AP File Photo Coral is seen in the Aleutian Gardens in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. President Bush called for an end to all types of destructive fishing on the high seas, including bottom trawling, Tuesday.

A White House press statement released Tuesday regarding high seas fishing has some Oregon commercial fishermen concerned about fallout on local fleets.

The press statement said President Bush directed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in consultation with Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, to “further strengthen the efforts of the United States to protect sustainable fisheries and to safeguard their effective use by calling for an end to destructive fishing practices, such as unregulated bottom trawling on the high seas.”

However, the official memo signed by Bush does not single out bottom trawling. It makes no mention of bottom trawling at all.

Environmental groups have urged the United States and other countries to eliminate bottom trawling in the past and now, as the United Nations meets in New York, they are stepping up their opposition.

“The U.N. has been debating this issue for three years while the problem keeps getting worse,” Natural Resources Defense Council spokeswoman Lisa Speer said in a press release. “Fleets ply vast areas of open ocean beyond the reach of any national jurisdiction and they are doing irreparable damage to some of the oldest and most unique ecosystems on earth.”

But whether the distinction between bottom trawling on the high seas - oceans beyond the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone - and domestic fishing activity will be made is what has industry experts worried.

Coos Bay Trawlers' Association Executive Director Steve Bodnar said he foresees other groups getting on the bandwagon with the idea that if something is good for the high seas, it must be good for the EEZ, too.

The high seas “is no man's land,” Bodnar said, noting that the open areas of the ocean aren't highly regulated. “I think (the president) is just asking for some protections to sea mounts.”

In contrast, fishing in the EEZ, particularly trawling, is highly regulated, Bodnar said.

For instance:

n West Coast commercial fleets that use nets to catch groundfish must comply with specific footrope regulations that dictate what size the rope at the front of the net must be.

n Some fleets have to use excluders - devices placed in the net that allow fish to escape out of shrimp nets on the West Coast or sea turtles to escape from shrimp nets in the Gulf of Mexico.

n Vast areas of the EEZ off the West Coast and Alaska have been made off-limits to trawling to protect essential fish habitat.

n Fleets have had to add vessel-monitoring systems to their boats so the government can track their movements.

Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing on the high seas is not limited to bottom trawling. U.S. tuna fishermen have reported seeing more fish scarred from high-seas driftnets than they have in the past.

But the White House press statement - and also a senate press statement - did not identify illegal driftnets or other destructive methods such as the use of cyanide be stopped. The statements identified trawling.

“Anything to bash bottom trawling,” Oregon Trawl Commission Administrator Brad Pettinger said, noting that he expects more pressure from conservation groups on domestic fishing practices.

However, he said, some species that are caught by trawl nets are doing fine.

“English sole has been harvested longer than any other species on the West Coast - since 1876 - and it's at an all-time high,” Pettinger said.

That English sole - and other groundfish species - are managed well is testimony to the fact that U.S. fleets actively participate in the regulatory process, said Rod Moore, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association.

“That's what the (regional fishery management) council process is all about,” Moore said. “We don't like the unregulated, illegal fishing anymore than anybody else.”

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition said Brazil, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Chile, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and many Pacific Island nations are among those that have called for a halt to unregulated high seas bottom trawling. Spain, Russia and Iceland lead the opposition, the coalition said.

The high seas have deep, coldwater habitats that scientists only now are beginning to explore. Many areas have corals and other bottom-dwelling animals that are long-lived.

High seas fleets often catch orange roughy and other species that are not found in domestic waters. Some of those species are important to the United States, but are on the brink of being overfished or depleted, according to a Senate resolution. The resolution, SR 610, was introduced Friday by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.

“The high seas comprise more than half of the planet's surface, yet only 25 percent of this area is regulated by any regional fishery management organization,” Stevens said in a press release. “Management of fishing on the high seas is patchy at best.”