THE BUREAU OF 

 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES 



The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 and the agencies that preceded it have a 

 history of interest in the country's fisheries 

 which extends back to 1871. In 1939, fishery 

 activities were transferred from the U. S. 

 Department of Commerce to the U. S. De- 

 partment of the Interior and consohdated 

 with the Bureau of Biological Survey to form 

 the Fish and Wildlife Service. 



The Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 pro- 

 vided, in the U. S. Department of the Interi- 

 or, a Fish and Wildlife Service composed of 

 the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 

 and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. 

 This Act recognized fish and shellfish as a 

 valuable resource, important to the Nation's 

 future. It also directed the Bureau to manage 

 wisely the marine resources and to help main- 

 tain a strong and prosperous fishing industry. 



As a result of the Fish and Wildlife Act 

 of 1956, the activities of the Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries were regionalized to estab- 

 lish closer contact at the field level. The 



North Atlantic Region was established in 

 November 1957 and, by November 1958, 

 had assumed responsibility for line super- 

 vision of Bureau activities in the northeastern 

 States. These responsibilities include the 

 planning, development, direction, and coor- 

 dination of policies and programs needed in 

 this important fish producing and consuming 



area. 



THE REGIONAL STRUCTURE 



The Regional Office, located in Glouces- 

 ter, Mass., exercises administrative super- 

 vision over a broadly diversified group of 

 research and service activities. These pro- 

 grams are designed to secure fundamental 

 information on the resource, improve the 

 harvesting, processing, and use of fish and 

 fishery products, and provide direct technical, 

 economic, statistical, and marketing assist- 

 ance to the industry. Individual research and 

 service programs are carried out in 7 major 

 laboratories, 12 major field offices, and 17 

 smaller field stations. Seven vessels are used 

 in coastal and offshore research. 



BIOLOGICAL 

 RESEARCH 



The biological research programs search 

 for better knowledge of the many factors 

 that influence the movements, abundance, 

 and availability of commercially important 

 fish and shellfish. The laboratory at Woods 

 Hole, Mass., is responsible for studies on 

 trawl fish and sea scallops. Research on the 

 Atlantic herring and soft-shell clams is the 

 specialty of the laboratory located at Booth- 



