among the various research programs of 

 the group by its director or by a committee 

 composed of representatives from the various 

 programs. Often there is cooperative effort 

 wherein a group not having control of a ves- 

 sel may acquire sea time from a group which 

 does; or two or more groups, each operating 

 a vessel, may combine vessel effort on a work 

 program of mutual interest. 



Crew 



Vessel crews are usually recruited locally 

 from members of the fishing industry that the 

 parent group serves. Where a particular ves- 

 sel's mis.^ion is less of a direct fishing nature, 

 consideration is given to ex-miiitary or other 

 individuals having seagoing experience. The 

 crew size of each vessel is determined gener- 

 ally by the complexity of the vessel and by the 

 work it does. Some small boats do not have 

 a permanent crew but are operated by parent 

 group shore personnel. 



Crews, including licensed personnel of all 

 major NMFS vessels and some lesser vessels, 

 are members of and are represented by some 

 kind of labor organization. These organiza- 

 tions include large maritime unions, fishermen's 

 unions, and Federal Government employee 

 unions. Some vessels have as many as three 

 separate unions representing their crews. 



Crew wages and some working conditions 

 are negotiated. Wage rates are based on pre- 

 vailing rates in the applicable portion of the 

 maritime industry. Working hours and other 

 conditions are based again on prevailing prac- 

 tices in the maritime industry. Wage rates 

 and working conditions vary widely in the 

 NMFS fleet, generally depending on locale and 

 precedents in the iiertinent maritime industry 

 of that region. 



Labor negotiations are conducted between 

 representatives of NMFS management and ves- 

 sel labor on a periodic basis, usually annually, 

 as provided for in their basic work contract. 

 During these negotiations, the vessel crew rep- 

 resentatives may be supplemented or replaced 

 by regular labor organization representatives. 

 Management may be represented by personnel 

 from the parent group, the appropriate Re- 

 gional Office, and/or the Central Office (Wash- 



ington, D.C.) staff. There is a current trend 

 toward combined negotiations covering a num- 

 ber of vessels of more than one Region and 

 guided by the Central Office staff. 



Vessel Classification 



The NMFS has found it convenient to clas- 

 sify its ships for purposes of labor negotiation. 

 This is accomplished by means of a horsepower- 

 tonnage (HPT) rating which is the sum of 

 maximum brake horsei)ower plus gi*oss ton- 

 nage. Cla.sses are as follows: 



Large Ship Class A 1800 HPT and above 

 Medium Ship Class B 1100-1799 HPT 

 Small Ship Class C 400-1099 HPT 

 Large Boat Class D under 400 HPT 



The research vessels and one large ship, 

 Pribilof, which is operated as a supply vessel 

 for the Pribilof Islands, are categorized in 

 Table 1. 



Shore Facilities 



Depending upon its size and the size of its 

 vessel, a parent group may have one or more 

 persons emiiloyed in full-time vessel shore sup- 

 port. The vessels are usually berthed in the 

 near vicinity of the oj^erating group and have 

 some warehousing or storage facilities nearby. 

 Ojierating suiiplies are obtained through the 

 General Services Administration, other mili- 

 tary or civilian agencies of the Federal Gov- 

 ernment, or private suppliers. Normal main- 

 tenance is acconijilished at the shiji's berth by 

 the ship's force but occasionally by contract 

 labor. Shijiyard overhaul is usually accom- 

 plished in commercial shipyards located within 

 a reasonable distance of the parent group's 

 location. 



FLEET MODERNIZATION 



In 1960, funds were appropriated for the de- 

 sign and construction of a vessel to replace 

 Albatross III at the Woods Hole Biological Lab- 

 oratory. This began a period of construction 

 and conversion which, by the end of 1968, re- 

 sulted in nine major vessels being added to 

 the fleet (Table 2) at a cost of about $14.5 

 million. Some of these ships were replacements 



