314 OCEANOGRAPHY 1961 — PHASE 3 



Size 



A list of important miarine game fish will total between 50 and 200 species. Re- 

 searcli involving mixed species, boundless water areas, and wide ranging habits 

 make for as large-scale fishery research as has ever been undertaken. For- 

 tunately, this research, like any other, may be divided into its component parts 

 and developed along several different lines by species, by ecological areas, or 

 by different subject matter disciplines, but to be ultimately useful it must be co- 

 herent, coordinated, and finally put together to make a useful product. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ATLANTIC MARINE LABORATORY 



The program actually got underway late in 1960 with the establishment of 

 a laboratory at Sandy Hook, N.J., under the direction of Dr. Lionel Walford, an 

 internationally famous marine biologist, well known to most of you. It is well 

 located and adaptable to the requirements of marine research. It is the former 

 Army Hospital at Fort Hancock. In the past few months it has been re- 

 modeled to provide offices, library, laboratories, study collections, aquaria, and 

 shop to accommodate not only the resident staff but also visiting biologists and 

 graduate students. Ample docking facilities are available at Army and Coast 

 Guard piers. The laboratory is on the shore of Sandy Hook Bay, into which 

 several rivers empty, and is also close to the open Atlantic. Thus it is within 

 easy reach of a remarkable variety of ecological situations — oceanic, coastal, 

 bay, estuarine. It is near principal transportation facilities and several uni- 

 versities that are engaged in oeeanographic studies. Finally, Sandy Hook is 

 near the center of one of the greatest concentrations of sport fishing in the world, 

 which draws from species of boreal, transitional, and tropical life zones. 



A modest program is now underway with the following activities : 



National survey of marine game fishing 



We have arranged, by contract with the U.S. Bureau of the Census, a national 

 poll to collect catch statistics of marine game fishing, which will form an essen- 

 tial background for policies in directing future research. John Clark, Assistant 

 Laboratory Director, has collaborated with statisticians of the Bureau of the 

 Census in designing the questionnaires to be used, and will analyze the data 

 resulting from the survey. The poll, which consists of a sampling by States, 

 will include the methods of fishing which salt water anglers used during 1960 

 and the principal species and quantities caught by regions. This project is a 

 supplement to the Bureau's 1960 National Survey of Hunting and Fishing. 



Inventory of game fishing facilities 



A first step in defining the National Marine Sport Fishery is to take inventory 

 of its facilities — the boats, liveries, and landing ramps ; the jetties, piers, and 

 beaches; the fishing bottoms, bays, reefs, and wrecks. To provide this descrii>- 

 tion, Irwin Alperin and John Casey on the Atlantic and James Squire on the 

 Pacific have commenced an intensive review of published and unpublished 

 records available from State and Federal agencies, coastal laboratoiles, sports- 

 men's clubs and associations, outdoor writers, boat captains, boat stations and 

 operators, and chambers of commerce. Field surveys will be carried out to 

 verify and supplement presently available records. A catalog of facilities will 

 be developed and maintained currently. It will be plotted on charts which will 

 gradually form a national marine game fishing atlas. Methodology for the 

 collection and compilation of current catch statistics are being developed as an 

 outgrowth of the inventory project, 



Go^npendium, of game fishes 



A continuing function of the program will be to compile and systematize 

 existing knowledge on marine game fishes and their environments. This activity 

 will result in an organized collection of published and unpublished reports and 

 data, including an inventory of past and present research projects. The result 

 will be a compendium of research materials which should be useful to scientists, 

 administrators and the general public. The compendium will be published at 

 intervals in sections according to subject. Subjects under preparation are the 

 dolphins, weakfishes, bluefish, striped bass, and coastal hydrography. The entire 

 staff participates in this project. 



Estuarine resea/rch 



One of the most serious gaps in our knowledge of the biology of most migratory 

 fishes concern the period between the end of the larval stage and the time when 



