APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
stock and are designed to prevent further population decline 
in these seriously depleted fisheries. The potential for 
stock recovery would be improved, according to a NMFS offi- 
cial, with further quota reductions in each stock. Stock 
recovery also depends on favorable environmental conditions. 
The Gulf of Maine herring stock is now fished primarily 
by U.S. vessels. ICNAF quotas in this area are not fully 
effective because they do not apply inside the 3-mile terri- 
torial limit controlled by individual States. To prevent 
further decline in the Gulf of Maine, a 35.3 million pound 
quota for the adult herring fishery was adopted for 1975. 
U.S. fishermen were allocated 23.7 million pounds, but they 
caught about 37.2 million pounds. About 8.9 million pounds 
were reported as having been caught within the 3-mile limit 
where there are no quotas. Assessment studies indicated that 
the 1976 quota was further reduced to 15.4 million pounds, of 
which the U.S. share was 13.2 million pounds. As of June 15, 
1976, U.S. fishermen had already caught 22 million pounds 
in total, combining landings within and beyond the 3-mile 
limit. ICNAF officials are considering a zero Gulf of Maine 
herring quota for 1977, to prevent further stock declines. 
Industry officials disagree with the existing quota 
system on individual stocks. They believe that there is 
considerable intermixing among stocks, and therefore any 
quota reductions should first be applied to foreign quotas. 
A State official also believes that quota reductions should 
first be applied to foreign quotas. He added that the 
State is not willing to impose quotas in its territorial 
waters unless it can be shown that the catch inside State 
waters is responsible for the Gulf of Maine stock decline. 
This official believes that foreign fleets which have 
caught most of the herring off the U.S. coast may have 
caused the resource decline. 
A 1970 publication by an official of the Bureau of 
Commercial Fisheries (currently the National Marine Fisher- 
ies Service) noted that throughout the history of the 
Alaskan herring fishery, restrictions had been more limiting 
than those of almost any other North American herring fish- 
ery. Alaska laws have, at one time or another, governed 
the length and depth of nets and mesh size; they have also 
provided either total or partial exclusion of seines as well 
as restrictions on use of the catch (i.e., bait or reduction). 
Traps or other obstructions that prevented the free passage 
of fish were prohibited. Closed seasons, closed areas, 
and quotas have been in effect to limit herring catches, 
and all areas closed to salmon fishing were closed to herring 
fishing. 
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