Source: US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration 



fishery — to oversee implementation of the law 

 and become managers of the fish and shellfish 

 resources off their coast. Already these coun- 

 cils have been involved to some extent in the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service work to set 

 some 1977 catch limitations and draw up 

 preliminary regulations. 



But this is just the outline of a system which 

 must be developed in future years as the coun- 

 cils. Government, fishermen, and the Nation 

 gain better information and understanding for 

 their job. 



The task of husbanding the U.S. fishery 

 resources is a major one. At stake is not only a 

 major supply of animal protein, but also an 

 American industry which provides employ- 

 ment for more than a quarter -of-a-million 

 people! 5 and has a $6.5 billion impact on the 

 U.S. economy. 16 It is a resource used by 

 foreign fishermen from more than 17 na- 

 tions,i7 U.S. commercial fishermen, and an 

 estimated 30 millioni^ recreational fishermen, 

 whose catch is roughly equal in size and value 

 to the catch of edible fish by U.S. commercial 

 fishermen. 19 



Managing such a resource will involve 

 scientific, social, and political problems for 

 many years to come. Not the least of these 

 problems is the fact that implementation of 

 the law will require the use of much informa- 

 tion about all phases of the fishing industry — 

 information which has not been consistently 

 collected and analyzed in the past. But if the 

 principles established by the Fishery Conser- 

 vation and Management Act are pursued, 

 there is substantial promise of a rational 

 system for resolving conflicts between the 

 needs of foreign, domestic, and recreational 

 fishermen and the need for conservation. 



The major problems relate to how the 

 United States will determine and enforce new 

 management regulations, how it will build the 

 information base necessary for reaching 

 management decisions and laying conserva- 

 tion strategies, and how it will revitalize the 

 existing fishing industry and develop new op- 

 portunities. This report addresses some of 

 those problems which are amenable to possi- 

 ble solution by actions of the U.S. Congress. 

 Some potential actions for Congress and ap- 

 propriate Federal agencies are identified. 



Neither the Fishery Conservation and 

 Management Act or this report cover all 

 problem areas or possible solutions. For ex- 

 ample, many species of inshore and migratory 

 high seas fisheries are still unregulated and 



