53 



and honest concerning the validity of their data/^^^ Many management 

 decisions, particularly those concerning quota allocation and area closures, 

 have been essentially social decisions: "We want this amount of fish be- 

 cause our national priority is for 'x' tons this year." Rather than accept 

 such decisions as value judgments, however, managers have desired numbers 

 to justify those decisions. The more refined the number, the easier the 

 decision. One result of this attitude has been pressure on the assessment 

 community to estimate to the last ton the available yield from a fishery. 

 In fact, assessments provide information that is characterized by a degree 

 of accuracy , although political pressures may demand even greater accuracy. 



Under extended jurisdiction, such pressures are likely to continue; 

 certainly the attitude that assessment science is close to full under- 



(co) 



standing of the marine ecosystem is a popular one. Given limited 



financial resources for offshore fishery management, however, decisions will 

 be required concerning budget allocation. 



On the following pages assessment state-of-the-art will be examined 

 with relation to development of information that is useful , not only to 

 managers, but to the industry as well. The United States passed legislation 

 extending fisheries jurisdiction to 200 miles in response to political 

 pressure from fishermen , and clearly a major rationale for the legislation 

 was development of management plans that serve to revitalize a moribund 

 industry. As such revital ization depends entirely upon the health of fish 

 stocks, at least initially, restoration strategies are critical. And, as 

 the following section indicates, assessments are presently quite accurate, 

 in spite of the problems--both concerning biological data and the effects of 

 fishing activity decisons--outl ined previously. 



