Possibilities for Long- 

 Range Enforcement 



It is likely that the proposed near-term en- 

 forcement capabilities described earlier will 

 not be adequate for long-range demands. Fac- 

 tors like the following may contribute to the 

 need for more sophisticated enforcement 

 tools: 



• Individual Regional Fishery Management 

 Councils are likely to develop some 

 unique regulations which demand more 

 knowledge of vessel locations; 



• Developments in technology may result 

 in more efficient and effective equipment, 

 for instance, land-based electronics 

 systems could supplant some aircraft 

 flights; 



• There may be pressures for increased 

 foreign fishing off our shores, such that 

 the value of illegal fish could exceed the 

 cost of being apprehended; 



• Scientific data might reveal a greater 

 danger to fishery resources than is pres- 

 ently realized or danger to resources in 

 new areas not now covered; 



• The costs of traditional enforcement may 

 grow to a level that could not be easily 

 justified in terms of resources conserved. 



Such factors as these lead to the conclusion 

 that plans should be made for further im- 

 provements in enforcement capabilities by use 

 of remote-sensing devices and other advanced 

 technology. 



It is probably in the national interest to ac- 

 tively plan and pursue interagency use of 

 some of these new technologies, especially 

 those in which there already has been signifi- 

 cant investment in development. However, it 

 is unlikely that military agencies which now 

 have such advanced technology will volunteer 

 or be receptive to suggestions that they share 

 their capabilities for use in enforcing fishery 

 regulations. 



In addition to the fact that such equipment 

 is dedicated to military application and report- 

 edly already heavily used, it would be neces- 

 sary to develop a fast and efficient 

 clearinghouse for processing and distributing 

 information from the sensors before joint use 

 of sensing equipment would be possible. The 

 military has already developed specialized 

 systems for correlating information from 

 many sensors; however, these systems are 

 crowded and translation of fisheries data 

 would receive low-priority treatment. 



It may be desirable to pursue the develop- 

 ment of new facilities which could receive 

 data from many sources, including such 

 groups as the military. Bureau of Customs, 

 NMFS, Coast Guard, and State and Federal 

 law enforcement networks. This facility could 

 correlate data, protecting classified or priv- 

 ileged information if necessary, and display 

 all maritime activity, including that of fishing 

 vessels37 (see figure 11). 



Such a data correlation and display center 

 for coverage of the complete fishing zone 

 would be costly, but it could also provide in- 

 formation on oil tankers, commercial cargo 

 carriers, surveillance for search and rescue 

 missions, and other similar activities. The 

 Office of Technology Assessment's Working 

 Paper No. 5, which discusses such a facility, 

 estimates the initial set-up cost at $1.5 million 

 for a correlation facility to receive the infor- 

 mation. Computer time would cost at least 

 $14,000 a month for operation of the facility. 

 Expense to the Coast Guard for installation of 

 hardware compatible with the correlation 

 facility and operation of Coast Guard func- 

 tions would be an additional cost which has 

 not been determined. 



Recommended Pilot Project 



OTA proposes a pilot program utilizing one 

 of the existing military systems for the collec- 



43 



