Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

By Ms. MURKOWSKI:

S. 796. A bill to amend the National Aquaculture Act of 1980 to prohibit the issuance of permits for marine aquaculture facilities until requirements for such permits are enacted into law; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President. I am today reintroducing a very important bill on a subject that was not resolved last year, and which continues to be an outstanding issue for those of us who are dependent on healthy and productive natural populations of ocean fish and shellfish.

Simply put, this bill prohibits further movement toward the development of aquaculture facilities in federal waters until Congress has had an opportunity to review all of the very serious implications, and make decisions on how such development should proceed.

Some people are calling for a moratorium on offshore aquaculture. Frankly, Mr. President, we need more than a delay--we need a very comprehensive discussion of this issue and a serious debate on what the ground-rules should be.

For years, some members of the federal bureaucracy have advocated going forward with offshore aquaculture development without that debate. Doing so, would be an extraordinarily bad idea.

We are now being told that the Administration is in the final stages of preparing a draft bill to allow offshore aquaculture development to occur, and that it plans to send a draft to the Hill in the very near future. The problem is, that draft has been prepared in deep secrecy. We have only rumors about what may be in that draft bill. The administration has had meetings on the general topic of aquaculture, but has done little to nothing to work with those of us who represent constituents whose livelihoods might be imperiled and states with resources that might be endangered if the administration gets it wrong.

Scientists, the media and the public are awakening to the serious disadvantages of fish raised in fish farming operations compared to naturally healthy wild fish species such as Alaska salmon, halibut, sablefish, crab and many other species.

It has become common to see news reports that cite not only the general health advantages of eating fish at least once or twice a week, but the specific advantages of fish such as wild salmon, which contains essential Omega-3 fatty acids that may help reduce the risk of heart disease and possibly have similar beneficial effects on other diseases.

Educated and watchful consumers have also seen recent stories citing research that not only demonstrates that farmed salmon fed vegetable-based food does not have the same beneficial impact on cardio-vascular health, but also that the demand for other fish to grind up and use as feed in those fish farms may lead to the decimation of those stocks.

Those same alert consumers may also have seen stories indicating that fish farms may create serious pollution problems from the concentration of fish feces and uneaten food, that fish farms may harbor diseases that can be transmitted to previously healthy wild fish stocks, and that fish farming has had a devastating effect on communities that depend on traditional fisheries.

It is by no means certain that all those problems would be duplicated if we begin to develop fish farms that are farther offshore, but neither is there any evidence that they would not be. Yet despite the uncertainties, proponents have continued to push hard for legislation that would encourage the development of huge new fish farms off our coasts.

Not only do the proponents want to encourage such development, but reports indicate they may also want to change the way decisions are made so that all the authority rests in the hands of just one federal agency. I believe that would be a serious mistake. There are simply too many factors that should be evaluated--from hydraulic engineering, to environmental impacts, to fish biology, to the management of disease, to the nutritional character of farmed fish, and so on--for any existing agency.

We cannot afford a rush to judgment on this issue--it is far too dangerous if we make a mistake. In my view, such a serious matter deserves the same level of scrutiny by Congress as the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy for other sweeping changes in ocean governance.

The ``Natural Stock Conservation Act'' I am introducing today lays down a marker for where the debate on offshore aquaculture needs to go. It would prohibit the development of new offshore aquaculture operations until Congress has acted to ensure that every federal agency involved does the necessary analyses in areas such as disease control, engineering, pollution prevention, biological and genetic impacts, economic and social effects, and other critical issues, none of which are specifically required under existing law.

I strongly urge my colleagues to understand that this is not a parochial issue, but a very real threat to the literal viability of natural fish and shellfish stocks as well as the economic viability of many coastal communities.

I sincerely hope that this issue is taken up seriously in the context of reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which governs fishery management, and responding to the recommendations of the U.S. Oceans Commission and the Pew Oceans Commission.

We all want to make sure we enjoy abundant supplies of healthy foods in the future, but not if it means unnecessary and avoidable damage to wild species, to the environment generally, and to the economies of America's coastal fishing communities.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. STEVENS):

S. 797. A bill to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to clarify the status of certain communities in the western Alaska community development quota program; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I am today reintroducing legislation to clarify the status of villages participating in the federally established Community Development Quota (CDQ) program created to assist economically disadvantaged communities around the edge of the Bering Sea.

The CDQ program is one of the youngest but most successful of a variety of programs intended to improve economic opportunities in some of my State's most challenged communities.

The CDQ Community Preservation Act is intended to maintain the participation of all currently eligible communities along the shore of the Bering Sea in Alaska's Community Development Quota program. It is necessary because inconsistencies in statutory and regulatory provisions may require a reassessment of eligibility and the exclusion of some communities from the program. This was not the intent of the original program, nor of any subsequent changes to it. In order to clarify that fact, a legislative remedy is needed.

Senator Stevens joined me in introducing just such a remedy last year, but work on it was not completed and we were forced to settle for only temporary relief. It is time we dealt with this matter more appropriately.

Alaska has been generously blessed with natural resources, but due to its location and limited transportation infrastructure it continues to have pockets of severe poverty. Nowhere is this more evident than in the villages around the rim of the Bering Sea.

The Community Development Quota Program began in 1992, at the recommendation of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, one of the regional councils formed under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Congress gave the program permanent status in the 1996 reauthorization of the Act. The program presently includes 65 communities within a 50 nautical-mile radius of the Bering Sea, which have formed six regional non-profit associations to participate in the program. The regional associations range in size from one to 20 communities. Under the program, a portion of the regulated annual harvests of pollock, halibut, sablefish, Atka mackerel, Pacific cod, and crab is assigned to each of the associations, which operate under combined Federal and State agency oversight. Almost all of an association's earnings must be invested in fishing-related projects in order to encourage a sustainable economic base for the region.

Typically, each association sells its share of the annual harvest quotas to established fishing companies in return for cash and agreements to provide job training and employment opportunities for residents of the region. The program has been remarkably successful.

Since 1992, approximately 9,000 jobs have been created for western Alaska residents with wages totaling more than $60 million. The CDQ program has also contributed to fisheries infrastructure development in western Alaska, as well as providing vessel loan programs; education, training and other CDQ-related benefits.

The CDQ program has its roots in the amazing success story of how our offshore fishery resources were Americanized after the passage of the original Magnuson Act in 1976. At the time, vast foreign fishing fleets were almost the only ones operating in the U.S. 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. American fishermen simply did not have either the vessels or the expertise to participate.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act changed all that. It led to the adoption of what we called a ``fish and chips'' policy that provided for an exchange of fish allocations for technological and practical expertise. Within the next few years, harvesting fell almost exclusively to American vessels. Within a few years after that, processing also became Americanized. Today, there are no foreign fishing or processing vessels operating in the 200-mile zone off Alaska, and the industry is worth billions of dollars each year.

The CDQ program helps bring some of the benefits of that great industry to local residents in one of the most impoverished areas of the entire country. It is a vital element in the effort to create and maintain a lasting economic base for the region's many poor communities, and truly deserves the support of this body.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

http://thomas.loc.gov/