FOREWORD 



ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR'S MESSAGE 



VI 



It is appropriate that NOAA's first report on 

 the status of the Nation's living marine 

 resources be released during the 200th 

 anniversary year of Thomas Jefferson's 

 1791 communication to the First (J.S. 

 Congress, transmitting ". . . the Report on 

 the Subject of the Fisheries of the United 

 States . . . ." Then, as now, the economic 

 welfare of our fisheries and the biological 

 health of the marine life and habitat on 

 which these fisheries depend, remain a 

 continuing and legitimate concern of the 

 Federal government. 



Our vision is to restore the ocean's 

 wealth of living marine resources through 

 major strategic initiatives to: 



1) Rebuild (J.S. fisheries by reducing 

 overfishing and maintaining currently pro- 

 ductive fisheries; 



2) Protect and conserve marine mam- 

 mals, sea turtles, and other endangered or 

 threatened species; 



3) Protect and restore coastal and estua- 

 rine fishery habitats; and 



4) Improve seafood safety. 



Through these initiatives, NMFS will set 

 the standard for management of the 

 ocean's renewable resources. 



To support these goals, we shall update 

 and present a new national status report 

 each fall to NOAA's many constituents. In 

 this way the vital information on the health 

 of the nation's marine resources will be 

 available to all who share the common 

 purpose of conserving and wisely using 

 our living ocean heritage. 



William W. Fox, Jr., Ph.D. 



Assistant Administrator for Fisheries 

 National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration 



November 1991 



