INTRODUCTION

OUR LIVING MARINE RESOURCES

	The living marine resources of the United States are an extremely
valuable heritage. In 1992, U.S. commercial fishermen earned $3.7
billion in ex-vessel revenue on 4.8 million metric tons of fish and
shellfish. About 80% of these landings were used directly for human
food. The commercial harvesting and seafood processing sectors
support over 300,000 full-time jobs. With almost 6% of the world's
commercial landings, the United States is the sixth largest
producer of seafood in the world.  
	These marine resources also support many other important uses. For
example, off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts approximately
17 million U.S. recreational fishermen took over 52 million
saltwater fishing trips and caught more than 285 million finfish in
1992. Subsistence fishing by Native Americans and recreational
activities such as whale watching also are supported by the various
resources. To this end, the protection and recovery of depleted
stocks of marine mammals, sea turtles, and other threatened and
endangered species can yield important benefits for the Nation.
NMFS responsibilities are primarily set out in several major pieces
of legislation: 1) The Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and
Management Act (MFCMA) for conservation of fisheries resources in
the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), 2) the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA) for monitoring, protection, and management of
marine mammal stocks in U.S. waters, 3) the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) for monitoring and protection of marine life considered at
risk of extinction, 4) the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act and
5) the Federal Power Act, both of which provide concurrent
responsibilities with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for
protecting aquatic habitat. 
	Each of these laws has a primary requirement that the best
scientific information be used as the basis for management actions.
NMFS takes a leading role in the collection and analysis of
scientific data on living marine resources. The Agency prepares
hundreds of specialized scientific reports each year along with
numerous oral presentations and technical documents for fishery
managers, industry groups, and the public.
	The Secretary of Commerce is ultimately the manager, through NOAA's
NMFS, of most of the living marine resources in the 200-mile EEZ
(Fig. 1). Management plans are developed through extensive
discussions with other state and Federal government agencies,
public interest groups, and in some cases, international science
and management organizations.
	The MFCMA established eight Regional Fishery Management Councils
(Councils) for the development of Fishery Management Plans (FMP's)
for the Nation's fishery resources. The Councils represent diverse
interests through members nominated by state governors in each
region and appointed by the Commerce Secretary. For some fisheries
and for protected resources such as marine mammals and sea turtles,
fishery management plans and protected species recovery plans are
developed directly by NMFS, with advice and comment from the public
including the regional councils. Appendix 3 lists the Councils and
FMP's currently in place.
	This report provides a broad overview of the large body of
technical information, which supports the development and
implementation of FMP's. It considers most living marine resources
of interest to the United States (either harvested partially or
totally by the United States or present in the U.S. EEZ for a
portion of their life). The status of each resource is evaluated,
and current and potential harvest levels are given, along with
information on current management controls. More detailed
information on specific resources is contained in the regional
 Status of Fisheries Resources  reports available from NMFS
fisheries science centers around the country (Appendix 2). 
	The first section of  Our Living Oceans  contains a national
overview of our living ocean heritage. It includes this
introduction, a brief discussion of scientific principles and
terms, region by region resource summaries, an overview of issues
of national concern affecting all regions, and a discussion of
progress made during the last year. Section one also includes a
 spotlight  article   this year, an essay examining the history of
management of Atlantic striped bass, a resource once in decline but
now recovering under cooperative management by states and the
Federal government.
	Section two reviews in greater detail the status of regional LMR's
in 24 separate units. These unit synopses describe species and/or
species groups linked geographically, ecologically, and by
characteristics of harvesting operations. Appendices, the third
section, list the principal NMFS facilities around the country, the
Councils, FMP's, recent FMP amendments, and the scientific and
common names of the species covered in this report.