U.S. DEPARTJVSEfUT OF COMMERCE 



lyaSiona! Oceanic end Atmospheric Administratiori 



NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE 



Northeast Region 



Federal Building - 14 Elm Street 



Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930 



January 16, 1975 



Mr. Ronald Sake 



Fish and Wildlife Service 



U.S. Department of the Interior 



50 Maple Avenue 



Patchogue, New York 11772 



Dear Mr. Sake: 



The final draft Fish and Wildlife Planning Report has been reviewed as 

 requested by Mr. David Burack, Study Manager, Long Island Sound Study, 

 by memorandum dated December 31, 1974. According to Mr. Burack, this 

 is our last opportunity to make comments relative to the specific plan- 

 ning report in question. While the report appears to be general enough 

 and free of substantial controversial issues, there are several areas 

 which deserve to be brought to your attention. Whether or not they are 

 of sufficient substance to warrant changes at this state of Planning Re- 

 port development, we will leave to your judgment as Work Group Chairman. 



The Fishery, page iii: 



This paragraph could be made more definite in light of information con- 

 tained therein. The question is raised regarding the comparison of sport 

 fishing and commercial fishing on an economic basis. Certainly, if the 

 numbers of fishermen listed are reasonably accurate, then the sport 

 fishery is at least three-to-four times more valuable if we assume only 

 one dollar per day is generated by each sport fisherman. Clearly, one 

 dollar per day is highly conservative. It is in this context, then, that 

 the paragraph can definitely state that sport fishing, at present, gener- 

 ates more income to the region. 



Page 40, second full paragraph: 



The last sentence is awkward and should be rewritten for clarity, indi- 

 cating tidal gates serve, at present, to protect homes from extremely 

 high tides which are presumably storm- induced . 



10.0 Final Recommendations, page 55: 



Item 8 (Improve fishery habitat) includes creation of artificial reefs, 

 as explained elsewhere in the report and actually specified in Figure 7, 



