PREFACE 



This report is the most comprehensive sta- 

 tus review of (J.S. living marine resources 

 ever made. It provides the available scien- 

 tific information on the health and abun- 

 dance of important marine populations 

 based on the latest assessments available 

 in mid- 1 99 1 . It addresses most marine and 

 anadromous species having commercial, 

 recreational, and ecological significance. 

 Besides finfish and shellfish, it includes 

 marine mammals, sea turtles, and corals 

 under purview of the (J.S. Department of 

 Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmo- 

 spheric Administration (NOAA). Addi- 

 tional information is provided in separate 



reports for five distinct regions: Northeast 

 Atlantic, Southeast Atlantic and Gulf of 

 Mexico, West Coast, Hawaii and the Pacific 

 Islands, and Alaska. 



A report of this magnitude would not be 

 possible without the long-term commit- 

 ment of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries 

 Service (NMFS) to resource assessment 

 studies including resource surveys, collec- 

 tion of recreational and commercial har- 

 vest statistics, and population biology and 

 ecological research. More than 60 NMFS 

 scientists prepared sections of this report 

 (Appendix 1), and many other NMFS per- 

 sonnel contributed indirectly. 



