APPENDIX II APPENDIX II 
Title III establishes national standards for fishery con- 
servation and management to be applied by new Regional Fishery 
Management Councils and by the Secretary of Commerce in the pre- 
paration of fishery management plans and regulations. The Secre- 
tary of Commerce is directed to establish guidelines, based on 
the national standards, to assist in the development of fishery 
Management plans. 
The Act provides for eight Regional Fishery Management 
Councils, each representing a different geographic coastal area 
of the country. Each Council is directed to prepare a fishery 
Management plan for each fishery within its geographic juris- 
diction to cover any fish over which the United States exer- 
cises exclusive fishery management authority. Each plan must 
require the submission of catch statistics and other pertinent 
data to the Secretary of Commerce. Also, each plan is to (1) 
specify the present and probable future condition of, and the 
maximum sustainable yield and optimum yield from, the fishery 
involved, and (2) assess and specify the capacity and extent to 
which U.S. fishery vessels will harvest such optimum yield and 
the portion which can be made available for foreign fishing. 
The Secretary of Commerce is to review each fishery 
Management plan to determine whether it is consistent with the 
national standards for fishery conservation and management, 
the other provisions and requirements of the 1976 Act, and any 
other applicable law. After the Secretary approves a Council- 
prepared plan or, if one is not prepared, himself prepares a 
plan, the Secretary shall implement the plan. 
There are a few instances where the 1976 Act might be better 
coordinated with other statutes: 
(1) The Act should be coordinated with 16 U.S.C. §742(f£), 
which directs the Secretary of Commerce to determine policies 
to carry out the laws relating to fish. He is directed to 
develop measures to assure maximum sustainable production of 
fish and to take steps to develop, advance, manage, conserve 
and protect fisheries resources. Congress might want to consider 
amending this provision to recognize the "optimum sustainable 
yield" concept promoted by the 1976 Act and to coordinate it 
with the concept of regional councils and regional planning. 
(2) As previously mentioned, 16 U.S.C. §760a, which directs 
the Secretary of Commerce to make certain Atlantic Coast studies, 
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