FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70. NO. 3 



and dirty" surveys that are an anathema to the 

 purist but vital in what we see as the real world 

 today. 



This last decade — the 1960's — has also brought 

 forth most clearly that resolution of environ- 

 mental problems is critical if we are to have any 

 fish left for us — or other nations — to fish or if 

 we are to pursue aquaculture as a significant 

 means of food production. This area of research, 

 tackling as it does matters of environmental qual- 

 ity, of the impact of environmental degradation 

 on living organisms and in turn on man the con- 

 sumer, and of what can be done about it, must 

 be one of primary concern to us as we move into 

 the second century. 



Another set of factors is influencing our course 

 of action most strongly. Fishery scientists and 

 administrators, particularly the latter, have al- 

 ways been cognizant of them but have not as a 

 general rule faced up to them. These factors 

 deal with the common property nature of fish- 

 ery resources and the economic and legal prob- 

 lems associated therewith. Quite obviously, the 

 finest biological research in the world is of little 

 avail if proposals for utilization or management 

 based on its results cannot be implemented. On 

 the one hand, we have serious problems of allo- 

 cation of available stocks among political and so- 

 cial entities; on the other we have a series of 

 regulatory systems that tends generally to per- 

 petuate economic inefficiencies and to lead to 

 overcapitalization. 



The biologist cannot cope properly with these 

 serious and highly complex problems, though too 

 often he was forced to try in recent decades be- 

 cause the fisheries field simply did not have suf- 

 ficient professional talent in such areas as law 

 and economics associated with it. 



The need for economic research has for some 

 years been recognized as essential, and work in 

 this area is going on apace in both the Federal 

 fisheries service and in several universities. Ec- 

 onomics is not, however, the only "new" disci- 

 pline involved in the fisheries problems we now 

 face. Legal research, particularly in the field 

 of international and constitutional law, is obvi- 

 ously pertinent. It is equally critical as we be- 

 come more and more concerned with domestic 

 allocation and control of fisheries and the allo- 



cation of resources among competing users of 

 the environment. Are estuaries for fish, for in- 

 dustry, for marinas — or for all of them, perhaps 

 plus something else? Is a given species for the 

 sportsman, for the commercial fisherman — or for 

 both of them, perhaps plus someone else? Here 

 we move into a generally unplowed field and that 

 falls partly at least within the purview of still 

 another professional — the sociologist. 



In Century I, fisheries science moved from 

 ichthyology into fisheries biology, added other 

 biological disciplines such as physiology and ge- 

 netics, accepted mathematics and statistics as in- 

 tegral to success, incorporated physical oceano- 

 graphy, engineering, and physics into the fold, 

 touched on meteorology, became deeply involved 

 with biochemistry and food science, and opened 

 the door to economists and lawyers. The future 

 will hold a greater role for the social sciences 

 and the legal profession, but it will remain the 

 fisheries scientist (whatever he may be — some 

 mix of biologist, ecologist, oceanographer, and 

 mathematician) who will provide the requisite 

 scientific data with which other disciplines can 

 interact to provide the final synthesis upon which 

 the administrator can base his decision. 



Research in the Fisheries Service at present 

 falls into three major categories: (i) biological, 

 ecological, and oceanographic research of the 

 sort traditionally conducted by fisheries biolo- 

 gists, including fisheries oceanography, popula- 

 tion dynamics, inshore ecology, studies of con- 

 taminants and disease, aquaculture, a smattering 

 of gear technology and instrumentation, and so 

 on; (ii) fishery technology and marketing re- 

 search; and (iii) economic research, this of ne- 

 cessity growing to encompass matters of a so- 

 cial, institutional, or legal nature. 



All of this is being carried on so that we may 

 fulfill our mission as we see it: to promote the 

 wise use of living marine resources for their 

 aesthetic, economic, and recreational value to 

 the American people. Our basic objectives 

 within the framework of that mission are 

 to understand and protect living marine re- 

 sources and the environmental quality essential 

 for their existence, and to devise rational 

 schemes for resource allocation and develop- 

 ment. 



538 



