FUNCTIONS OF THE BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL 



FISHERIES 



With the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 its basic 

 legislative guide, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 engages in biological and technological research, 

 carries on studies and market promotion programs, 

 collects and publishes statistical data, conducts eco- 

 nomic studies, spearheads the program to develop the 

 Columbia River fisheries, and manages the fur seal 

 resources of the Pribilof Islands in Alaska. 



The objective of all Bureau activities is the main- 

 tenance of the domestic fishing industry in a healthy 

 and competitive state to provide needed animal protein 

 foods in variety and abundance for human use and 

 fishery products for industrial use. 



Biological Research 



The living resources in the oceans, rivers, lakes, 

 and estuaries supply the raw material for the fishing 

 industry. Sound management- -the development and 

 application of measures to obtain the greatest sus- 

 tained public benefit from the re source --depends on a 

 knowledge of these resources that is provided, in 

 large part, by biological research. 



The fishery biological research carried on today by 

 the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries is a direct out- 

 growth of the scientific investigations of the old Fish 

 Commission and these studies form the foundation of 

 all activities for the protection and utilization of the 

 commercial fishes. The most important phase of work 

 in the field of biological research is concerned with 

 learning the causes for the great fluctuations in 

 abundance of the fishery resource that so deeply 

 affect the fishing industry. Complicated interrelation- 

 ships, fishing intensity, rate of growth, age at ma- 

 turity, time and amount of spawning, feeding habits, 

 extent and direction of migrations, and natural en- 

 emies are the subject of intensive studies. 



Biological research is conducted in four principal 

 areas: anadromous fisheries, inland fisheries, marine 

 fisheries, and shellfisheries. 



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