Contact: Scott Smullen or Gordon Helm        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                             2/17/98

The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration today unveiled its five-year Strategic Plan for Fisheries Research, which profiles the ongoing research conducted by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, and how the agency expects to enhance its future research efforts. Fisheries research during this period will be critical to resource managers as they begin to rebuild depleted marine fisheries and continue to protect and enhance essential fish habitat, as mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

"It is important to recognize that this plan will serve as a guide in our future fisheries science endeavors, without limiting possible new directions of research that might arise," said Terry Garcia, assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the strategic plan to cover four major areas of research: (1) research to support fishery conservation and management; (2) conservation engineering research; (3) research on the fisheries; and (4) information management research. The plan identifies five major fisheries research goals to carry out the purposes, policy, and provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and links them to the goals and strategies found in the NOAA Fisheries Strategic Plan, published in May 1997. The five research goals are as follows:

Goal 1:   Provide scientifically sound information and data to support fishery conservation and
      management.
Goal 2:   Through conservation engineering research, contribute to efforts to reduce bycatch
      and adverse effects on essential fish habitat, promote efficient harvest of target
      species, and to improve the data from fishery surveys.
Goal 3:   Through ecological research on marine communities and ecosystems, and fishery
      research, provide scientific information and data to increase long-term economic
      and social benefits to the nation from living marine resources.
Goal 4:   Improve the fishery information management system.
Goal 5:   Improve the effectiveness of external partnerships with fishers, managers, scientists,
      conservationists, and other interested groups to build a balanced approach to
      addressing fisheries research. The fisheries service and its partners must develop
      ways to strengthen and expand cooperative relationships to meet common fisheries
      goals. 

Additional improvements in scientific research and data collection will help in a number of ways. For instance, the National Marine Fisheries Service recently reported to Congress that 96 marine fish species reviewed are "overfished" or approaching an overfished condition, while another 183 marine fish species are not overfished. For 448 fish species, status relative to overfishing is currently unknown. Sound science will be the cornerstone of the decisions that will be made by the eight regional fisheries management councils as they draft rebuilding plans for the overfished species. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires councils to use the "best available science" in making their decisions. The proposed rebuilding plans are due October 1998.

Fisheries research provides the basis for a rational, scientific approach to living marine resource management that allows the sustainable use of living marine resources. The research outlined in the strategic plan benefits all users of these finite resources, such as commercial fishermen, recreational anglers, aquaculture operators, photographers, and others who enjoy the marine environment.

The ultimate objective for conducting the research activities outlined in this plan is to provide the foundation for resource managers to make scientifically sound decisions as stewards of the natural resources with which they have been entrusted. High quality research will enable resource managers to maximize economic and social benefits to the nation while ensuring the sustainability of the species and their habitat.

The Strategic Plan for Fisheries Research was prepared with input and suggestions from the fishery management councils, the commercial fishing industry, state management agencies, international fish management councils, and environmental organizations. The plan does not include the regulatory and enforcement components of the fisheries service mission and relies primarily on the agency's current and projected budget.

"Guided by the plan, NOAA will be able to provide scientific advice to support our stewardship of living marine resources and continue our role as the world leader in fisheries research," said Rollie Schmitten, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service. "To accomplish the goals of this plan, the agency will work cooperatively with fishermen in the collection of data, including the increased use of fishing vessels as part of our research program."

To obtain a copy of the Strategic Plan for Fisheries Research, contact Mark Chandler, Research, Analysis, and Coordination Division, Office of Science and Technology, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910. The plan is available on the Internet by the agency's website at http://kingfish.ssp.nmfs.gov/sfa