of the Atlantic seaboard, with power to recommend the coordination of the exercise of the pohce 

 powers of the several States.' ' It is to draft and recommend legislation dealing with the conservation of 

 the marine, shell, and anadromous fisheries of the Atlantic seaboard,'" and consult with and advise the 

 State administrative agencies regarding problems connected with the fisheries, recommending adoption 

 of such regulations as deemed advisable.' ' The Act designated the Fish and Wildlife Service to act as the 

 primary research agency of the Commission, cooperating with the research agencies in each State. 

 Nothing in the compact is to limit the powers of any signatory State or to repeal or prevent the 

 enactment of any legislation or the enforcement of any requirement by any signatory State imposing 

 additional conditions and restrictions to conserve its fisheries." Annual appropriations to the support 

 of the Commission are made in proportion to the primary market value of the products of the State 

 fisheries, exclusive of cod and haddock, with a minimum contribution of $200 per year.' * The budget 

 of the Commission is in the range of $25,000 to $30,000 per year. Congress has reserved the right to 

 alter, amend, or repeal the provisions of the Act." 



In 1950, the Congress consented to Amendment No. 1 to the Compact which provided that any two 

 or more of the consenting States could designate the Commission as a joint regulatory agency with such 

 powers as they may jointly confer for the regulation of the fishing operations of the citizens and vessels 

 of the designating States regarding specific fisheries in which such States have a common interest."" To 

 date, no States have designated the Commission as a joint regulatory agency. 



b. Pacific Marine Fisheries Commission The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Compact was followed in 

 1947 by the Pacific Marine Fisheries Compact." ' California, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington are the 

 members of this Compact; consent to the membership of Hawaii and Alaska was given in the first 

 amendment, but Hawaii and Alaska have not yet joined. Unlike the Atlantic States Compact, which 

 provides that the Fish and WUdUfe Service shall be the primary research agency, this Compact provides 

 that the fisheries research agencies of the signatory states shall act in collaboration as the official 

 research agency of the Pacific Marine Fisheries Commission."^ Also unlike the Atlantic States Compact, 

 the Pacific Marine Fisheries Compact does not provide that the Commission could act as a joint 

 regulatory agency for two or more consenting States. Otherwise, there is no substantive difference 

 between this and the Atlantic States Compact. 



c. Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission The third regional compact, the Gulf States Marine 

 Fisheries Compact, was created in 1949."' Members of the Gulf States Compact are Florida (Gulf 

 coast), Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Except that the Congress did not expressly reserve 

 the right to amend, alter, or repeal this Act, the Act does not differ substantively from the Atlantic 

 States Marine Fisheries Compact. 



Each of the three marine fisheries commissions is completely advisory, established as a formal forum 

 of State legislative and administrative action. While the Atlantic and Gulf States Marine Fisheries 



'V. §4. 



"°Act of August 19, 1950, 64 Stat. 467. 



"'Act of July 24, 1947, 61 Stat. 419, as amended. Act of October 9, 1962, 76 Stat. 763. 



"^61 Stat. 420, art. VII. 



"'Act of May 19, 1949, 63 Stat. 70. 



VlI-79 



