101 



conditions 

 • Give priority attention to development 

 of improved statistical data and ana- 

 lytic techniques. 



Technical Programs Improvement of con- 

 \enti()u;il fishinii: ^eiir and the use of equip- 

 ment developed in other countries ofi'er 

 opportunities for cost reduction in U.S. 

 fislieries. BCF's design and construction 

 of a large midwatcr trawl, coupled to 

 a simple hut highly effective electronic 

 sensing device, provided the necessary fii"st 

 step toward a potentially large new hake 

 fishery. Development of a rapidly sinking 

 pui-se seine that will take such fast-swim- 

 ming fish as skipjack tuna promises to open 

 new opportunities for tuna vessels. U.S. ves- 

 sels have hardly begun to use the various 

 types of conventional sonar gear already 

 standard aboard many foreign fishing vessels. 

 Work on a selective shrimp trawl that would 

 reject most of the trash fish while protecting 

 the quality of the desired catch promises 

 more economic production of pandalid 

 shrimp. 



Investigation of more radical approaches 

 to fisheries j)roblems also is a legitimate and 

 important part of a balanced program to re- 

 habilitate the U.S. fisheries. Intriguing possi- 

 bilities exist to aggregate fish into areas where 

 they could be taken by highly eflii'ient, mech- 

 anized harvesting systems; marine resources 

 might be tapped at lower trophic levels and 

 their high protein value put to practical use. 

 Ad\anced data handling systems, coupled 

 with systems to detect and forecast produc- 

 tive fishing areas, might reduce the time 

 which fishermen must spend hunting for har- 

 vestable fish schools by as much as 50 per cent. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agen- 

 cy (BCF) establish an expanded program 



to develop fishing technology by improv- 

 ing the efficiency of conventional gear and 

 developing new concepts of search, detec- 

 tion, harvesting, transporting, and proc- 

 essing. 



Details of a recommended program are set 

 forth in the Reports of the Commission's 

 Panels on Marine Engineering and Tech- 

 nology and on Marine Resources. 



Extension Services The best research and 

 technology de\elopment will be of no avail 

 if not put to effective u.se. The fragmented 

 character of the U.S. fishing industry and 

 the large number of independent operators 

 accustomed to established fishing techniques 

 pose a considerable challenge to any tech- 

 nology transfer program. Yet the Commis- 

 sion believes such a program to be a vital 

 complement to the strengthened scientific and 

 teclmical effort which it lias proposed, and 

 it urges early action to establish ai^propriate 

 extension activities. 



The Commission recommends that fish- 

 eries extension services, analogous to the 

 Agricultural Extension Service, be estab- 

 lished in order to facilitate transfer of 

 technically useful information to fisher- 

 men at the local level. 



The Sea Grant Program and the State 

 Technical Services Program of the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce can provide some of these 

 services. Also, the Intergovernmental Co- 

 operation Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-577) pro- 

 vides general authority for the Federal 

 Government to assist State and local govern- 

 ments in their technical service activities. We 

 would expect the proposed new agency to 

 survey the existing needs in this area, ex- 

 amine the extent to which current programs 

 are adequate to such needs, and take appro- 



