haddock, halibut, herring, ocean perch. Pacific mackerel, sablefish, 

 yellowfin sole, and yellowtail flounder], resulting in serious 

 economic consequences. MARMAP is a nationwide resource 

 assessment system that annually provides systematic assessments 

 of the principal fish and shellfish stocks of interest to the United 

 States and warnings and forecasts of changes in these stocks. This 

 information is used to attempt to restore overfished stocks to former 

 abundance levels and to assure optimal yeilds from other stocks. 



In fiscal year 1975, MARMAP groundfish and ichthyoplankton 

 surveys, were conducted with six nations, the U.S.S.R., Poland, 

 France, Canada, Federal Republic of Germany, and the German 

 Democratic Republic. These surveys were made in the northwest 

 Atlantic from Greenland to Cape Hatteras as part of a joint 

 assessment effort of the International Commission for the 

 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries. The State of South Carolina par- 

 ticipated in surveying the area from Cape Hatteras to the Florida 

 Keys. Groundfish surveys were also conducted in the Mississippi 

 Delta region, and there were surveys of small areas in the northeast 

 Pacific off Alaska and in the East Bering Sea. Status-of-stock 

 surveys were continued on important stocks including squid, 

 salmon, herring, menhaden, shrimp, king and tanner crabs, ocean 

 perch, north Pacific groundfish, sablefish, California current coastal 

 species and tuna (in cooperation with the State of California], 

 Atlantic groundfish. Gulf shrimp, and croaker. MARMAP survey 

 data were used by U.S. negotiators to support limiting foreign 

 fishing for crab, shrimp, and groundfish in the northeast Pacific. The 

 first survey of the deep-sea red crab was made to determine its 

 distribution and abundance on the continental slope from Maryland 

 to Georges Bank. MARMAP surveys also resulted in the issuance of 

 two "Red Flag" reports describing extensive contamination of 

 western Atlantic surface waters with tar clumps and plastic 

 particles. 



Program Emphasis 



The fiscal year 1976 Federal Ocean Program budget request is $90 

 million higher than the fiscal year 1975 estimated budget and over 

 $200 million higher than the fiscal year 1974 estimate. The trend of 

 the program budget over this 2-year period reflects accelerated 

 activity in areas of major national concern. In both years, the rate of 

 growth in expenditures for programs relating to energy and resource 

 development and to environmental protection was greater than the 

 growth rate of the program as a whole. The budgetary impact of 

 high-priority energy-related studies was especially dramatic. The 

 starting costs of these new efforts, instituted in fiscal year 1975, 



