-Legal I Regulatory Considerations. The Federal 

 Government should: 



Enact legislation capable of serving as a model 

 to encourage uniformity in Federal-State laws 

 and regulations. Uniformly interpret existing 

 Federal laws and regulations. 



Under the recently enacted legislation estab- 

 lishing a 12-mile fishing zone, neither Federal 

 nor State governments have clear responsibility 

 to conserve fishing resources. Accordingly, it is 

 reconmiended that the Secretary of Interior 

 take steps to cooperate with the States and 

 with existing regional fishing conmiissions in 

 any regulations required to develop fisheries 

 between the 3-and 12-mile limit. 



—Surveys. Well planned hydrographic and geolog- 

 ical surveys of the U.S. Continrntal Shelves are the 

 backbone of Federal, State, and industrial plan- 

 ning. As such they do much to encourage the 

 rational and orderly development of the Continen- 

 tal Shelf. However, surveys which do not take into 

 account the various user data requirements and 

 which are conducted without the use of modern 

 data collection and processing techniques are 

 wasteful. Specifically, the Federal Government 

 should: 



Generate maps of bottom topography of the 

 U.S. Continental Shelf overprinted with gravi- 

 metric, magnetic, bottom type, and other geo- 

 logical information. 



Accuracy in surveys is essential to establish 

 property rights. Therefore, there is a need for 

 navigational systems to permit position accu- 

 racy in the order of 50 feet up to 200 miles 

 from shore. 



Oceanography 1966, Report of the Committee 

 on Oceanography, National Academy of Sciences 

 (NASCO). This group recommended that a system- 

 atic effort be made to understand the ecology of 

 larval and juvenile "*' ^s of important fish and 

 shellfish species througi^ adulthood. NASCO sug- 

 gested one laboratory initially, expanding to at 

 least four within five years: One in Atlantic cold 

 water, one in Atlantic warm water regimes, and 

 one each in Pacific cold water and warm water 

 regimes. 



Figure 4. Sharks being tagged by Fish and Wild- 

 life Service biologists at Sandy Hook Marine 

 Laboratory, New Jersey. Research is needed on 

 the life cycle of coastal fish populations. (Trenton 

 Times photo) 



Although NASCO did not specify whether the 

 work would best be accompUshed by either 

 expanding facilities and activities at existing lab- 

 oratories or by constructing new laboratories, the 

 panel believes that the more effective approach 

 would be to enlarge existing centers and where 

 necessary to estabUsh small coastal laboratories 

 dedicated to regional estuarine systems and having 

 affiUations with both State coastal authorities and 

 State academic institutions.' ^ 



We recommend that two marine preserves be 

 established on each coast reserved for ecological 

 baseline studies. These areas should be identified 

 by the National inventory and studies now being 

 conducted by the Department of the Interior. 

 They should be managed by the Federal Govern- 

 ment. 



II. THE NEED FOR FEDERAL SURVEYS AND 

 PROJECTS 



Management and development of the coastal 

 region will require data which broad Federal 

 surveys are able to provide. However, they should 

 not replace more detailed and continuing studies 

 at the State or regional level that focus on 

 individual problems. 



The Federal Government often must take the 

 initiative to demonstrate feasibUity or develop new 

 technology in projects for which only it may have 

 the resources or funding capability. 



See Section III of this chapter and Chapter 6. See 

 also the Report of the Panel on Basic Science. 



III-139 



