V-3 



and qualities afforded by the estuarine areas. Programs in support 

 of objectives provide for aggressive leadership in research and 

 management. For the most part the programs also encourage and 

 complement appropriately designed estuarine activities of other 

 Federal agencies and State and local governments. 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



Concerned largely with coastal waters and the open ocean, the Bureau 

 of Commercial Fisheries works with nature as yet little affected by 

 human management except for those anadromous species which use the 

 estuaries and migrate into fresh water to spawn. It has the respon- 

 sibility to ensure an adequate, dependable, and diverse supply of 

 fish and shellfish products of good quality; encourage optimum use 

 of estuarine living resources; and contribute to man's understanding 

 and control of estuarine living resources and their environment. 

 To achieve these objectives, the agency conducts research on estu- 

 aries, estuarine problems, or estuarine-dependent species of fish 

 at more than half of its twenty biological laboratories. 



The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries 

 and Wildlife have, after more than a decade as a service, recently 

 formed several interbureau committees on such matters of common 

 interest as estuaries, anadromous fish, and conflicts between com- 

 mercial and sport fishermen. 



