VI 



continue, it is now possible for management decisions to be based 

 primarily upon biological considerations. However, existing fishing 

 pressure continues to deplete offshore stocks at a rapid and devastating 

 pace. The numbers of vessels in the distant-water fleets, combined with 

 a growing worldwide need to harvest all potential stocks, force assess- 

 ments to grapple with continued fishing efforts directed at severely 

 reduced populations. 



Thus, international pressure presently exists to take the last avail- 

 able ton from the ocean every year. At the same time, recent depletions 

 argue for the imposition of restoration strategies such that the marine 

 biomass returns to its former, more abundant level. Ideally, assessments 

 should determine a specific yield for popular species such that the maximum 

 allowable catch is available within the constraints of a chosen restoration 

 goal. But as outlined in the following chapters, the data requirements to 

 develop this comprehensive understanding are immense, as are the complexi- 

 ties, which include at least the following: 



• Development of adequate catch and effort data; 



• Adequate enforcement of management/biological decisions; 



• Extension of surveys to inventory and assess all stocks; 



• Design of models to predict the interactive nature of the marine 

 ecosystem; 



• Development of adequate biological assumptions upon which to base 

 such interactive models; 



• Full understanding of the environmental factors that influence 

 potential yields; 



t Full understanding of the effects of fishing activity on stocks in 

 terms of the technology utilized; 



