[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 172 (Sunday, November 23, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2423-E2424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION--OFFICE OF OCEAN AND COASTAL POLICY CREATION ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM SAXTON

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 21, 2003

  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be here today to introduce 
an important piece of conservation legislation, the Office of Ocean and 
Coastal Policy Creation Act of 2003. This bill establishes in the 
Executive Office of the President, an Office of Ocean and Coastal 
Policy. I believe this Office will serve as a valuable complement to 
the environmental offices and agencies that currently exist, and will 
provide a unique perspective on the direction we ought to be moving in 
with regard to comprehensive ocean policy.
  An issue to which I have devoted a great deal of time and one that I 
feel is very important is the protection of the diverse range of fish 
stocks that inhabit our world's oceans, many of which are very close to 
disappearing forever. Given the recent release of two studies 
essentially stating that what I have been talking about is likely to 
happen, I am more convinced than ever that we need to take aggressive 
action immediately. Many of our oceans' fish stocks are now reportedly 
90 percent depleted, meaning only 10 percent of the stocks that once 
existed remain. And many of these stocks are in grave danger of 
extinction if we proceed down the same path we are on now--that is, 
continue to study these stocks and do little to mitigate the damage 
that has already been done.
  One of these two studies recently published was conducted by 
Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Canada, stating that the global ocean 
has lost over 90 percent of its large predatory fishes, such as tuna, 
swordfish and marlin. I have long known that the use of pelagic 
longline gear is one of the most, if not the most destructive, 
indiscriminate way to fish. A direct result of the use of this 
geartype, starting in the early 1960s, has provided for the almost 
complete disappearance of white marlin. Though not the target species 
of longline gear, marlin are a bycatch species, meaning that this 
geartype catches whatever eats the bait, and as the lines are left in 
the water overnight, any fish that bites onto a hook is more likely 
than not dead by the time the lines are pulled in, killing not only the 
target species, which is primarily swordfish, but also marlin or 
turtles or sharks or even small whales that happen to take the bait.
  The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, created from my Oceans Act of 
2000, has it's own report forthcoming on the status of our oceans, it 
will be interesting to see what conclusions they put forward.
  The National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency tasked with the 
protection of these species has failed to do so. The United States is a 
world leader on so many important and complex issues; it is hard to 
understand why the issue of fisheries management, and enforcement of 
the regulations currently in place both domestically and 
internationally, seems impossible to accomplish.
  We need to take immediate aggressive steps to prevent the 
disappearance of these fish species, before it's too late. These 
studies should be a wake-up call that the process through which our 
world's fisheries is managed is broken and needs to be fixed.
  This is an issue that resonates with anyone who has ever been to the 
beach in states like New Jersey, or watched a television program 
involving the deep blue sea. And given that 50 percent of the 
population of the United States lives within 100 miles of a coast, 
there are many who are personally affected by this issue. We have a 
unique opportunity to do something amazing and I think we owe it these 
wonderful resources that are our oceans to do all we can to bring them 
back to a healthy and sustainable level, for future generations. I look 
forward to working with this

[[Page E2424]]

unique Office on Ocean Policy to preserve these magnificent resources.

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