Political Quotes

“as the sponsor of H.R. 715, I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort to help save valuable living marine resources in a small enclave of international waters known as the Peanut Hole. Three years ago, congress approved my Central Bering Sea Fisheries Enforcement Act, which prohibited the destruction of pollock stocks in an area known as the Donut Hole. While this law has promoted conservation efforts for the region, it has had unwanted results. Certain fishermen from China, Japan, Korea, and Poland have now moved their operations to the Peanut Hole and they are severely overfishing the pollock stocks in this region. Unless immediate steps are taken, these stocks will collapse. My bill, which has been cosponsored by the leadership of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans, Jim Saxton and Gerry Studds, would amend the 1992 statute to prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing in the Peanut Hole unless the fishing operation fully complies with international fishing agreements between the United States and Russia. The bill is noncontroversial and well supported. It passed the House twice in the last Congress and it is helpful to our negotiators in their ongoing efforts to establish agreements to conserve fish stocks in international waters.”