Patty Murray: “I am familiar with this program, which originated in the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in 1992, and I support…”

“I am familiar with this program, which originated in the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in 1992, and I support its goals of providing economic opportunities for rural coastal communities in Western Alaska. It is my understanding that section 416 ensures the CDQ groups will continue to receive the same annual percentage allocations as they do now under existing Federal law, and that it would preserve existing treatment of such allocations--consisting of a directed fishing allowance if that is the current law, i.e., the BS/AI pollock fishery, or including both directed and non-target fishing in fisheries where that is the current practice. Is that correct, Senator Stevens?”