NATIONAL OVERVIEW: STATUS AND 

 POTENTIAL OF U.S. LIVING MARINE RESOURCES 



INTRODUCTION 



The LTPY of all U.S. fishery resources 

 (Table 1 ) is conservatively estimated at 8.9 

 million metric tons (t). This does not in- 

 clude the 1 1.8 million salmon on the west 

 coast which have traditionally been re- 

 ported in thousands of fish (Unit 12). The 

 Food and Agriculture Organization of the 

 (Jnited Nations (FAO) estimates the upper 

 limit of the world's annually sustainable 

 yield of marine and freshwater fish at about 

 100 million t. Therefore, the long-term po- 

 tential (J.S. marine fish harvest is about 9% 

 of the total world potential. 



Bottom dwelling "groundfish" make up 

 61% of the total U.S. LTPY, while highly 

 migratory and coastal pelagic species con- 

 stitute 30%. The remaining 9% is almost 

 equally divided between anadromous and 

 nearshore finfishes and the invertebrate 

 fishery resources. Three fishery units- 

 Alaska groundfish (Unit 19), Pacific tunas 

 and billfish (Unit 18), and Southeast men- 

 haden and butterfish (Unit 10)— account 



for 69%, or 6.1 million t, of the national 

 LTPY. 



The estimate of the total current poten- 

 tial yield for the Nation's fishery resources 

 is virtually equal to the LTPY (both were 8.9 

 million t). But there are important differ- 

 ences among regions, units, and individual 

 stocks. For example, LTPY exceeds CPY 

 by more than 125,000 t (31%) for New 

 England groundfish, whereas CPY exceeds 

 LTPY by 280,000 1 (57%) for Gulf of Alaska 

 groundfish. In most cases where LTPY is 

 greater than CPY, the long-term potential 

 can only be achieved when the population 

 is rebuilt. In those cases where CPY is 

 greater than LTPY, harvesting at the CPY 

 level cannot be sustained indefinitely. 



The total U.S. RAY is 6.4 million t, includ- 

 ing recreationally caught fish. This value is 

 higher than the catch reported in the NMFS 

 publication, "Fisheries of the United 

 States." The discrepancy is largely due to 

 the exclusion of the high seas fisheries 



Table 1.— Recent average, 

 current potential, and long-term 

 potential yields of U.S. LMR's in 

 metric tons (t). 



Unit and fishery 



LTPY 



CPY 



RAY 



Percent of LTPY 



99.9% 



72.3% 



'Underestimate 

 'Overestimate 

 Thousands of fish. 

 4 Not including Unit 12. 



