APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
OBSTACLES INHIBITING GROWTH 
AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE FISHERY 
Resource availability 
In 1972 the catch by foreign fishermen off the Pacific 
coast of the United States and Alaska reached an annual level 
of over 6.6 billion pounds. 
On the Pacific coast, foreign fishing has concentrated 
on Pacific hake, Pacific Ocean perch, black cod, Alaska 
pollock, herring, and groundfish of the Bering Sea and Alaska. 
U.S. fishermen land very little Pacific hake and almost no 
Alaskan pollock--species that supply about three-fourths of 
the foreign catch. 
Expansion of fishing by Japan and the Soviet Union in 
waters contiguous to Alaska has brought them in direct com- 
petition with U.S. and Canadian fishermen for some species. 
Since 1960, their fisheries have expanded farther south into 
the Gulf of Alaska, off the Pacific Northwest, and eventually 
to northern California. The Republic of Korea joined the 
groundfish fishery off Alaska in 1967, and by 1975 had spread 
to the Pacific Northwest. Poland and East Germany also 
entered the fishery in 1972. The Republic of China entered 
the fishery in 1976. 
This expansion has had a tremendous effect on the fish- 
ery resources and has complicated problems of managing and 
conserving them. Some fish stocks have been overexploited 
while most others are already fully utilized. 
An NMFS planning document listed species they considered 
to be depleted as of August 1975. The following are the Pa- 
cific coast groundfish species other than halibut which were 
listed 
--Alaskan pollock, 
=-rockfishes, 
--yellowfin sole, and 
--yellowtail flounder. 
Alaskan pollock has been overfished primarily by the 
Japanese and Soviet fisheries in the Bering Sea. NMFS scien- 
tists report substantial depletion of the Alaskan pollock 
stocks and predict lower catches in the future. Pacific Ocean 
perch found off the Oregon-Washington coast and in the Gulf 
127 
