[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 15, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    FISHING ECONOMY IMPROVEMENT ACT

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                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                    of the northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 15, 2015

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Fishing Economy 
Improvement Act. The bill reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act and makes a number of refinements, 
which I believe can help Magnuson-Stevens Act work even more 
effectively at ensuring that the United States of America has viable 
fish stocks and a thriving fishing economy today and into the future.
   In developing the policy proposals in this bill I have worked 
closely with Mr. Huffman, the Ranking Member on the Natural Resources 
Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans. Together, we have sat through 
hours of hearings on a reauthorization of the Magnuson Act and heard 
problems identified and remedies suggested from a variety of groups 
with an interest in America's fisheries.
   That experience has made clear that there are a number of areas 
where there could be bipartisan agreement on improvements that can be 
made to Magnuson. In this time of ``gridlock'' in Congress, I think it 
is important that we do not miss opportunities in areas where there is 
consensus.
   So, for instance, the Fishing Economy Improvement Act proposes that 
we improve fisheries data collection through the use of electronic 
monitoring and that we overhaul the way that the federal government 
manages this data so that we get the most value from it. The Fishing 
Economy Improvement Act increases opportunities for public 
participation in the fishery management process by requiring widely 
accepted, modern-day practices such as live, online broadcasting of 
fishery council meetings. And the bill allows for data collected by 
states from recreational fishing to be incorporated into federal 
assessments of the health of fish stocks. These are all ideas that find 
wide agreement on both sides of the aisle and could further improve the 
effectiveness of the Magnuson-Stevens conservation and management 
practices we already have in place.
   Of course, I also have a responsibility to the people I represent to 
look for improvements to our national fishing policies that could 
specifically yield improvements for the Northern Mariana Islands. One 
proposal in the Fishing Economy Improvement Act is to assure the 
interests of subsistence fishers, or what the Food and Agriculture 
Organization of the United Nations refers to as artisanal fishers, are 
represented on the regional fishery management councils. The people of 
the Northern Mariana Islands are generally not involved in industrial 
scale fishing, but we have a tradition of livelihood from the sea that 
goes back for millennia and continues to this day. These island 
fishermen and women should have a seat on the Western Pacific Regional 
Fishery Management Council, right beside the industrial users--as 
should Native Alaska and Native American subsistence users on the other 
seven regional councils, where appropriate. This proposal, too, is an 
area of bipartisan agreement.
   Pacific islanders also should have a more official role in the 
international organization that is responsible for managing and 
conserving tuna and other highly migratory fish in our region. For that 
reason, the Fishing Economy Improvement Act requires that one of the 
five U.S. seats on the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission 
always be held by a resident of American Samoa, Guam, or the Northern 
Mariana Islands. The seat would rotate among our three island 
jurisdictions.
   I also believe that, when the rights to fish around the Northern 
Mariana Islands are sold, the fees should go directly to the government 
of the Northern Mariana Islands. Right now, some of those fees go to 
WestPac, the federal regional council, and WestPac has to use the funds 
for marine conservation. I am not opposed to conservation. We cannot 
have a strong fishing economy unless we manage stocks sustainably and 
maintain the overall health of the oceans. But revenues from Northern 
Marianas resources belong to the people of the islands. Their own 
government should decide the best use for those funds--not WestPac, a 
federal agency. My bill helps ensure that revenues from fishing around 
the U.S. Pacific islands, such as the Northern Marianas, go to people 
of those islands.
   The people of the Pacific islands have a deep cultural tradition of 
decision-making by consensus. The tradition on the Northern American 
continent was often to move farther west when neighbors proved 
difficult. On tiny islands surrounded by vast oceans there is greater 
pressure to get along and find agreement.
   In that spirit I am introducing the Fishing Economy Improvement Act. 
I ask that Members on both sides of the aisle consider whether there 
are areas in fishery management where we can find common ground. I look 
forward to reaching out to Mr. Young of Alaska, who has also introduced 
legislation reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act. I know there are proposals in Mr. Young's bill with 
which I can agree; and I believe there are ideas in the bill I have 
introduced that are in harmony with or could build upon the proposals 
in his bill.

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