PART VIII — AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS 



however, as is also the case with 

 water and land environments for the 

 entire world. 



In summary, we have the following 

 potential sources of animal proteins 

 in antarctic and sub-antarctic waters: 



1. Whales — large source origi- 

 nally, but much depleted by 

 impact of man. 



2. Seals — some depleted by im- 



pact of man, but others not; 

 uncertain source. 



3. Fish — not depleted, but uncer- 

 tain as a source. 



4. Euphausid shrimp — not de- 

 pleted, and perhaps more abun- 

 dant than before slaughter of 

 whales, but uncertain as a 

 source. 



5. Other invertebrates — not de- 



pleted, but uncertain as a 

 source. 



Geographic considerations point to 

 utilization of animal proteins from 

 antarctic and sub-antarctic waters by 

 nations of the southern hemisphere — 

 Australia, Chile and Argentina, and 

 South Africa. Perhaps more of South 

 America and Africa can also benefit. 

 Hitherto, most of the oil and other 

 by-products from whales of antarctic 

 waters have gone to the mass of hu- 

 manity in the northern hemispheres. 

 But this need not continue. 



Scientific Aspects of North Pacific Fisheries 



The fisheries of the North Pacific 

 have expanded dramatically, particu- 

 larly in the past decade. This expan- 

 sion was the result of increased 

 utilization of the variety of living 

 resources available and exploitation 

 of new grounds (both in a geographic 

 and bathymetric sense). There has 

 been, particularly in the northeastern 

 Pacific, a dramatic increase in yields 

 as a result of Soviet and Japanese 

 fishing operations in the Bering Sea 

 and through the arc of the Gulf of 

 Alaska southward to central Cali- 

 fornia. Figure VIII— 7 shows a map of 

 the world's fisheries. 



The growth pattern of fisheries in 

 this area, as with many areas of the 

 world, has changed during the past 

 fifteen years. Fisheries may grow 

 to maturity, exceed the productive 

 capacity of the stocks, and collapse 

 in a matter of a few years. Hence, 

 man's utilization of the ocean's bio- 

 logical potential suffers from an in- 

 ability to cope with "pulse-type" 

 fishing activities, lack of an effective 

 organizational structure to implement 

 management systems, and a rather 

 shabby concept of the impact that 

 selective fishing may have on the re- 

 source community. In addition, po- 

 tential interaction of fisheries with 

 other demands on the ocean and its 



seabed (mineral exploitation, petro- 

 leum, etc.) is not predictable. 



In summary, the existing prob- 

 lems as they relate to North Pacific 

 fisheries are: (a) how to optimize 

 yields or dollars from what we are 

 now using; (b) how to minimize 

 multiple-use conflicts; (c) how to 

 maintain the productivity of the sys- 

 tem (avoiding degradation and prod- 

 uct contamination); and (d) how to 

 extract the rather extensive under- 

 utilized biological material that in- 

 habits this part of the ocean. 



Status of Scientific Knowledge 



Data Base — There is now a fair 

 body of scientific information charac- 

 terizing the fish and shellfish in the 

 North Pacific Ocean. We have a rela- 

 tively good understanding of the geo- 

 graphic and bathymetric distribution 

 patterns of the demersal forms, and 

 we are beginning to have a fairly 

 good grasp of the general magnitude 

 of these resources. The North Pacific 

 pelagic overshelf species are also rela- 

 tively well known, as are their dis- 

 tribution and behavior features. Our 

 understanding of the distribution fea- 

 tures and magnitude of the pelagic 

 oceanic species is far less good. 

 Knowledge of the types, distribution, 



and abundance of benthic inverte- 

 brates, although far from perfect, is 

 probably adequate to get some gross 

 concept of their potential contribu- 

 tion as food for man. By contrast, 

 our knowledge of pelagic inverte- 

 brates, even in the shallower waters, 

 is quite poor; and we have only a 

 rudimentary understanding of the 

 community, their distribution, abun- 

 dance, and the quantities that might 

 be available as a food supply for 

 mankind. 



We have fair information on sea- 

 sonal and bathymetric migratory pat- 

 terns for two dozen or more species 

 of fishes in the northeastern Pacific, 

 and perhaps no better in the western 

 Pacific. However, from these data we 

 cannot formulate a general model of 

 the seasonal distribution patterns of 

 biological matter. The specifics of 

 such movement and migration on 

 many species are absent. Our knowl- 

 edge of the factors that influence 

 behavior and gross distributional pat- 

 terns of adults is also rudimentary, 

 and we know even less concerning 

 hydrological parameters that are criti- 

 cal in determining survival of the 

 young. 



The underlying processes for de- 

 termining year-class strength, cyclic 



242 



