Clam, Oyster, Mussel Supplies Threatened

Eleven Appointed to Commerce DepartmentMarine Fisheries Advisory Committee

NOAAINMFS Developments

Secretary of Commerce Juanita M.Kreps has announced II appointmentsto the Department's top level MarineFisheries Advisory Committee. TheCommittee advises the Secretary onprograms carried out by the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administra­tion.

Topics of concern to the Committeeinclude international fisheries, conser­vation, aquaculture, biological and en­vironmental research, fisheriestechnology, certain sections of theMarine Mammal Protection Act of1972, and advisory services for marinerecreational and commercial fisheries.

Members of the Committee are cho­sen for recognized competence andproven interest in the marine fisheryresources of the United States and areappointed by the Secretary for a term of3 years. Approximately one-third of theCommittee members are selected eachyear to achieve both balanced geo­graphical representation as well as abroad view of the U.S. commercialfishing industry, marine recreationalfishing, the academic community, con­servation interests, State governments,and the consumer.

The new members are: Henry J.Cofer, Jr., President, Rich-Sea PakCorporation, SI. Simons Island, Ga.;Charles H. W. Foster, Dean, School ofForestry and Environmental Studies,Yale University, New Haven, Conn.;William C. Lunsford, Jr., AssistantSecretary, Zapata Haynie Corp., Tow­son, Md.; Fred Maly, Outdoor Editor,San Antonio Light, San Antonio, Tex.;Edward P. Manary, Manager,Washington State Commercial Pas­senger Fishing Vessel Association,Olympia, Wash.

Also named were Stephen B.

January /978

Mathews, Associate Professor, Collegeof Fisheries, University of Wash­ington, Seattle, Wash.; Ann McDuffie,Food Editor, The Tampa Tribune,Tampa, Fla.; Kathryn E. Poland, StateSenator, Juneau, Alaska; HaakonRagde, Seattle, Wash., a practicingphysician; Dorothy F. Soule, Director,Harbors Environmental Project, AllanHancock Foundation, University ofSouthern California, Los Angeles,Calif.; Christopher M. Weld, Sullivan& Worcester, attorneys, Boston, Mass.

Other members of the Committeeare: Richard B. Allen, Westport,Mass.; Edward Chin, Director, MarineResources Program, and Director, SeaGrant Program, University of Georgia,Athens; E. Charles Fullerton, Director,California Department of Fish andGame, Sacramento; Ronald R. Jensen,

The supply of oysters, clams, andmussels available to consumers is injeopardy, because waters that growshellfish are inadequately protected,and because of a tangle of Federal,State, and local regulations whichthreaten the industry, a Commerce De­partment agency report claims.

The report, "The MolluscanShellfish Industries and WaterQuality-Problems and Oppor­tunities," has been issued by the Na­tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad­ministration's National MarineFisheries Service in response to a re­quirement of the Coastal Zone Man­agement Act Amendments of 1976.The law requires the Secretary ofCommerce to review all aspects of themolluscan shellfish industry, including

Chairman of the Board and President,Pan-Alaska Fisheries, Inc., Seattle,Wash.; Joe R. Lee, President, RedLobster Inns, Orlando, Fla.; Edward G.McCoy, Morehead City, N.C., Direc­tor, Division of Marine Fisheries forNorth Carolina; Guy R. McMinds, Di­rector, Quinault Resource Develop­ment Program, Taholah, Wash.; FrankT. Moss, New York City, AssociateEditor, Yachting Magazine, and staffmember of the National Coalition forMarine Conservation; Julius R. Nel­son, New Haven, Conn., President ofLong Island Oyster Farms, Inc.; MaryDePoe Norris, home economist withSeattle (Washington) Power Company;Oliver A. Schulz, Manager forFisheries Relations, Del Monte Corp.,San Francisco, Calif.; Clement Tillion,Alaska State Legislator, Homer,Alaska; Claude Ver Duin, ExecutiveSecretary, Midwest Federated Fish­eries Council, Inc., Grand Haven,Mich.; Robert B. Weeden, Universityof Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska; MelvinH. Wilson, Vice President and As­sociate Trust Council for SecurityPacific National Bank, Los Angeles,Calif.; and Charles Yamamoto, Presi­dent and General Manager of C&ERadio of Hawaii, Honolulu.

an evaluation of the impact of Federallaw on water quality.

The report notes that shellfish­growing waters continue to be closed ata rate of 0.6 percent each year, althoughthe rate for 1971-74 is one-half that ofthe previous 5-year period. The clo­sures are blamed on inadequate domes­tic waste treatment and on urban runoff,which pollute the shellfish waters.

The fragmented nature of the indus­try also subjects it to many problems,according to the report. The molluscanshellfish industry consists largely ofsmall businesses, many family owned,and most lacking mechanization. Ajoint government-industry revitaliza­tion program and a mechanism to ad­dress problems of overregulation areneeded, the report says.

27

NOAA AWARDS BUOY CONTRACT

No. of vessels

by representatives of the NationalMarine Fisheries Service and bypersonnel of the U. S. Coast Guard,conducting joint fisheries enforcementpatrols from Coast Guard aircraft andcutters.

A summary of foreign fishing vesselsoperating off U.S. coasts during Sep­tember 1977 and September 1976 fol­lows:

Cooperative Federal and State re­search is also needed to validate thecriteria presently used to define "safe"harvesting areas. Present testingmethods may well be restricting the useof resources that are, in fact, safe.

The report recommends that actionsbe taken and funding be provided tocarry out programs authorized to pro­tect shellfish-growing waters, and thatFederal and State fish and wildlifeagencies be given the resources theyneed to review permits and the effectsof waste discharges. It also urges in­creased aquaculture and habitat re­habilitation.

The report was submitted to Con­gress by Secretary of CommerceJuanita M. Kreps. Copies are availablefrom the U.S. Government PrintingOffice, together with support studiesprepared by the National MarineFisheries Service and the Sea GrantUniversities of Delaware and Maine,with assistance from the University ofWashington. The water quality studywas prepared by Stanford Research In­stitute.

Contributing to the study were 22shellfish producing states, 5 Federalagencies, the Shellfish Institute ofNorth America, the National Shell­fisheries Association, and the PacificCoast Oyster Grower's Association.

the herring allocation over 1976 quotas.Normal seasonal decline in fishing ac­tivities and reduction in the number offoreign vessels permitted to fish withinthe 200-mile zone contributed to thereduction.

The foreign vessels, from eight na­tions, were sighted off the coasts ofNew England and the mid-AtlanticStates, west coast, and Alaska. Thelargest number, 325, was from Japan,which had 322 vessels fishing forgroundfish and pollock off Alaska, and3 fishing for squid off New England andmid-Atlantic.

The Soviet Union had 66 vessels: 47fishing for hake off the Pacific coast, 2fishing for squid off New England andmid-Atlantic, and 17 catching pollockin Alaskan waters.

Foreign vessels sighted off the coastsin 1976 were as follows: January-420,February-510, March-435, April-560,May-924, June-970, July-842, Au­gust-543, September-514, October­452, November-258, December-240.In 1977: January-319, February-3l4,March-180, April-235, May-374,June-767, July-786, August-492, andSeptember-437.

The September sightings were made

Area Nations

New England and E. Germanymid-Atlantic Soviet Union

PolandW. GermanySpainJapanItalyS. KOI'eaGreeceFrance

WeSl Coast PanamaJapanSoviet UnionS. KoreaBulgariaPolandE. Germany

Alaska JapanS. KoreaTaiwanSoviet Union

Totat

Sept. Sept.1977 1976

6 242 376 70 10

16 233 131 40 1

0 10 1

34 1210 30 1

47 380 80 63 90 6

50 71322 222

13 541 4

17 42

353 322

437 514

Foreign Fish VesselsOff U.S. Coasts Dropto 437 in Septerrtber

The number of foreign fishing andfishing support vessels sighted off U.S.coasts in September, 437, decreasedslightly from the 492 sighted in August,according to preliminary figures re­leased by the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration's Na­tional Marine Fisheries Service, aCommerce Department agency.

The 437 vessels sighted are alsobelow the 514 sighted off our coasts inSeptember of 1976. The decrease,primarily off the Atlantic Coast, is dueto the 1977 prohibition on hake fishing,only 15 days fishing permitted in thesquid fishery, and a vast reduction in

28

The National Oceanic and Atmos­pheric Administration has awarded acontract to Polar Research Laboratoriesin California to design and fabricate aset of drifting buoys which will gatherinformation on ocean currents as part ofa large federal and university­sponsored research experiment in theNorth Pacific.

The $53,200 contract was let to theSanta Barbara, Calif., firm by theCommerce Department agency's En­vironmental Research Laboratories ofBoulder, Colo.

Scientists from the PhysicalOceanography Laboratory (part ofNOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic andMeteorological Laboratories in Miami,Fla.) plan to deploy 14 of the buoys inthe open ocean between Hawaii andTahiti as a part of the equatorial pro­gram of the North Pacific Experiment

(NORPAX) in November and an addi­tional seven in January. NORPAX isfunded by the National Science Foun­dation and the Office of Naval Re­search.

As each of the buoys drifts along, anelectronics package mounted insidewill automatically transmit its positionto the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration's experimental Nim­bus-6 satellite orbiting overhead.NOAA scientists will receive geo­graphic position reports from the satel­lite for tracking the meandering andelusive currents.

The buoys will aid scientists in thelong-range goals of NORPAX: to un­derstand fluctuations in the upper layersof the Pacific Ocean and to determinethe relationship of oceanographic fluc­tuations to the overlying and adjoiningatmosphere.

Marine Fisheries Review

RV Townsend Cromwell ContinuesResource Assessment inNorthwestern Hawaiian Islands

200-Mile Limit ForeignFishing Fees Set

The NOAA vessel Townsend Crom­well returned to her home port in Hon­olulu in early November after 2 monthsin the waters of the north wes ternHawaiian Islands. Fishery scientists onboard the research ship were continuinga survey and assessment of the livingresources of that little known areabegun in October 1976 and planned aspart of an intensive 5-year cooperativeeffort with the State of Hawaii and theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. TheCromwell is operated by the NationalOcean Survey and presently attached tothe NMFS Southwest Fisheries Cent­er's Honolulu Laboratory.

Using lobster and fish traps as sampl­ing tools, scientists aboard the Crom­well found relatively high densities ofspiny lobsters along the southern edgeof the bank at Necker Island, and also atMaro Reef, Laysan Island, and RaitaBank.

Catch rates as high as 6.9 lobsters pertrap were found at Necker and, accord­ing to Chief Scientist Richard N.Uchida, only 31 percent of the lobsterscaught there were "shorts" or underthe legal limit of 1 pound. Many of the"legals" and all of the "shorts" takenduring the cruise were tagged and re­leased at the place of capture. Whenrecaptured, tagged animals can provideinformation on growth and movement.

In the fish catches made at MiddleBank, Nihoa, and Penguin Bank was anotable abundance of "taape" or blue­line snappers, introduced intoHawaiian waters from Tahiti in 1955 bythe Hawaii Division of Fish and Game.

Handline fishing was excellent alongthe 70-120 fathom contour aroundsome of the islands and banks, saidUchida. Snappers, including suchcommercially valuable species as ehuand kalikali, were plentiful aroundNihoa and Necker Islands. Other com­mercially important fishes such asthick-lip ulua, hapuupuu, and opa­kapaka were abundant around MaroReef and French Frigate Shoals. Kahalaalso occurred in considerable numbers

January /978

at some of the areas fished by theCromwell.

Trolling produced some goodcatches of kawakawa, ahi, and ono,particularly at Nihoa, Raita Bank,Laysan, and Maro Reef. However,trawling for bottom fish using a Norwe­gian fish trawl was generally unproduc­tive. The Cromwell was scheduled tocontinue the resource assessment sur­vey of the northwestern Hawaiian Is­lands early this year.

Coastal Zone PlanningSymposium Is Scheduled

"Coastal Zone '78," a nationalsymposium on the technical, environ­mental, and socio-economic aspects ofcoastal zone planning and manage­ment, will be held 14-16 March 1978,in San Francisco, Calif., the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administra­tion's Office of Coastal Zone Manage­ment has announced. The CommerceDepartment agency, with the AmericanSociety of Civil Engineers and the Con­servation Foundation, will sponsor theconference-at the Jack Tar Hotel­which is expected to attract more than1,000 participants.

More than 200 papers will be pre­sented covering topics such as "Plan­ning and Management Considera­tions," "Environmental Considera­tions," and "Engineering and OtherTechnical Considerations." The con­ference will be preceded by a I-dayshort course on the" History and Im­plementation of Coastal Zone Man­agement." NOAA's National OceanSurvey, the U. S. Army Corps of En­gineers, the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService, the U.S. Bureau of Land Man­agement, the U.S. Geological Survey,the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency, and various California Stateagencies are cosponsors. A list of papertitles and authors is available fromJ. Robert Edmisten, Executive Direc­tor, Coastal Zone '78, P.O. Box 26062,San Francisco, CA 94126.

A schedule of fees for 1978 tobe paid by foreign vessels andforeign nations fishing within 200nautical miles of U.S. coasts hasbeen announced by the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Ad­ministration, a Commerce De­partment agency. The fees arerequired by the Fishery Con­servation and Management Actof 1976, which extends U. S.fisheries jurisdiction to the 200­nautical-mile limit.

Permit fees will be $1.00 pergross registered ton for eachforeign fishing vessel; 50 centsper gross registered ton, not toexceed $2,500 per vessel, forvessels that only process fish; and$200 per vessel for support ves­sels that neither catch nor processfish. Additionally, each foreignnation with fishing vessels in thezone will be charged a poundagefee of 3.5 percent of the totaldockside value offish allocated tothe nation. The only change fromthe 1977 schedule is the use ofupdated fish prices as the basis forcalculating the poundage fee for1978, computed on the basis of1976 average dockside prices.

The average dockside valueper metric ton follows for eachspecies: butterfish, $622; Pacificcod, $282; Tanner crab, $441;Pacific flounders, $387; Pacifichake, $32; red hake, $185; silverhake, $184; Atlantic herring,$87; Pacific herring, $100; riverherring, $96; Atlantic mackerel,$259; Atka mackerel, $138; jackmackerel, $110; other Atlanticfinfish, $334; rockfish, $298;sablefish, $399; Pacific oceanperch, $280; seamount ground­fish, $172; other Pacificgroundfish, $48; Alaska pollock,$84; snails (meats), $600; Atlan­tic squid, $414; and Pacificsquid, $55.

29

TOW BODY(FISH)

Using the acoustic system in con­junction with such conventional in­struments as current meters, scientistscan indicate the relationship betweensediment movement and ocean cur­rents. This information can be used toconstruct mathematical models for pre­dicting what will eventually happen tolakes, harbors, river deltas, and innercontinental shelf areas where sedimenttransport is a problem.

TOWCABLE

Marine Fisheries Review

light tuna, and breaded shrimp. Theprice of canned Maine sardines was un­changed.

Compared with July, August retailfish prices increased more than didprices for poultry and meat. Retail poul­try prices in August rose 0.9 percentfrom July, while meat prices rose lessthan 0.1 percent. Higher sirloin steakand cold cut prices were offset by lowerchuck and round steak prices. Whencompared with 1976 levels, meat priceswere 4.2 percent higher, and for poultry2.8 percent higher.

Retail meat prices declined 0.7 per­cent in September from August, basedon lower sirloin, chuck steak, loin porkchop, and liver prices. Retail poultry

ACOUSTIC BEAM - ===­(CAN BE ORIENTATED

IN ANY DIRECTION)

11111111111111111111111111/

Prices increased for cod, flounder,haddock, and whiting fillets; halibutsteak; king crab meat; canned chunklight tuna; canned pink salmon; cannedMaine and Norway sardines; and fishportions in August, while prices de­creased for ocean perch and turbotfillets, fish sticks, and breaded shrimp.Unchanged were canned solid whitetuna and canned red salmon.

September prices increased for cod,flounder, haddock, turbot, and oceanperch fillets; halibut steak; cannedsolid white tuna; canned pink, and redsalmon; canned Norway sardines; fishsticks; and fish portions. On the otherhand, prices decreased for whitingfillets, king crab meat, canned chunk

Meteorological Laboratories in Miami,Fla.

Proni and Fred C. Newman de­veloped the scientific concept, whilethe engineering was done by projectengineer, Charles A. Lauter. Theequipment includes a new feature, in­vented by Lauter, which he said willenable researchers to obtain informa­tion about the nature of the sedimentwithin a "cloud" of material.

Man-made "fish" carries por­tions of a portable underwateracoustic system, developed bythe National Oceanic and At­mospheric Administration,which can measure smallamounts of sediment to withina few centimeters of the sea orlake floor. When used fortracking dredged or dumpedmaterial, the equipment wouldbe towed behind the ship in ametal, fish-like device aroundthe area of activity. For study­ing long-term events, the newdevice would be mounted in afixed position on a tripod orexisting structure, such as adock, bridge, or oil rig.

30

The retail price index (seasonally un­adjusted) for fish rose again in Augustby 0.7 percent over Jul y (15.2 percentabove August 1976) and in Septemberby 2. I percent over August accordingto a monthly statistical analysis by theNational Marine Fisheries Service.

Of the 17 frozen and canned fisheryproducts surveyed in August by theagency, part of the Commerce Depart­ment's National Oceanic and Atmos­pheric Administration, 11 increased, 4declined, and 2 were unchanged. InSeptember, 12 increased, 4 decl ined,and I was unchanged.

Fish Retail Price IndexUp in August, September

Sonar-Like System "Hears" Ocean Sediment MovementAn underwater acoustic system,

similar to sonar equipment on sub­marines, has been developed by en­gineers and scientists with the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administra­tion (NOAA) for monitoring themovement of sediment in water. Theunique system will enable scientistswith the Commerce Department agen­cy's Environmental Research Lab­oratories to detect and measure sedi­ment in the water column and let themcharacterize, track, and map this mate­rial.

According to the NOAA scientists,the system, which is relatively porta­ble, has broad potential for use in gen­eral oceanography, biology, chemistry,pollution research and control, and en­vironmental impact studies. Spe­cifically, the system can be used tostudy the effects of ocean and lake min-ing operations, dredging, the dumpingof sewage sludge and other materials,and beach erosion problems.

Until now, scientists were limited inmonitoring sediment transport becausethey could not obtain continuous mea­surements of the movements of the sed­iments in the water over a sufficientperiod of time, according to John R.Proni, an oceanographer with theSea-Air Interaction Laboratory, one ofNOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and

prices advanced 0.4 percent in Sep­tember from August, based on higherchicken prices. When compared with1976 levels, prices for poultry were 6.1percent higher and for meat 2.7 percenthigher.

Ten cities are surveyed every monthby officials of NMFS, who report pricesof selected items of fish, meat, andpoultry items for . 'Operation FishWatch." They visit three differentchain stores in each city and check theprices for the same representative brandnames and types of products to deter­mine any changes from the previousmonth.

The cities surveyed are: Atlanta,Ga.; Boston, Mass.; Little Rock, Ark.;Galveston, Tex.; San Francisco andLos Angeles, Calif.; Pascagoula,Miss.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Seattle,Wash.; and Washington, D.C.

Moffatt Wins NOAAFellowship At SWFC

Izadore Barrett, Southwest FisheriesCenter Director, National MarineFisheries Service, NOAA, La Jolla,Calif., has announced that Nancy Mof­fatt has received the National ResearchCouncil/National Oceanic and Atmos­pheric Administration Post-DoctoralResearch Fellowship at the Center's LaJolla Laboratory. Moffatt, who re­ceived the Ph.D. degree in May 1977from the University of Arizona, is thesecond woman to be honored with theNRC/NOAA Fellowship at the Centersince its national inception in 1970.

Moffatt received her early educationin San Diego and Escondido, Calif.public schools and completed the first 2years of her college training as a biol­ogy major at the University of Califor­nia, San Diego. Her interest in marinebiology and ichthyology led her intograduate study at the University ofArizona. Moffatt has written six paperson the biology of the Gulf of Californiagrunion and its close relative, theCalifornia grunion of the Pacific.

At the NMFS Southwest FisheriesCenter, Moffatt is conducting a seriesof feeding and rearing experiments de­signed to verify survival and growth

January 1978

rates reported by earlier researchers forseveral larval fishes reared at extremelylow food densities. Moffatt has set up20-gallon glass aquariums into whichshe has introduced anchovy larvaehatched from eggs spawned in thelaboratory. She has begun a series ofexperiments, initially feeding the tinyfish with Chlorella, a green algae,supplemented with wild planktonwhich she obtains each morning with afine-meshed net off the Scripps pier.

Moffatt's career goal is fisheries re­search and university teaching at theundergraduate level.

Bowhead Whale Researchand Management Planned

Formulation of an expanded researchprogram on bowhead whales and initia­tion of the development of a manage­ment and conservation regime thatwould perrnit limited subsistence hunt­ing by Eskimos have been announcedby Richard A. Frank, Administrator ofthe National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration.

These actions followed a mid­October decision by the Department ofState that the United States governmenthad decided not to present an objectionat this time to the June action of theInternational Whaling Commission(lWe) removing the Alaskan Eskimoexemption for subsistence hunting forbowhead whaJes. In addition, the De­partment of State said that at a specialmeeting of the IWC in December theUnited States would work for Commis­sion approval of a subsistence hunt bythe Eskimos.

Frank indicated that the major objec­tive now is rapid development of asound management and conservationregime in cooperation with the Eskimocommunities involved in hunting forbowheads. The Commerce Departmentofficial noted his deep concern for thewelfare and culture of the Eskimos andpledged that he would personally workfor IWC approval of a reasonable sub­sistence hunt. He added that the de­velopment of an adequate managementand conservation regime would requirethe cooperation and efforts of other in­terested and affected parties-the Es-

kimos, the environmental community,and state governments.

NOAA also initiated contacts withthe Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commis­sion to begin discussion on the elementsto be included in a management regime.Those discussions were to be continuedover several weeks to prepare a pro­posal for the IWC on subsistence hunt­ing based on the United States' man­agement regime and research program.

Hussey ChairsCZM Committee

The National Coastal Zone Man­agement Advisory Committee haselected John F. Hussey, Director ofLegislative Affairs for Monsanto Com­pany, as Chairman, Secretary of Com­merce Juanita B. Kreps has announced.The Committee also elected Janet K.Adams, President of the CaliforniaCoastal Alliance, as Vice-Chairman.The II-member committee advises theSecretary of Commerce on implemen­tation of the Coastal Zone ManagementAct of 1972.

Hussey formerly was Director of theSenate National Ocean Policy Study,and has had extensive experience withcoastal zone and related legislation dur­ing his 10 years in various staff posi­tions on CapitOl Hill. Primary role ofthe Committee is to act as an indepen­dent advisor with respect to activities ofthe Office of Coastal Zone Manage­ment, part of the Cbmmerce Depart­ment's National Oceanic and Atmos­pheric Administration.

Hussey has indicated that the Com­mittee plans to initiate immediate ef­fort, through Committee task groups, toobtain a "grassroots" assessment ofthe program, and to determine the ex­tent to which the program, designed byCongress in 1972, is meeting today'scoastal zone problems and conflicts.The Committee represents industry,environmental, and public interestgroups. It addresses energy explora­tion, development and facility siting;housing; recreation; environmental pro­tection; economic development; andother policy issues affecting the Na­tion's ocean and Great Lakes coastalregions.

3/

Miles ? ,~

transportable, high-frequency pulsedradars, each controlled by a minicom­puter. Echoes from the sea surface atpoints about 2 miles (3 kIn) apart on animaginary grid are received by two setsof antennae. The antenna frames areplaced on the beach near the waterline,where wet sand grounds them and helpspush their signals out beyond the hori­zon over the ocean's electricallyconductive surface. Conventionalover-the-horizon radar requires a sig­nal-relaying bounce off the ionosphereto move the pulses out beyond a line ofsight.

The radar-controlling minicomputerprocesses the signals and current datawhile the system is operating and drawsa map of the surface current velocity ateach grid point, clearly showing thespeed and direction of surface currentsover the area scanned.

NOAA's new radar system deducesocean current velocity by sensing thescattering of radar echoes by oceanwaves. The underlying principle of thesystem was first demonstrated experi­mentally by Douglass Crombie, nowdirector of the Commerce Depart­ment's Institute for Telecommunica­tions Science in Boulder. Nearly adecade later, in the mid-1960's, theobserved phenomenon was confirmedtheoretically by Barrick, in what is con­sidered a breakthrough in wave propa­gation theory.

Support for developing and testingthe prototype current-sensing radar hascome from the Coast Guard, EnergyResearch and Development Adminis­tration, and, through NOAA's OuterContinental Shelf Environmental As­sessment Program, from the InteriorDepartment's Bureau of Land Man­agement.

Fish Product ExportMarket Study Slated

The Department of Commerce willfund a study to identify domestic andforeign markets for fish and shellfishfound within the U.S. 200-mile conser­vation zone and in the Great Lakes butnot fully used by U.S. fishermen, Sec­retary Juanita M. Kreps has announced.The study also will determine the finan-

A novel radar system de­veloped by scientists withthe National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administra­tion produced these mapsof water movements inAlaska's Cook Inlet at twodifferent times on I July.A pair of transportable,high-frequency antennasstationed on the coast cansense ocean currents upto 50 miles (80 km)from shore to generatecomputer-drawn maps ofcurrent movements over750 square miles (2,000km2

) every half hour. Thenewly developed radar,also tested on southernFlorida's east coast, couldhelp monitor the trajec­tories of spilled oil or otherpollutants. The radar wasdeveloped by scientistswith the Commerce De­partment agency's En­vironmental ResearchLaboratories.

In the 12 October issue of Science,Donald Barrick, who leads the oceanremote sensing effort at the Boulderlaboratory, and his co-workers de­scribed the results of recent tests of theexperimental system conducted fromsouthern Florida's east coast with theaid of Nova University. Subsequenttests last summer in Alaska's Cook In­let, noted for its large tidal currents andthe proposed site of offshore petroleumdevelopment, largely confirmed theFlorida results.

According to Barrick, the Alaska re­sults showed that " ... we can pro­duce a single current-vector map cover­ing thousands of square ki lometers afteronly 15 minutes of operation; we cangather at least a thousand times moredata in a given twelve-hour period thanany alternative technique; and our sys­tem error is at worst half a knot ofcurrent velocity, and probably muchbetter.' ,

The experimental system is a pair of

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NOAA Current-SensingRadar Helps MonitorMarine Oil Pollution

A current-sensing radar developedby the National Oceanic and Atmos­pheric Administration (NOAA) maybecome a major tool for monitoring seapollutants and setting environmentalbaselines where petroleum and otherexplorations are planned. The radarpermits monitoring of surface currentsup to 50 miles and enables productionof current-movement computer mapsover 750 square miles every half hour,according to NOAA scientists.

Developed by Commerce Depart­ment scientists with NOAA's WavePropagation Laboratory in Bou lder,Colo., the new radar system could pro­vide an effective alternative to surfacedrifters, drogues, and other ocean cur­rent determination methods now usedthat measure water motion only at asingle point.

32 Marine Fisheries Review

cial, technological, and institutionalbarriers to the development of these re­sources in the United States.

"We are harvesting about 2.8 billionpounds of edible seafood now and havethe opportunity to catch 24 billionpounds," she said. "The Fishery Con­servation and Management Act pro­vides us an excellent export potentia]since almost the entire catch beingmade by foreign vessels in the 200-milezone is consumed abroad. It would bereasonable to assume we can win a sig­nificant share of their seafood market."

The study will determine marketingopportunities and provide specific in­formation on market structures, prod­uct packaging, and labeling require­ments, as well as identifying tariff andnontariff barriers of 15 major fish andshellfish consuming nations in WesternEurope and the Far East. In addition,the study will consider the feasibility ofestablishing an Export Market NewsService to provide current market in­formation in major foreign markets. Anassessment of the domestic market re­quirements over the next 10 years alsowill be made and evaluated in light ofthe resources available to U.S. fisher­men.

After the opportunities in the domes­tic and foreign markets are defined, ananalysis will be made of the currentstatus of domestic harvesting and pro­cessing capabilities, including legaland institutional barriers that inhibitproductivity, increase costs, and limitopportunities for growth.

The study will be funded by theseCommerce agencies: NOAA's Na­tional Marine Fisheries Service and theOffice of Sea Grant; the Economic De­velopment Administration; the CoastalPlains Regional Commission, New En­gland Regional Commission, PacificNorthwest Regional Commission, andthe Upper Great Lakes Regional Com­mission.

Marine Oil PollutionStudy Contracts Let

The National Oceanic and Atmos­pheric Administration has awardedcontracts totaling $125,822 to three re­search facilities to make studies of the

January /978

effects of oil spills on certain birds andmammals which inhabit the west coast,and on the vulnerable salt marshes,tidal flats, and beaches of the BeaufortSea coast of the Arctic Ocean. Theawards were made to the University ofSouth Carolina, the University ofCalifornia at San Diego, and the PointReyes Bird Observatory at StinsonBeach, Calif.

The contracts are part of a majormarine environmental study conductedby the Commerce Department agency'sEnvironmental Research Laboratoriesfor the Interior Department's Bureau ofLand Management as part of its OuterContinental Shelf Environmental As­sessment Program. These studies seekto determine the probable ecologicalimpacts of oil exploration and de­velopment activities on Alaska's outercontinental shelf.

Scientists at the University ofCalifornia's Scripps Institution ofOceanography and its PhysiologicalResearch Laboratory in La Jolla wereawarded $59,088 to study the effects ofoil contamination on the fur of sea ot­ters. Results of the research will becompared with data from currentstudies on northern fur seals and otherfur-bearing species.

Ornithologists at the Point ReyesBird Observatory were a warded$27 ,234 to make an in-depth study ofthe influence of petroleum on egg for­mation and embryonic developmentamong Cassin's auklets which inhabitthe Farallon Islands 20 miles west ofSan Francisco. These small gray birdsare representative of the many birdsbreeding along the Pacific coast thatare at risk from oil pollution duringtheir reproductive period.

As part of ongoing research, scien­tists from the University of SouthCarolina's Department of Geology re­ceived $39,500 in supplemental fundsto continue work on the oil spill vul­nerability of the Beaufort Sea coast.Results of their work will include mapsof the comparative vulnerability of theentire coastal zone between Point Bar­row and Demarcation Point, which isnear the eastern border of Alaska andCanada. The University scientists willalso produce a general environmental

geologic map-a basic inventory of thesurface geology in terms of resourceutilization and preservation-of theBeaufort Sea coast. NOAA hasawarded a total of$183,643to the Uni­versity of South Carolina for this studyduring the past 2 years.

OCEANLAB CONTRACTAWARDED BY NOAA

A $1.167 million contract for defin­ing the physical characteristics of theplanned OCEANLAB mobile underwa­ter laboratory has been awarded to theRe-entry and Environmental SystemsDivision of the General Electric Co. I,

Philadelphia, Pa., the National Oceanicand Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) has announced. The 11­month contract will provide prelimi­nary specifications for the OCEAN­LAB system, as well as program plansfor subsequent phases.

NOAA, a Commerce Departmentagency, is establishing mission and per­formance requirements on which thefinal system configuration and spec­ifications will be developed by thecontractor. NOAA's Office of OceanEngineering, through its MannedUndersea Science and Technologyprogram, is carrying out the project.

General Electric has formed anOCEANLAB team with PerryOceanographics, Inc., Riviera Beach,Fla., and M. Rosenblatt and Son, Inc.,Arlington, Va. GE and Perry con­ducted a preliminary study of the sys­tem for NOAA, which was completedin December 1976.

OCEANLAB will provide the Unit­ed States with a capability for advancedunderwater scientific research and ex­ploration during the 1980' s. Its missioncapabilities will help scientists and en­gineers meet growing needs to developand use offshore oil, gas, mineral, andfishery resources, and conduct researchto better understand and protect theocean environment. The system will beequipped with laboratory facilities toprovide occupants with comprehensiveresearch capabilities.

I Mention of trade names or commercial firmsdoes not imply endorsemem by the NationalMarine Fisheries Service, NOAA.

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