of docks had been made possible by a separate appropriation of 

 $160, 000; the Dane Construction Company of Sommerville, Mass. 

 was awarded the contract for this work. In 1957 the Director's 

 residence (former Coast Guard bungalow) was moved to a new 

 site and the barrack -type frame building (former WAVES quarters) 

 was given to the MBL and moved away. On December 27, 1957, 

 the Government entered into a contract with Mishara Construction 

 Company, Inc. , of Brighton, Mass. for the razing of the old 

 laboratory, residence building, and maintenance shop and for the 

 construction of a three -story 44 feet x 190 feet masonry building. 

 The old buildings were vacated, and the Laboratory personnel 

 occupied temporary quarters in a private estate midway between 

 Falmouth and Woods Hole. The shellfish investigations were 

 conducted in a laboratory at the MBL.. 



Early in 1958 the old buildings were demolished. The 

 staff of the Laboratory consisted at this time of Director, Herbert 

 W. Graham, Assistant Director, the late Clyde C. Taylor, 21 

 fishery research biologists, 21 fishery aids, 6 technical assistants, 

 and 16 persons employed in adnainistration and maintenance. The 

 Albatross III , with a crew of 24 officers and men, was attached to 

 the Laboratory. 



New and important changes in the research program and 

 administrative functions of the Laboratory, which became effective 

 since 1950, resulted from the reorganization of the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service. As previously mentioned, under the authority of the 

 President's Reorganization Plan III, the Bureau of Fisheries was 

 merged with the Bureau of Biological Survey to form the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service under the U. S. Department of the Interior. A new 

 Fish and Wildlife Act was passed during the second session of the 

 84th Congress and on August 8, 1956, was approved by President 

 Eisenhower. The "Declaration of Policy" of the Act states that 

 "Congress hereby declares that the fish, shellfish, and wildlife 

 resources of the Nation make a material contribution to our natural 

 economy and food supply, as well as a material contribution to the 

 health, recreation, and well-being of our citizens" (Safer, 1960). 

 The law established the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and the 

 Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife as two independent components 

 of the new Service. The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries under a 

 Director (the position at present is occupied by Donald L. McKernan) 

 consists of four divisions: Biological Research, Industrial Research, 

 Resource Development, and Administration. At the same time the 

 Bureau's field activities, formerly under the direct supervision of 

 the central office in Washington, have been decentralized by 

 establishing five regional offices, and two area offices, each headed 

 by a Regional Director and assisted by an administrative staff. In 

 accordance with the new plan, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole and other Bureau laboratories 

 in the area, are under the administrative supervision of the Director 

 of Region 3, with headquarters at Gloucester, Mass. John Gharrett 



101 



