Information Needed To Implement 

 Public Law 94-265 



New Evaluation of Fisheries Stock Informa- 

 tion Needed 



The new Regional Councils could make a 

 substantial improvement in the old system 

 of making estimates of fishery yields and 

 advice about health of stocks available only 

 to international governing bodies. The 

 councils could interpret scientific data on 

 stocks, publish it widely, and provide an 

 opportunity for continual access to infor- 

 mation and debate of the issues by in- 

 terested parties. Input by and involvement 

 of users and other public parties is crucial to 

 the success of fishery management. (See 

 pages 11 to 79.) 



Status of Stock Information 



Present assessments of heavily utilized 

 stocks are quite accurate. However, projec- 

 tions of sustainable yields in the future are 

 subject to large uncertainties due to effects 

 of interspecies relationships, environmental 

 change, fishing effort, and other unknown 

 natural variations. (See pages 11 to 79.) 



Presently no stock has adequate quantita- 

 tive data on all items necessary to develop 

 estimates of maximum potential yields that 

 can be harvested without reducing the 

 parent stock. (See page 78.) 



Stock Assessment Needs 



Since estimates about the condition of a 

 stock are basically judgmental anyway, it 

 may be far more cost-effective to agree 



upon a few key indicators of the health and 

 size of the stock rather than to attempt to 

 assess all possible indicators. (See pages 79 

 to 81.) 



Because of pressures to expand existing 

 stock assessment methodologies to provide 

 data for near-term decisions, pressure to 

 treat fishery information as a precise 

 science, and the lack of validity for existing 

 methods of research, a program should be 

 undertaken to improve the stock assess- 

 ment data which will be used and establish 

 future research priorities. (See pages 79 to 

 81.) 



Foreign Investment Information 



Mandatory disclosure of the actual extent 

 of foreign investment in U.S. fish process- 

 ing and wholesale operations would be 

 necessary in order to determine if foreign 

 investment results in uncontrolled foreign 

 fishing or if it has an adverse effect on the 

 competitive position of U.S. firms. 

 However, such disclosure is not presently 

 required. (See pages 81 to 85.) 



Economic Information Needs 



Economics and statistics staffs are being 

 added to Regional Fisheries Research Cen- 

 ters, but these staffs are not likely to have 

 the time or direction to address national 

 problems. These staffs cannot be considered 

 a substitute for a central economics research 

 and planning capability in NMFS. (See 

 pages 86 to 88.) 



Information Needed on 

 Fisheries Management 



Social Effects of 



The Regional Councils will need to know 

 the major social effects of the decisions 

 made under the new law in order to make 

 sensible alterations in fisheries regulations 

 as conditions continue to change. (See pages 

 88 to 92.) 



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