DOMESTIC ALLOCATION 



NMFS has embarked upon a fisheries management program in 

 cooperation with the States to rationalize problems arising out of the 

 splintered jurisdiction and common property problems identified by 

 the Stratton Commission in 1969. An impetus for the evolution of 

 this program was the Administration's commitment to the New 

 Federalism philosophy. 



A serious conflict between the fishermen of California, Oregon, 

 and Washington arose out of the simple biological fact that 

 Dungeness crabs become suitable for harvest a month or so earlier in 

 the southern portion of their range, i.e., California, than in the 

 northern portion, i.e., Washington. Therefore, at the request of the 

 State of Washington, NMFS has contracted with the Pacific Marine 

 Fisheries Commission for a series of studies relating to the harvest of 

 the Dungeness crab. NMFS has financed economic studies that will 

 help manage this resource, which presently yields approximately $8 

 to $12 million a year, more efficiently. With the completion of these 

 studies, management proposals on a resource-wide basis will be 

 developed for implementation. 



Significant progress in the development of a coastwide plan for 

 American lobster fisheries has been made. Thirteen essential 

 regulatory proposals developed by the Regional Resource Council, 

 composed of State fisheries directors and the NMFS, have been 

 submitted to appropriate decisionmaking authorities in 11 Atlantic 

 coastal States from Maine to North Carolina. All 13 

 recommendations have been adopted by the State of Virginia. Other 

 States have the proposals under active consideration, and it is 

 anticipated that progress will be made in several of those States 

 during present legislative sessions. Maine, which accounts for 

 approximately 80 percent of the total U.S. lobster production, has 

 introduced limited entry legislation. 



Interim cooperative regulations between the States of Maine, New 

 Hampshire, and Massachusetts concerningGulf of Maine shrimp, an 

 important and developing fishery, have been adopted as a 

 consequence of a joint NMFS-State management study that 

 identified, on a tentative basis, the appropriate mesh size which 

 should be used in this fishery for the purpose of maintaining its 

 maximum sustainable yield. The study was requested by industry 

 because of a fear that uncontrolled fishing by vessels outside the 

 jurisdiction of the State of Maine could have detrimental effects on 

 the resources. 



Atlantic surf clams, a developing fishery of considerable national 

 importance, is presently under study by NMFS and five States in the 

 mid-Atlantic region. Unlike some of the larger, more diffuse 

 fisheries, such as the crab and lobster fisheries already mentioned, 



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