Section 1 Fisheries 



I. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 



World demand for protein food from the sea 

 will continue to mount at a pace that necessitates 

 adequate attention to efficient supply and de- 

 velopment of new sources. 



Recommendation : 



The United States should assist developing nations 

 through expansion of its own technical capability 

 in marine fisheries and through vigorous support 

 of multi-lateral fishery development programs such 

 as those of the Food and Agriculture Organization 

 of the United Nations, the United Nations De- 

 velopment Program, the World Bank, and other 

 international agencies. 



Despite wide variations in estimates of total 

 food productivity from the sea, there is ample 

 evidence that the supply of marketable food 

 products (or of intermediate products that can be 

 readily converted into food) can be expanded to 

 four or five times present levels. 



Recommendation : 



Far better estimates of total food production, 

 oceanwide and by specific regions and species, are 

 needed. The United States should pursue its own 

 research programs to improve these estimates, 

 cooperate with international efforts along the 

 same lines, and explore new techniques for rapid 

 preliminary assessment of stock size and potential 

 yield where new fishery developments are contem- 

 plated. 



Present institutions for fishery regulation, 

 where protection from overfishing is required, are 

 grossly inadequate. Both internationally shared 

 fisheries and inshore fisheries involve jurisdictional 

 conflicts that have made effective management 

 impossible from both the biological and the 

 economic standpoints. In the absence of any 

 control over entry, all mature fisheries are charac- 

 terized by over-investment and economic waste. 



Recommendation: 



The United States must undertake a searching 

 revision of its concepts of fishery management and 

 regulation, with respect to both internationally 

 shared and inshore fisheries. It should then put 

 into practice new management methods to pro- 

 duce the largest net economic benefit, consistent 

 with the biological capabilities of the exploited 

 stocks and with equitable distribution of the 

 proceeds and employment opportunities among 

 participating fishermen. In the international field 

 regulatory methods must be flexible enough to 

 accommodate different National objectives and 

 value systems. 



Landings by the fishing fleet flying the U.S. flag 

 have changed very little over the last 30 years, but 

 there are wide differences in performance among 

 various segments of the industry. Increased de- 

 mand, arising from population growth and the 

 expanded use of fish for animal feeding, has been 

 met from imported sources, at an annual cost now 

 about $735 million. There is no reason why 

 marine products, any more than any other, must 

 always be met from domestic production if 

 cheaper sources can be found elsewhere. However, 

 competition from imports has had serious effects 

 on many U.S. fishing communities. Further, there 

 is clear evidence that U.S. fisheries could contrib- 

 ute more substantially to satisfaction of domestic 

 demands. 



Recommendation : 



Research, development, and management efforts 

 of the U.S. Government should be directed toward 

 improvement of the competitive position of U.S. 

 fishermen, with particular emphasis on increasing 

 production by U.S. flag vessels from latent re- 

 sources adjacent to our own coasts. 



The major barriers to improved efficiency and 

 technological progressiveness in the U.S. flag fish- 

 eries are to be found in the welter of institutional 

 impediments that have grown up over many years. 



VII-3 



