trial and research capacity available to American 
industry. 
Vessel and gear engineering (as distinct from 
biological science) and eventually the benefits of 
fundamental marine technology will play a larger 
role in general fishing technology. Benefits from 
advanced marine technology will arise from devel- 
opments in such areas as materials, advanced 
sonars, exploratory submersibles, buoy networks, 
satellites, and underwater stations. 
Recommendations: 
Fishing technology should be directed toward 
maximum utilization of food resources and devel- 
opment of efficient means of exploiting them. The 
major portion of the effort should focus on 
maximizing efficiency in catching fish (as con- 
trasted to the processing phase), emphasizing those 
fisheries not in danger of depletion. 
To achieve a more immediate economic return, 
effort should be concentrated initially on prob- 
lems more amenable to near-term solutions. This 
includes primarily learning how to reduce the time 
spent in search and detection. Methods showing 
promise include optical, infrared, electrical, and 
acoustical. 
Additional improvements in harvesting gear and 
techniques should focus on: 
—Minimizing escape of fish within reach of fishing 
gear. 
—Leading, herding, or aggregating fish to increase 
their availability to harvesting systems. 
—Developing techniques to harvest the more 
abundant smaller fish in the food chain. 
High speed, automated vessels should be uti- 
lized wherever possible in coastal fisheries, in order 
to improve efficiency and become more competi- 
tive with foreign fishermen. 
For some fisheries attention should be directed 
toward use of specialty vehicles for different tasks. 
This might include a high-speed vessel or aircraft 
for fish detection, another type vessel for harvest- 
ing and a third for transporting catches (as might 
be used in distant water fisheries). At present we 
combine all three functions in one vessel and 
thereby pay a penalty for it. 
A field service mechanism should be established 
by the Federal Government analogous to the 
Department of Agriculture Extension Service to 
facilitate transfer of technical information to the 
fisherman at the county or fishing port level. For 
example, the Government should provide pelagic 
and bottom fishermen with information on the 
effects of environmental change on fish availability 
and knowledge of the latest domestic and foreign 
advances in fishing gear. 
An updated survey should be completed of 
promising coastal fisheries and distant water fish- 
eries, improving knowledge in the case of our 
traditional stocks and delineating resources in the 
case of under-utilized species. The survey should 
be updated continually and should include sport 
fisheries because of the ecological interactions. 
Improved charts should be provided for bottom 
trawlers in particular to portray more information 
on the continental shelf and slope. The charts also 
should have overprints of predicted areas of 
fishery stocks. 
The ocean engineering program in the Bureau 
of Commercial Fisheries should be expanded and 
adequately funded. A National Vessel and Gear 
Development Program within the Bureau of Com- 
mercial Fisheries should be established to conduct 
basic bio-engineering studies and provide technical 
support of biological research relating to new 
harvesting systems, new and improved fish detec- 
tion systems, and improved performance of new 
fishing vessels. This should provide support and 
coordination to the activities of the present 
regional laboratories. 
The staff of this national program should 
include engineers and biologists (or bio-engineers), 
naval architects, and other scientists to undertake 
basic studies and provide effective liaison with 
private engineering firms and academic institu- 
tions. A substantial share of the program’s budget 
should be used for contract studies with industry 
and private institutions. A submersible should be 
available to study fishing gear performance, the 
reaction of fish to the gear, and to explore novel 
methods of detection. A modern gear research 
vessel capable of handling types of harvest systems 
likely to be developed would be necessary to 
demonstrate such systems to the fishing industry. 
A close working relationship should be estab- 
lished with Sea Grant Colleges, industrial firms, 
and the fishing industry. 
VI-155 
