development, promulgation, and enforcement of domestic fisheries 

 regulations required under the authority of international fisheries 

 agreements to which the United States is a party. The program also 

 has the responsibility for monitoring compliance by foreign fishing 

 vessels in the contiguous fisheries zone and territorial waters. In 

 addition, the program includes enforcement of U.S. statutes 

 concerning marine mammal protection, enforcement of U.S. statutes 

 prohibiting possession or importation of illegally taken fish and 

 wildlife, and surveillance of foreign fishing operations to insure 

 compliance with the provisions of various treaties and agreements to 

 which the United States is a party. In this latter activity, data on 

 foreign fishing fleets off the United States developed incidentally to 

 enforcement provides a substantial portion of the information used 

 in negotiations regarding foreign fishing activities. 



USCG shares responsibility for enforcement and surveillance at 

 sea with NMFS under an interagency agreement. USCG provides 

 aerial and surface patrols and NMFS provides agents with fisheries 

 law enforcement expertise to accompany the patrols. 



In calendar year 1973, 111 foreign fishing vessels off the east coast 

 of the United States and 88 foreign fishing vessels off Alaska were 

 boarded and inspected under this program. Other boardings took 

 place in the Gulf of Mexico and off the west coast. USCG aircraft 

 flew 4,189 hours covering approximately 630,000 miles, and cutters 

 spent 2,224 days at sea covering approximately 300,000 miles on 

 fisheries law enforcement. Monthly counts of foreign fishing and 

 support vessels indicated on estimated total of 6,789 representing 17 

 different nations. These figures represent a modest increase in 

 foreign fishing activity off the United States over 1972, as well as an 

 increase in patrol activity. 



An active boarding and surveillance program is maintained 

 outside the 12-mile exclusive fisheries zone to monitor compliance 

 with international fishing agreements and to gather information 

 used by NMFS in formulating conservation policies, by the 

 Department of State in negotiating fisheries agreements, and by 

 USCG in enforcement planning. 



As many as three USCG cutters at a time patrol off the east and 

 northwest coasts, and at any one time up to five may patrol Alaskan 

 waters. Some of these cutters carry helicopters, which not only 

 extend the vessels' surveillance range, but provide an effective 

 surprise factor for enforcement activities. 



There are a minimum of three surveillance flights a week off the 

 east coast, one a week off the west coast and five a week off Alaska. 

 The number of patrols is increased during periods of special pressure 

 on the outer boundary of the contiguous fisheries zone or when 

 incidents occur. For practical purposes, patrols extend to about 40 



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