations for the future. In addition, the problem of bycatch, or 
incidental catch of other fish species, is almost non-existent in the 
crab fishery.
  Under the Magnuson Act, the authority for state management of 
Dungeness crab expires next year. The expiration of state authority 
would have required the Pacific Fishery Management Council to develop a 
Federal fishery management plan in 1999. Developing this plan would 
have consumed scant Council resources and staff time.
  As many folks in Oregon know, management of West Coast groundfish and 
salmon species presents huge challenges to fishery managers. The 
Council shouldn't be forced to divert critical resources from 
groundfish and salmon in order to manage a species like crab, which is 
doing fine under the existing states' plan. With the passage of this 
legislation today, the Council can continue to focus its resources on 
the fisheries that need special attention.
  This bill makes common sense by taking advantage of the unique 
situation presented by the Dungeness crab fishery. Essentially, 
Congress is agreeing with what many folks have said of this fishery: 
``if it's not broken, don't fix it.'' I am glad Congress could work 
together in a bipartisan fashion to pass this common-sense 
legislation.

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