or for pet food. Large unfished stocks of sardine-like fishes have been 

 discovered through exploratory surveys. 



In the Atlantic Ocean,, the major fishery resources are harvested from 

 coastal waters or from offshore banks, The principal invertebrates 

 and marine fishes requiring continued studies are oysters, clams,, 

 scallops, crabs, menhaden, flounder, herring, haddock, red fish and 

 whiting. 



Research on living populations is to be augmented in three principal 

 areas: the equatorial Atlantic eastward to the coast of Africa; the 

 Gulf of Mexico; and on the offshore New England banks . 



The principal goals of the proposed equatorial Atlantic and West African 

 biological investigation are definition of the geographic extent of 

 fishery resources and research which will reveal the productive potential 

 of these relatively poorly known waters. While there have been a number 

 of oceanographic expeditions in the equatorial area of the Atlantic, 

 there have not been systematic cruises across the equatorial belt from 

 South America to Africa which have sampled biological populations and 

 related them to current systems which may control their location and 

 productivity. The first effort will be exploratory to show what additional 

 work beyond an initial cruise will be needed to understand fully the 

 physical and biological characteristics of the equatorial Atlantic. 



A new research ship, the ALBATROSS IV, will be placed in service in 

 New England waters in October 1962, New investigations into seasonal 

 abundance, distribution and behavior of groundfish species will be 

 undertaken. Principal areas of investigation will be the Gulf of Maine 

 and Georges Bank. 



While there is a need to increase knowledge about economically important 

 species, the greatest progress in fishery research probably will be made 

 through basic research not necessarily related to a particular species. 

 Some lesser known marine animals are adaptable to experimental conditions 

 and may be used to uncover principles which can be explored with respect 

 to important food species that are more difficult to hold in the 

 laboratory. 



In FY-63j the Bureau's program on living populations will fall into two 

 categories: continuation of substantial marine research effort now 

 underway; and the launching of a new basic research effort to increase 

 knowledge on biology of marine organisms. The principal new studies 

 will be on: 



(a) Disease and parasite infections; 



(b) Determination of factors which control 

 survival of critical young stages; 



(c) Taxonomic relationships. 



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