614 
instructors are drawn from the ranks of Navy reservists. It is believed 
that some Navy personnel are assigned to the civilian fleet to operate 
the more sensitive types of equipment and to insure that the maximum 
military relevance is wrought from dual-purpose equipment. !®© 
U.S. fishermen currently harvest only about 25 percent of the esti- 
mated total maximum sustainable yield of commercialy interesting 
species which are caught within 200 nautical miles of the U.S. coasts. 
The apparently poor performance of the United States in utilizing 
available resources was explained as follows in a study undertaken 
by Robert Nathan Associates for the Senate National Ocean Study: 
The stagnant performance of the U.S. fish harvesting industry, and the dramatic 
growth of imports, reflect many factors, among which two are perhaps most important: 
the typically lower cost structure of many foreign fishing fleets, in some uncertain 
degree attributable to large subsidies; and, severe institutional barriers within the United 
States, which include fractionalized and uncoordinated local reputations whose nu- 
merous anti-economic features adversely affect the industry’s performance. '® 
Congressional action to protect U.S. fishery resources from serious 
overfishing resulted in the passage of the Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act of 1976. Under this act, the United States asserts 
complete authority over its coastal fisheries up to a distance of 200 
nautical miles from its coasts, by March of 1977. The US. fishing 
industry expects, as a result, to increase landings for domestic con- 
sumption and also for the export market. However, U.S. fishermen 
are not likely to be able to harvest the entire maximum sustainable 
yield of all commercially viable marine fisheries in thee water, for 
some time to come. The United States must, therefore, decide which 
foeign national will be allowed to harvest the difference between 
the optimum yield and the landings by American fishermen. The 
Soviet Union is one of the main contenders for this U.S. surplus. 
In view of continued animal protein shortages on land, and potential 
future obstacles in maintaining its foreign catch once the 200-mile 
limit concept has been generally adopted around the world, the 10 
to 15 percent of its total marine fisheries harvest which the U.S.S.R. 
takes off U.S. coasts is of great importance. 
If these fisheries resources were no longer available to it, the Soviet 
Union could not rapidly turn to alternative resources. Thus, as a 
result of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, 
the United States will not only have political leverage on the Soviet 
Union as far as grain sales are concerned, but it will also control 
Soviet access to essential coastal fisheries resources. 
Proper management of the U.S. coastal fisheries resources, for 
domestic utilization or foreign sales, could reduce the negative balance 
of trade in fisheries. This deficit will otherwise grow from an estimated 
$1.2 billion in 1974 to over $2 billion in 1985 and $5 billion by 
2000. 187 
OCEAN MINING 
With respect to ocean mining, the Soviet Union is behind the West 
in both actual production and extraction technology. In 1974, the 
165 See: Carl G. Jacobsen. The Civilian Fleets, Notes on Military-Civilian Integration in the 
U.S.S.R., p. 119. 
166). S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, National Ocean Policy Study, The Economic 
Value of the Oceans, op. cit., pp. 52 and 53. 
187 Ibid., pp. 49, 56. 
