I find it reassuring that many of the Committee's recommenda- 

 tions support fisheries policies which we have instituted since the 

 creation of NOAA. The Committee rightly points out that a new 

 situation now confronts the world's fisheries . . . that there is a 

 basic threat to the world's fishery resources from growing fishing 

 pressure by all nations. 



NACOA calls for a basic approach to fisheries management 

 which is resource-oriented. With this view we concur wholeheart- 

 edly, and we are moving both domestically and internationally 

 to invoke such an approach; 



This Administration is pressing internationally, within the con- 

 text of the Law of the Sea, to establish standards of fisheries 

 management which are directed at the worldwide conservation 

 of fisheries resources so they may be harvested at a sustained yield 

 that will preserve all stocks as a perpetual source of food and 

 recreational enjoyment. We have strongly advanced as a manage- 

 ment concept the assignment to coastal nations of the management 

 responsibility for coastal species and anadromous stocks and to 

 international bodies for highly migratory species. 



In the interim, to the extent that international realities permit, 

 we are seeking to increase the management effectiveness of the 

 many international Fisheries Commissions. Already, our policies 

 are having some effect. In the International Commission for the 

 North Atlantic Fisheries, we have urged, and the Commission has 

 adopted, "country" quotas for some ten different stocks of fish. 



Although not of the same commercial importance, we have 

 been moving vigorously as a matter of national policy to protect 

 marine mammals and restore them to ecological health, through 

 the International Whaling Commission and the North Pacific Fur 

 Seal Commission. 



While there has been some progress, we cannot be satisfied 

 with the present status. We will continue to press for better 

 management and better conservation in all international forums 

 until our national objectives are achieved. 



Domestically, we have introduced new programs within the last 

 two years to attack other key problems identified by the Com- 

 mittee. The Department of Commerce has taken the initiative to 

 launch its Marine Resources Assessment and Prediction Program. 

 This effort is aimed at achieving one of the Committee's key recom- 

 mended actions ... to provide for systematic knowledge of all 

 the fishery resources of importance to the United States. Secondly, 



