Workshop objectives were to: review the management 
requirements of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 
the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and other relevant legislation; 
determine the appropriateness and means of applying ecosystem 
simulation models to fishery management; and identify steps 
to improve existing models or otherwise facilitate the 
development of fishery management plans which take account 
of the dynamics and interactions among target and non-target 
species including marine mammals and birds. After considering 
existing data and models, the participants concluded that: 
ecosystem simulation models and other types of models can 
and should be used to assist in developing and evaluating 
fishery management plans; models also can be used to identify 
critical gaps in our knowledge of the dynamics and interrelationships 
among target and non-target species; no single model is 
likely to be applicable to all areas or problems and none of 
the existing models are fully adequate for management purposes; 
and models used for management purposes should be constructed 
for specific and explicitly stated objectives and should be 
validated with respect to the stated objectives. Participants 
also concluded that: procedures used to develop and evaluate 
fishery management plans should include the development of 
hypotheses concerning the possible impact of fishing levels 
on non-target as well as target species; persons knowledgeable 
about the biology, ecology, distribution, and abundance of 
non-target species should be included on plan development 
teams whenever appropriate; and information on the current 
status, feeding habits, and food requirements of non-target 
as well as target species should be collected, analyzed, and 
considered for prediction of the potential impact of proposed 
fishing levels on the ecosystem itself. 
A workshop report ("Ecosystem Simulation Models and 
Their Applications to Fishery Management") has been prepared 
by the National Marine Fisheries Service, but has not yet 
been published. It is being reviewed, and the steering 
group, expected to meet early in 1981, will determine what 
further action may be necessary or desirable. In addition, 
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is expected to 
publish in early 1981 the request for proposals to work on 
the feeding habits and food requirements of marine mammals 
in the Bering Sea. 
