Rectification of State data to make them compa- 

 rable is a substantial task in itself, and the re- 

 sulting regional and National totals are neither as 

 timely nor as complete as the BCF mission 

 demands. 



The Bureau has been made aware of most of 

 these deficiencies in recent years, largely through 

 its own efforts, and it is in the process of revising 

 substantially its own operating procedures, organi- 

 zation, and programming methods. Nevertheless, 

 most of these efforts are of very recent origin, and 

 the conclusion remains that inadequacies in the 

 Federal fishery program, some traceable to ex- 

 ternal forces and some to inadequacies within the 

 Bureau itself, have contributed substantially to the 

 stagnancy of the American flag fisheries in recent 

 decades. 



VIII. THE ROLE OF THE STATES 



Because of the importance and complexity of 

 the legal relations of the States and the Federal 

 Government with respect to fishery resources, a 

 detailed analysis of such jurisdictional issues is 

 presented in Appendix A to Section 1 . 



Traditionally, jurisdiction over fisheries within 

 the territorial waters of the United States has been 

 vested in the individual States. State programs are 

 as diverse as the natural resources, people, and 

 economic conditions upon which they are based. 

 While they accompUsh the tasks of research, 

 management, regulation, and education, they do 

 so with widely differing levels of effort and 

 efficiency. Regardless of the proficiency of staff 

 and administration. State fisheries agencies fre- 

 quently remain thwarted by political and biolog- 

 ical conditions beyond their control— as do their 

 Federal counterparts. 



A. Research 



Most States support research facilities and 

 activities as a part of their State fisheries agency's 

 program; some, such as Virginia and Mississippi, 

 prefer to assign this role to their higher education 

 system. (John I. Thompson Co., 1968) Whatever 

 the responsible agency. State marine fisheries 

 research is concentrated within the estuarine zone 

 and inshore oceanic waters, with only limited 

 attempts and capabilities for work in the more 

 offshore oceanic area. These limited attempts leave 



a significant gap in the understanding of migratory 

 marine species and pelagic stocks— a gap which 

 must be filled by the Federal Government. 



Enactment of the Commercial Fisheries Re- 

 search and Development Act (P.L. 88-309) on May 

 20, 1964, opened a new era in State fisheries 

 research and in Federal-State relations in marine 

 fisheries matters. The Act authorizes a five-year 

 program which would provide $5 miUion annually 

 for apportionment among the States to carry out 

 projects on a cost-sharing basis: $400,000 for each 

 of the first two years and $650,000 for each of the 

 next three years to restore fisheries affected by a 

 resource disaster, and $100,000 annually to estab- 

 hsh new commercial fisheries. During its first four 

 years, P.L. 88-309 has funded 240 individual 

 projects at a cost of approximately $4 milhon in 

 State and $12 million in Federal funds. Provisions 

 of the Act have been implemented in 49 States, 

 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and 

 American Samoa. It has provided employment 

 opportunities for about 150 technical and profes- 

 sional personnel new to the commercial fisheries 

 field, and permitted the construction of six new 

 State research vessels, seven new State research 

 laboratories, and the renovation on an existing 

 one. Significantly, the Act has generated a new 

 level of understanding and cooperation between 

 the Federal Government and the individual States. 

 Unfortunately, P.L. 88-309 has never been com- 

 pletely funded. Only $4.1 million of the author- 

 ized $5 million annually has been provided for aid 

 to the States; only $400,000 of the authorized 

 $650,000 for resource disasters during Fiscal Years 

 1966-1968; and none for estabUshment of new 

 commercial fisheries. 



The Anadromous and Great Lakes Fisheries Act 

 of 1965 (P.L. 89-304) authorizes cooperative 

 projects with the States and other non-Federal 

 interests for work directed toward the develop- 

 ment and enhancement of anadromous fisheries. 

 Federal funds up to 50 per cent may be used to 

 finance project costs. The program is administered 

 jointly by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and 

 Wildlife and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. 

 $4.3 million was appropriated for non-Federal use 

 during Fiscal Year 1968. Authorized projects 

 include research on striped bass in Alabama, 

 Maryland, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North 

 Carolina, sturgeon in South Carolina, salmon in 

 Alaska, CaUfornia, Oregon, Washington, and shad 



VII-48 



