The fishery management councils have various respon- 

 sibilities , including commenting on foreign fishing applica- 

 tions , conducting public hearings on the development of fish- 

 ery management plans and providing various reports to the 

 Secretary of Commerce. The most important responsibility of 

 the councils is the preparation of fishery management plans. 

 Councils have the final responsibility for determining man- 

 agement objectives, for selecting optimum yield levels and 

 evaluating the relevant ecological, social and economic fac- 

 tors which those OYs incorporate, for compiling and eval- 

 uating information required for the determination of OY , and 

 for identifying data gaps 'and recommending appropriate re- 

 search if OY cannot be determined. 



Role of NMFS and the Secretary of Commerce . Under the 

 FCMA the Secretary of Commerce is responsible for reviewing 

 all fishery management plans with respect to the national 

 standards established in the Act as well as other provisions 

 of the Act and any other applicable laws. The Secretary also 

 has the discretion to preempt state jurisdiction over waters 

 from to 3 nautical miles from the coast in cases where a 

 state has taken, or omitted to take, action thereby substan- 

 tially and adversely affecting a fishery management plan. 

 Otherwise, the FCMA does not extend or diminish the juris- 

 diction of the states which have traditionally managed fish- 

 eries in territorial waters. 



The FCMA assigns various other responsibilities to the 

 Secretary of Commerce, which have been delegated to the NMFS. 

 Among these responsibilities is collection of information in- 

 cluding statistics on fishery conservation and management, 

 biological research on the interdependence of fisheries or 

 stocks, the impacts of pollution, the impact of wetland and 

 estuarine degradation, and matters bearing on the abundance 

 and availability of fish. Collection of such information re- 

 quires a comprehensive research program initiated and main- 

 tained by the NMFS. 



Other responsibilities assigned to the Secretary of Com- 

 merce and delegated to NOAA and NMFS include the development 

 of preliminary fishery management plans regulating only for- 

 eign fishing activities in the U.S. FCZ , providing coordina- 

 tion with other federal agencies, furnishing relevant informa- 

 tion to councils, reviewing management plans and amendments 

 (plans must have NMFS approval before they can be implemented) 

 designating which council has the lead in developing an FMP 

 in cases where a fish stock extends into more than one council 

 region, and promulgating regulations to implement FMPs and 

 cooperating with the Coast Guard for their enforcement. 



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