THE BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES INTERESTS 

 IN CONTINENTAL SHELF MORPHOLOGY AND COASTAL SEDIMENTS 



by 



R. L. Wigley 

 Biological Laboratory 

 U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



For nearly a century the U, S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (for- 

 merly known as the U. S. Fish Commission) has had a strong interest in the 

 topography and bottom sediments of the Atlantic Continental Shelf. This 

 interest is centered primarily on two aspects: (1) The ecological relation- 

 ships between marine organisms, particularly finfish and shellfish, and the 

 various types of substrates; and (2) the delineation of areas where water 

 depths and substrates are suitable for conventional commercial fishing. 



Some of the Bureau's research projects that pertain to Atlantic Shelf 

 morphology and sediments are as follows: 



1. A cooperative investigation with the Woods Hole Oceanographic 

 Institution and U. S. Geological Survey is now in progress to 

 determine the interrelationships between the benthic fauna and 

 bottom sediments. This study includes the analysis of approxi- 

 mately 2,000 samples collected from the Atlantic Continental 

 Shelf between Nova Scotia and Key West, Florida. 



2. Collection and general analysis of 500 surface sediment samples 

 from the Continental Shelf region between the Bay of Fundy and 

 Hudson Canyon. Some of these samples are also being analyzed 

 for Clostridium botulinum by bacteriologists at the Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology. 



3. A topographic model (4 feet by 9 feet) of the New England Con- 

 tinental Shelf and Slope has been constructed and will soon be 

 completed. 



4. Animal remains, such as mollusk shells, fish otoliths, cirriped 

 plates, echinoid tests, etc., from a suite of 175 surface sedi- 

 ment samples collected from the Continental Shelf south of Cape 

 Cod, Massachusetts, are currently being analyzed. 



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