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II. ALTERNATIVES INCLUDING THE PROPOSED ACTION 

 A. Proposed Federal Action 



The proposed federal action is the ratification and 

 implementation of the Agreement Between the Government of the 

 United States of America and the Government of Canada on 

 East Coast Fishery Resources (Appendix I). The Agreement 

 would institute a comprehensive regime to coordinate 

 management of fish within the fishery zones of the United 

 States and Canada and enable the resumption of important 

 traditional fisheries of each in the areas in which the 

 other exercises undisputed fisheries jurisdiction. 

 1 . Annexes to the Agreement 



Annexes A, B and C to the Agreement define fisheries 

 in terms of stocks.* Each of the stocks in the Agreement 

 was selected on the basis of historical fishing patterns, 

 management under ICNAF, and its distribution pattern in the 

 Georges Bank - Gulf of Maine area. As a convenient way to 

 identify stocks geographically, Annex D labels subareas, 

 divisions, and subdivisions of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean 

 in the same manner as under ICNAF (figures 1 and 3). By and 



*A stock is a subpopulation of one fish species whose 

 members interact in a limited geographical area. A stock 

 may be characterized by a unique spawning place or time and 

 maintain a separate gene pool. Management measures applied 

 to one stock will not necessarily impact on other stocks. 



