Speaker Bios for Capitol Hill Briefing

Richard Young. Mr. Young will discuss how the processor issue should be addressed in rationalizing the fishery in lieu of creating a program of processing quota shares. Mr. Young is a long time member of the fishing community, owning and operating a trawl vessel based in Crescent City, California for over twenty years. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from UC-Santa Barbara and has served on the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Science and Statistical Committee for fifteen years. He has been a member of two National Research Council committees on fisheries management issues. He has recently appointed to the newly established Pacific Council Trawl Individual Quota Committee.

Donnie Waters. Mr. Waters will illustrate the importance of transferability in individual quotas in solving the problems of bycatch, hazardous fishing, and excessive fleet size in the red snapper fishery. Mr. Waters will draw on his twenty-five years of experience in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery to make his case on implementing IFQs. He is owner/operator of F/V Hustler, which is a leading producer in the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery. He has advised on a variety of issues for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.

Marion Larkin. Mr. Larkin will present his views on the importance of security in quota shares for fishermen to have a stake in managing a fishery for sustainable use. He has more than twenty-five years of experience as an owner and operator in the West Coast trawl groundfish fishery from which to draw on to make his case on implementing IFQs. He has been a member of the Groundfish Advisory Subpanel of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council for approximately fifteen years and has served on numerous committees at the state and federal level. Currently he is on the Council's VMS Committee, the Trawl Individual Quota Committee, the EFH (Essential Fish Habitat) Committee, and is State of Washington advisor to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.