Appendix To Accomplishment Report, 1999

The 1999-2001 Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey (MRFSS) will provide catch, effort and participation statistics for the nation's marine recreational fisheries and such estimates are essential for effective fisheries management and conservation. The 1999-2001 procurement to conduct the MRFSS telephone and intercept components was completed in June 1999. Prior to completion, sole source contracts were issued for the early portion of 1999 to ensure no break in the collection of these essential data.

The MRFSS for 1999 was completed. Over 150,000 dock and shore side interviews for catch data, and over 320,000 telephone calls for effort data, were conducted on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. MRFSS data are available to interested marine recreational anglers through the Fisheries Statistics and Economics website at http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st1/recreational/index.html .

The second of three regional Economic Impact Add-ons to the MRFSS was conducted in the Southeast through December 1999 and will provide economic impact (dollars spent and jobs sustained) data. A comparable expenditure survey was conducted in the Northeast in 1998 and will be conducted along the West Coast in 2000. With the completion of these studies, the NMFS will have two rounds of studies for economic valuation and impact modeling for the Northeast, Southeast, and Pacific coasts. In the Northeast, the MRFSS base "flexible questions" were used in 1999 to ask baseline economic data. A conjoint analysis to model recreational angler behavior given a variety of management scenarios was designed and tested in the summer of 1999 and implemented in the Northeast in late 1999.

Three volumes detailing the results of the Economic Value Add-on survey conducted in the Northeast in 1994 were released in late 1999. The three volumes describe the sociodemographic characteristics of Northeast anglers; estimate the value of marine recreational fishing in the Northeast; and predict participation in Northeast angling through the year 2025. Comparable volumes for the Southeast Region (survey conducted in 1997) and the West Coast (surveyed in 1998) will be available in 2000. The Northeast volumes are available on the Fisheries Statistics and Economics Division website (http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st1/econ/1994_survey_tm.html).

The Office of Science and Technology approved the transition of MRFSS intercept sampling in the Gulf of Mexico and East Florida from a private contractor to the GSMFC beginning May,

1999. This transition has lead to an enhanced recreational data collection program in the fisheries information network for the Gulf of Mexico.

Analyses of the results from the cooperative pilot project evaluating alternate methods for estimating effort in the Gulf of Mexico "for-hire" fishery and outside peer review was begun in the fall of 1999. The analyses are scheduled to be completed by early spring 2000 and will be submitted for outside peer review. The estimation of effort for the "for-hire" fishery is extremely variable through the MRFSS because of the large numbers of "for-hire" participants that are not coastal county residents. The research program tested new ways of estimating effort for this important fishery and provided the cost-benefit data on switching to other estimation methods. Throughout the analysis period, data collection for the most promising of the alternate methods was continued so that there will be no break in estimation using the new method, should it provide the best cost-benefit ratio. This two-year $900,000 data collection project was funded by the Office of Science and Technology through cooperative agreements with the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

The MRFSS staff researched the use of reimbursable agreements with Atlantic states to allow an easier way for state clients to add sample sizes to the MRFSS to meet state-specific needs. Reimbursable agreements were signed with Massachusetts and Virginia. Reimbursable agreements appear to offer a much stream-lined and easier process for state clients to add on, which benefits recreational statistics on a local, state, and regional basis.

During the summer of 1999, MRFSS staff worked with Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER) and the U.S. Virgin Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife (VIDFW) to develop a cooperative approach for re-initiating the MRFSS in the U.S. Caribbean. In cooperation with the Territories, NMFS will spend $350K to restore a comprehensive recreational fisheries statistics program in the Caribbean. The MRFSS will provide comprehensive recreational fisheries catch, effort and participation statistics for the Caribbean during calendar year 2000. Old 1979 and 1981 estimates and sample sizes were examined to determine appropriate sampling strategies and sample sizes and preparatory field work began in November. The PRDNER and VIDFW provided extremely helpful information about fishing conditions and access sites, and will provide input and feedback to MRFSS staff throughout the sampling year. The PRDNER will conduct cooperative additional MRFSS intercept sampling. Fisheries Statistics and Economics Division staff also provided substantial assistance to VIDFW staff in the design of an economic survey for the U.S.V.I.

The Pacific Puget Sound Halibut survey was conducted in September 1999 to provide precise estimates of effort, catch and participation for this valuable fishery. This survey supports objectives of the Pacific Recreational Fisheries Information Network (RecFIN).

The Office of Science and Technology, Fisheries Statistics and Economics Division sponsored a workshop on technical guidelines for valuation models in Silver Spring, Maryland in September 1999. The workshop was conducted through a contract with East Carolina University. The papers prepared for this workshop will be published in a special edition of Marine Resource Economics sponsored by NMFS.

The Office of Science and Technology, Fisheries Statistics and Economics Division funded a program to profile the recreational fishing tackle retail industry in the Southeast. A contract to provide the profiles, which will assist with National Standard 8 analysis, was awarded in late August to the American Sportfishing Association.

The Office of Science and Technology, Fisheries Statistics and Economics Division is sponsoring research to estimate and forecast recreational fishing participation for the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico using 1997 MRFSS Economic Add-on data and for the West Coast using 1998 data through a contract with Dr. Wally Milon at the University of Florida.

The final report on developing a methodology for estimating the value of multi-day/multi-purpose recreational fishing trips was completed under a contract with the University of Maryland's Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

The Office of Science and Technology, Fisheries Statistics and Economics Division economists have been collaborating with regional economists to develop a national structure and guidance for cost/earnings projects, including for-hire fisheries, with the ultimate goal of compiling a complete picture of the worth of living marine resources across the Nation. New cost and earnings data collection and analysis criteria are being created to ensure the scientific validity of the sampling regimes. Cost and earnings projects for Northeast party and charter boat fisheries funded in 1996 and 1997 have been completed and a 1999 study is underway in the West Coast charter boat fishery.

Highly Migratory Species (HMS) staff have participated in numerous meetings of the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program Committee regarding implementation of recreational fishery statistics collection, including socio-economic data.

The HMS Management Division funded a study entitled, "The Social and Cultural Impact Assessment of the Highly Migratory Species Fisheries Management Plan and the Amendment to the Atlantic Billfish Fisheries Management Plan". The assessment was conducted by the Ecopolicy Center for Agriculture, New Jersey Agricultural Experimental Center, Cook College, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. This information was used to develop assessments of impacts of various management alternatives proposed in the Highly Migratory Species FMP and Billfish FMP Amendment on impacted communities.

In October 1999, as required by the Fisheries Act of 1995, NMFS published final statistics on the level of U.S. recreational and commercial landings of Atlantic yellowfin tuna since 1981. NMFS published these final statistics to inform the public of updated data on landings trends in the recreational and commercial fisheries for yellowfin tuna.

Catch and fishing effort data used to monitor recreational harvests of Atlantic swordfish and sharks are collected under the MRFSS and the Large Pelagics Survey. Anglers may be contacted at dockside or by telephone for information. Catches are also monitored by state sponsored surveys, where applicable.

NMFS has begun work to expand the pelagic fishery logbook program to include selection of vessels from the recreational sector. The logbook contains a cost/earnings summary that would apply to charter headboat vessels.

The HMS Division is preparing a proposal for submission to the Office of Science and Technology requesting funding for a recreational fishery survey. The purpose of the survey will be to collect data that can be used to assess the economic value and impact of HMS recreational fisheries.

Northeast Region:

Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division (READ) staff (Social Sciences Branch) are analyzing the recreational fishing expenditure data collected during calendar year 1998. An evaluation data quality has been completed and statistical summaries are being developed.

READ staff (Social Sciences Branch) participated and gave presentations at the conference for 'Evaluating the Benefits of Recreational Fishing'. Presentation titles were: "Marine Recreational Fishing Participation in the Northeast U.S." and "Economic Impact of Marine Recreational Fishing in the Northeastern United States: an Application of the IMPLAN Modeling System". Abstracts and conference agenda are available at the following web address: http://fisheries.com/syllabi/program.htm

READ staff (Social Sciences Branch) have worked with investigators at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's Marine Policy Center on an input/output model of New England commercial and recreational fisheries.

READ staff (Social Sciences Branch) are assisting researchers at the University of Massachusetts with data analysis in conjunction with a 1998/99 CMER study of the for-hire party boat industry in Massachusetts. Economic and social data were collected from party boat owners and anglers.

READ staff (Social Sciences Branch) analyzed the potential effort impacts of the proposed 2000 recreational specifications for the summer flounder, black sea bass, and scup FMP. Staff calculated a range of potential revenue losses to the party/charter sector for each of the alternatives and prepared a document that was incorporated into the final specifications.

READ staff (Social Sciences Branch) conducted an analysis of recreational fishing effort and landings of groundfish species for the New England Fishery Management Council in an attempt to provide information that could be used to guide discussions of possible implementation of additional recreational fishing restrictions for groundfish fisheries.

READ staff (Social Sciences Branch) provided the Tilefish Technical Committee with estimated recreational fishing effort and catch information for inclusion in the draft Tilefish Public Hearing Document.

READ staff (Social Sciences Branch) worked with Office of Science and Technology staff to develop a request for proposals to analyze recreational fishing expenditure data collected in the Southeast in 1998 and on the West Coast in 1999.

READ staff (Social Sciences Branch) conducted an impact assessment on the party/charter boat sector for Framework 33 to the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan.

Staff authored an article entitled, "Regional Economic Impact Assessments of Recreational Fisheries: An Application of the IMPLAN Modeling System to Marine Party and Charter Boat Fishing in Maine", which was published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management (19:724-736).

Staff authored an article entitled, "Regional Economic Impact Assessments of Recreational Fisheries. Evaluating the Benefits of Recreational Fisheries", which was published in the Fisheries Center Research Reports (Vol. 7, No 2).

Staff authored an article entitled, "Marine Recreational Fishing Participation in Northeast U.S. 2000-2025. Evaluating the Benefits of Recreational Fisheries", which was published in the Fisheries Center Research Reports (Vol. 7, No 2).

Staff co-authored an article entitled, "Volume I: Summary Report of Methods and Descriptive Statistics for the 1994 Northeast Region Marine Recreational Economics Survey", which was published as NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-37.

Staff co-authored an article entitled, "Volume II: The Economic Value of New England and Mid-Atlantic Sportfishing in 1994", which was published as NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-38.

Staff co-authored an article entitled, "Volume III: Summary Report of Methods and Descriptive Statistics for the 1994 Northeast Region Marine Recreational Participation Survey", which was published as NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-39.

Staff co-authored an article entitled, "Data Needs for Economic Analysis of Fishery Management Regulations", which was published as NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-119.

An Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IJ) project, in the amount of $59,244 awarded to the State of Maryland, will maintain a data management and analysis system to be utilized by project biologists and managers to quickly retrieve stored commercial/sport fisheries catch statistics, biological inventories, and catch/effort data for analytical evaluation required for interjurisdictional management plans.

An IJ project, in the amount of $134,661 awarded to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, will collect, analyze, and disseminate fishery landings data by species and gear on Massachusetts interjurisdictional fishery resources. Project results will be used to meet the requirements of State, Interstate, and Federal fisheries agencies responsible for the management of marine resources within internal waters and territorial seas of the individual states and the Exclusive Economic Zone.

An IJ project, in the amount of $150,432 awarded to the State of Virginia, will collect, process, and disseminate commercial and recreational catch and effort data for Virginia's interjurisdictional fishery species. Information is compiled through a census of licensed seafood buyers and dockside/mail surveys of the commercial harvesting sector.

An IJ project, in the amount of $12,536 awarded to the State of Wisconsin, will collect, compile, analyze, and disseminate harvest data for the sport and commercial fisheries conducted within the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Study activities will include monitoring the commercial catch reporting and licensing systems that Wisconsin utilizes to manage commercial fisheries within the Great Lakes.

An Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (ACFCMA) project, in the amount of $581,722 awarded to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), will design and implement a cooperative marine and coastal fisheries statistics program that adequately meets the needs of state and federal fishery managers, scientists, and fishermen. Study participants will work to establish and maintain an integrated cooperative coastwide fisheries data management system among all Atlantic coastal states and to other state/federal agencies involved in the collection, compilation, and management of marine, estuarine, anadromous, and catadromous fisheries statistics. One objective is to undertake a unified state-federal data collection system for marine and coastal fisheries for the entire Atlantic Coast, including both commercial and recreational sectors, in order to provide the best scientific data for effective fisheries management.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $192,310 awarded to the State of Connecticut, will improve fishery statistics capabilities (data management, quota monitoring, verification of statistics) within the State needed to monitor and implement ASMFC fishery management plans (FMPs) for species such as bluefish, summer flounder, and scup. Public outreach capabilities, both in information dissemination and outreach to specific fisheries groups, will also be improved through the development of pamphlets and brochures pertaining to ASMFC FMPs. Project results will be utilized to meet the requirements of state, interstate, and federal agencies responsible for the management of resources within internal waters and territorial seas of individual states and the Exclusive Economic Zone.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $117,450 awarded to the State of Maine will collect recreational fishing data from charter boats and head boats. In addition, further information on fishing trips will be collected voluntarily by boat captains. Statistics on striped bass and bluefish will be supplemented by voluntary angler information from those fishing from shore and private boats.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $238,110 awarded to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, will develop and conduct efficient quota monitoring systems, evaluate economic and population dynamics data as it relates to fisheries management plans developed by the ASMFC and the Regional Fisheries Management Councils.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $103,021 awarded to the State of New Hampshire, will improve recreational and commercial data collection, implement a fisheries independent monitoring project for estuarine based juvenile finfish, and provide needed data for managing ASMFC species.

A Marine Fisheries Initiative (MARFIN) project, in the amount of $269,356 and awarded to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, will develop an input-output model for social economic assessment of fisheries management alternatives in New England; collect and compile necessary primary data to refine model parameters; use case studies to demonstrate the capacity of the model as a management tool in various locations and under regulatory scenarios; and transfer the model to NMFS and provide technical support.

A MARFIN project, in the amount of $169,208 and awarded to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will develop community profiles of five major fishery dependent communities including Point Judith/Galilee, New Bedford, Chatham, Gloucester, and Portland. This will provide information necessary to the sustainable management of critical fisheries stocks while considering the needs and human resources of the target communities.

Southeast Region:

Economics Office staff continued participation in the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Socio-economic Panel for the Coastal Migratory Pelagic Panel; Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Socio-economic Reeffish Panel; the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission Socio-economic Workgroup; the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program Recreational Fisheries Statistics Technical Committee; the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission RecFIN Committee; and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission FIN Committee.

The Southeast Region conducted a thorough review of available commercial and recreational landings databases for the tropical tunas, yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack, and temperate albacore tuna for the year 1980-1998. This review, the methodologies and results for which are reported in the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) document SCRS/99/58 as well as published in the Federal Register, has resulted in revisions to the historical landings estimates for these species.

Recreational catch and catch-at-size estimates were calculated for all highly migratory tunas, swordfish, and sharks which are reported to ICCAT.

The Southeast Fishery Science Center (SEFSC) continued an ongoing pilot study to improve estimates of charter boat catches.

During the 1999 survey of Atlantic Coast recreational headboats, port agents intercepted 1,027 trips and measured 23,303 fish.

During the 1999 survey of Gulf of Mexico headboats, port agents intercepted 708 trips and measured 16,986 fish.

The SEFSC continued ongoing increased collection of biological statistics from the recreational red snapper catch and the head boat sampling.

The SEFSC is participating in an Atlantic Coast Cooperative Statistics Program special study of the for-hire recreational fishery in South Carolina. The one-year study will compare three methods for estimating landings, fishing effort, and discards.

Aerial surveys of recreational fishing vessel distribution and effort were continued under a cooperative agreement between the SEFSC Miami Laboratory and the U.S. Coast Guard Miami Air Station. Through December 1999, 114 surveys of the Atlantic waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary have been completed out of a total of 131 aerial surveys conducted along the southeast Florida coast from Ft. Pierce to Key West since 1992. A total of 20,167 recreational vessels has been counted. Analyses indicate that diving occurs mainly at the outer reefs during the summer months while recreational fishing occurs primarily in the winter months offshore of the reefs. These data are being used to do a survey of the impacts of no-take marine reserves on recreational use of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

The Southeast Fishery Economics Office completed several significant reports that pertain directly to recreational fishing activities in the Southeast Region that were used by the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Fishery Management Councils, the Atlantic States and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commissions, and NMFS to develop plans and regulations affecting recreational fisheries, fishing communities, and anglers including: "Recreational Fishery Data Gulf of Mexico Coastal Migratory Pelagics Fishery 1982-98", SERO-ECON-99-04, March 1999; "Recreational Fishery Data South Atlantic Coastal Migratory Pelagics Fishery 1982-98", SERO-ECON-99-05, March 1999; "Research Activities Using the 1997-98 Southeast Recreational Economic Add-on Data", SERO-ECON-99-09, April 1999; "Summary Report of Methods and Descriptive Statistics for the 1997-98 Southeast Region Marine Recreational Economics Survey Data", SERO-ECON-99-10, April 1999; "Summary Report of Methods and Descriptive Statistics for the 1997-98 Southeast Region Marine Recreational Economics Survey Fishery Management Data", SERO-ECON-99-11, April 1999; "Short-term Economic Consequences of a Moratorium on Possession and Sale of Red Porgy in the Atlantic Snapper-Grouper Fishery", SERO-ECON-99-14, June 1999; "An Analysis of the Impact of Alternative Regulatory Measures on the Gulf of Mexico Recreational Red Snapper Fishery", SERO-ECON-99-03, January 1999; "Summary of Economic Impacts Related to the Emergency Interim Rule to Increase the 1999 Recreational Red Snapper Minimum Size Limit to 18 Inches Total Length, Effective June 1 Through the Closure of the Fishery", SERO-ECON-99-16, May 1999; "Summary Data for the South Atlantic Reef Fish Recreational Fishery", SERO-ECON-99-19, September 1999; "Summary Data for the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Recreational Fishery", SERO-ECON-99-20, September 1999; "Economic Summary of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Recreational Fishery", SERO-ECON-00-02, October 1999; and "Evaluation: Economic Consequences of an Interim Rule to Implement Changes in Management Regulations for Red Snapper in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Gulf of Mexico", December 1999.

A Marine Fisheries Initiatives (MARFIN) project entitled, "An Integrated Economic Analysis of Alternative Bycatch, Commercial, and Recreational Policies for the Recovery of the Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper" and in the amount of $40,000, was awarded to the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

A MARFIN project entitled, "Modeling the Effects of Fisheries Regulations and Trip Attributes on Angler Behavior", in the amount of $70,000, was awarded to the University of Florida. Economics Office staff also monitor this project.

A MARFIN project entitled, "An Assessment of the Recreational Demand for Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper", in the amount of $97,526 was awarded to the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Economics Office staff also monitor this project.

A MARFIN project entitled, "Defining and Identifying Fishing Dependent Communities: Development and Confirmation of a Protocol", in the amount of $70,625, was awarded to the University of Florida.

Funds from the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act supports a $220,360 project to improve fishery dependent data from commercial and recreational marine fisheries and incorporate these data into improved fishery management plans in the State of Florida .

Southeast Fishery Economics Office continued monitoring several ongoing projects that have the potential to influence management decisions that may affect recreational fisheries, fishing communities and anglers including: "Assessment of the Value of Recreational Fishing Trip Demand in the Southeast Using RUM Modeling Techniques" at East Carolina University; "A Cross-Sectional Study and Longitudinal Perspective on the Social and Economic Characteristics of the Charter and Party Boat Fishing Industry of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas" at Texas A&M University; entitled, "Operations and Economics of the Charter and Party Boat Fleets of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Coasts" at the University of Florida; "An Economic Assessment of Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Management Policies" at Texas A&M University; and "An Assessment of the Recreational Demand for Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper" at Texas A&M University.

Northwest Region:

The Northwest Region continued administration of an award in the amount of $900,000 (FY 2000 monies) to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for activities associated with the Recreational Fishery Information Network (RecFIN). The RecFIN Program is designed to integrate state and federal marine recreational fishery sampling efforts into a single database to provide important biological, social, and economic data on Pacific Coast recreational fishery resources.

Southwest Region:

The Southwest Region is working with economists from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, the Northwest Region, Headquarters, and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission on a cost/earnings survey of the West Coast charter fleet. The $125,000 project was funded by the NMFS Fisheries Statistics Division and is scheduled for completion in late 2000. The database produced by this survey will be used to model fleet behavior in response to new regulations and other changing conditions, and to perform Regulatory Impact Review/Regulatory Flexibility Act analyses required for rule making pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

The Southwest Region Pacific Islands Area Office and SWFSC Honolulu Laboratory staff participate as members of a Recreational Task Force assembled to advise the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council on how to improve reporting of recreational, part-time commercial, and subsistence fishing activities in Hawaii, including levels of participation, catch and fishing effort. Other members include active and retired small boat-fishermen (recreational, part-time commercial, and subsistence) spokespersons for the recreational and sports fishing sector and fisheries management and data specialists.

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center International Billfish Angler Survey, begun in 1969, continues to produce information on recreational anglers' billfish catch and effort. The information developed from this Survey is used to indicate trends in angler catch rates in specific areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Trends such as the average number of billfish caught per angler day are important in understanding the impact of fisheries on billfish resources. Trend analyses over a period of time can be conducted and related to the effects of commercial catches, weather patterns, or local economic changes. These trends also help monitor the impact of pelagic fisheries and can highlight the importance of recreational fishing for billfish.

The Southwest Region Pacific Islands Area Office, in cooperation with the State of Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources, completed a 6-month study to develop a methodology for surveying marine anglers perceptions, attitudes and responses towards a state licensing requirement. The findings identify a suite of activities that focus on the scope of future creel survey programs, public outreach efforts, a uniform probability survey, and a means for testing the survey methodology that, if implemented by the State, would result in data and related findings that support recommendations for improving resource protection and conservation.

A Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) award to MBC Applied Environmental Sciences was completed in May, 1999, and resulted in a report entitled, "The Southern California Commercial Sportfish Catch Database". This $182,000 award computerized 36 years of charter boat data in a manner that allows the data to be retrieved by landing and day and to be analyzed in both graphic and tabular outputs. The data can be used to monitor trends in the abundance of marine recreational fishes in California, and in forecasting annual summer migrations of the larger game fish.

A S-K award to Scripps Institute of Oceanography was completed in December, 1999, and resulted in a report entitled, "Historical Logbook Databases from California's Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel (Partyboat) Fishery, 1936-1997", (SIO Reference Series No. 99-19).

MANAGEMENT/RESEARCH

Headquarters:

Data from at-sea research and monitoring are an integral ingredient in conducting stock assessments for recreational and commercial fisheries management. At a time when the demand for high quality data is escalating, NOAA's fleet of fisheries vessels has aged beyond their useful lifetime and has become technologically obsolete. To ensure continuity of the data flow into the management process, NOAA plans to construct four state-of-the-art fisheries research vessels beginning in FY2000. The new ships will be acoustically quiet, improving the efficiency and quality of hydroacoustic surveys by decreasing signal interference and reducing target species behavioral responses to radiated vessel noise. Quieted ships will enable fisheries scientists to take full advantage of advancements in hydroacoustic technologies. Improved assessments of reef-associated fishes and of species that aggregate in shallow water, such as Spanish mackerel, should be possible. Designed to accommodate multi-mission cruises, the ships will help implement ecosystem approaches to fisheries management by allowing synoptic sampling for both physical oceanographic and fisheries data.

Meetings with fisheries scientists, operations specialists, and naval engineers to fine-tune mission requirements for the ships were held. A Request for Information was released to the public to obtain input from the ship-building industry on the technical package, allowing it to be adjusted prior to release of the Request for Proposals.

Highly Migratory Species

Headquarters:

The Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Management Division worked with the HMS and Billfish Advisory Panels (APs) to draft the fishery management plan (FMP) for Atlantic Tunas, Sharks, and Swordfish (HMS FMP) and an Amendment to the Atlantic Billfish FMP. The APs met in Silver Spring, Maryland in February and June. These meetings included consideration of issues regarding the management of healthy fisheries and managing for Optimum Yield in these important fisheries. One of the most important issues for the FMP and Amendment was the rebuilding of overfished fisheries and the AP meetings included consideration of overfishing, both current and potential, of these important stocks. NMFS considered the input of the APs and the public during meetings in developing the Amendment to the Billfish FMP and the HMS FMP.

On January 20, 1999, NMFS published in the Federal Register the proposed rule for the HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment. In the draft documents, issues of particular importance to recreational fisheries were consideration of permitting and reporting requirements, improvement of data collection methods, daily retention limits for certain species, and minimizing bycatch. For currently healthy (not overfished) recreationally important fish stocks, such as yellowfin tuna and pelagic sharks, the draft HMS FMP included measures to maintain their populations. These measures included a proposed recreational daily retention limit for yellowfin tuna, and the prohibition of the retention of blue sharks.

As part of finalizing the FMP documents, NMFS held over 25 public hearings along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts on the draft HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment and the proposed regulations to implement them. Attendance at the public hearings was very high, with some meetings attracting hundreds of recreational fishermen.

NMFS announced the availability of the final HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment in April 1999, and the final HMS regulations implementing the documents were published in the Federal Register on May 28, 1999. Numerous final actions analyzed and adopted that will impact mortality rates for overfished Atlantic billfish, tunas, sharks, and swordfish including a time/area closure, gear restrictions, quota reductions, prohibition on finning, minimum sizes, and daily retention limits. Most of the regulations resulting from the HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment became effective July 1, 1999. Measures for currently healthy recreationally important fish stocks such as yellowfin tuna and pelagic sharks included a recreational retention limit for yellowfin tuna and sharks (all species, including pelagic sharks), and a minimum size for sharks (all species, including pelagic sharks). For a more complete summary of the regulations implemented as a result of the HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment and how they affect recreational fishermen, interested parties should be referred to the "HMS Compliance Guide", which includes information on aspects on the FMP and Amendment related to recreational fishing for HMS. The Compliance Guide is available to the public on the NMFS SFA homepage (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/).

For Atlantic swordfish, anglers may not land swordfish south of 5 degrees North Latitude. Currently, there are no bag limits; the minimum size is 29" cleithrum to keel.

The Cooperative Tagging Center (CTC) has continued to work in cooperation with the recreational fishing community to tag Atlantic tunas and billfish along the east coast of the United States, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.

Three HMS Management Division representatives attended the National Symposium on Catch and Release in Marine recreational Fisheries (in Virginia Beach, Virginia, December, 1999) where the results of various federal, state, and university studies were presented and discussed, including several regarding the catch and release of tunas, swordfish, billfish, and sharks. Additional activities included participation in consensus-building sessions on developing a research agenda and developing an education/outreach action agenda.

Southwest Region:

The Regional Administrator of the Southwest Region served on the U.S. delegation to the Multilateral High-Level Conference on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific. Twenty-seven delegations representing all South Pacific island states and the major tuna fishing nations gathered to negotiate a conservation and management mechanism for highly migratory fish in the Western and Central Pacific by the end of the year 2000.

SWR staff continued to provide support to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). Effective conservation and management of highly migratory species will require international cooperation and there are important commercial and recreational interests associated with these species. However, in the IATTC, there is no specific allocation of yellowfin or bigeye tuna to recreational interests, and this has posed a problem for U.S. vessels. Again in 1999, the Government of Mexico closed the recreational fisheries for yellowfin tuna in its Exclusive Economic Zone when the yellowfin purse seine fishery was closed; this meant that U.S. charter vessels with licenses to fish in this area were closed out of the fishery during some of the peak season. The SWR is working both within the IATTC arena and through bilateral talks to support the U.S. recreational fishery licensees in maintaining access to yellowfin tuna, even if the purse seine fishery is closed.

Billfish

Headquarters:

Through the Billfish Amendment and its implementing final regulations, NMFS adopted several management measures in response to the first-ever binding management recommendation for Atlantic billfish at the November 1997 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). To meet the ICCAT recommendation to reduce landings of Atlantic blue marlin and white marlin by at least 25 percent, beginning in 1998, and to be accomplished by the end of 1999, the Billfish Amendment increased the minimum size of Atlantic blue marlin to 99 inches lower-jaw fork length (LJFL) and for Atlantic white marlin to 66 inches LJFL, thereby reducing mortality levels of these overfished stocks. NMFS also increased the minimum size (63 inches LJFL) for western Atlantic sailfish to allow a majority of fish the ability to spawn at least once prior to being recruited to the sport fishery. In addition, the Amendment implemented a mandatory notification requirement for all fishing tournaments involving Atlantic billfish to notify NMFS at least 4 weeks before commencement in response to the same ICCAT recommendation which also calls for enhanced data collection and monitoring of billfish landings. Although the ICCAT recommendation focuses on recreational landings, the majority of billfish mortality, as currently reported, is attributed to longline discards. The discards are closely monitored by NMFS through the observer program and vessel logbooks. A proposed rule was also published in late 1999 that would prohibit the use of pelagic longline gear during certain times and in certain areas to reduce bycatch of undersized swordfish, marlin, sailfish, and other overfished HMS. Another management measure in the Billfish Amendment is the establishment of an Atlantic billfish bycatch reduction strategy.

Amendment 1 to the Billfish FMP established a catch-and-release fishery management program for the recreational billfish fishery. NMFS recognizes that recreational anglers have voluntarily reduced landings of Atlantic billfish by relying heavily on the catch and release ethic. NMFS is encouraging further catch and release of Atlantic billfish by establishing this management program for billfish.

During the second half of 1999, NMFS finalized the mandatory billfish and other HMS tournament registration and reporting, if selected. This information will provide a better assessment of the extensiveness of this economically important component to HMS fisheries.

NMFS provided a grant to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in September, 1999 which initiated a new study to examine the genetic relationship between Atlantic and Indo-Pacific sailfish using a suite of high resolution molecular markers. The intent of the study is to document a molecular marker that can be used to discriminate between Atlantic and Indo-Pacific populations. An identifiable marker provides the ability to distinguish Atlantic istiophorids from conspecific or closely related istiophorids from the Indian and Pacific Oceans and can be used to aid enforcement of the no-sale provision in the United States for Atlantic billfishes.

NMFS began the process of gathering all related scientific materials in preparation for an Atlantic-wide stock assessment of blue and white marlin during the summer of 2000.

Staff from the Pacific Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries worked with the Southwest Regional Office and Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) to plan and conduct a billfish tagging/data collection workshop, held at the Balboa Angling Club in Newport Beach, California. The workshop involved Pacific billfish angling groups in investigating ways to enhance the SWFSC angler billfish tagging program. The results of the workshop will assist NMFS in developing information needed for ongoing billfish stock assessment. The meeting resulted in several data collection agreements and an agreement to work cooperatively to develop a comprehensive billfish research plan that also provides for angler participation.

Southeast Region:

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) has an ongoing billfish research program.

The SEFSC continues to coordinate the ICCAT Enhanced Research Program for billfish in the Western Atlantic Ocean during 1999.

Southwest Region:

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center's (SWFSC) billfish research is specifically designed to provide information for the conservation and rational management of billfish resources in the Pacific. The Center is committed to providing sound fishery data analysis, fishery management information, and advice for the Fishery Management Councils and international agencies. Primary objectives for the SWFSC's billfish research program include: 1) monitor recreational and commercial fisheries; 2) conduct research into the biology and ecology of specific billfish species; 3) conduct stock assessment of the billfish resource; and 4) determine the economic importance of billfish resources.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is currently developing a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Highly Migratory Species, which includes Pacific billfish. Staff at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), La Jolla, are playing a key and ever increasing role on the FMP Development Team. Staff biologists and economists are actively examining the biology, economics, and management of Pacific billfish as part of this FMP process. The results from the SWFSC's billfish research program will be extensively relied upon as part of this process.

During 1999, the Southwest Fisheries Science Centers Honolulu Laboratory gave high priority to an updated assessment of the blue marlin stock. Accordingly, Honolulu Laboratory staff have developed a cooperative research plan with colleagues at Japan's National Research Institute for Far Seas Fisheries (NRIFSF) to carry out a joint stock assessment. The plan calls for sharing of historical fishery statistics and oceanographic data and a comprehensive evaluation of alternative blue marlin stock assessments recently completed by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the NRIFSF. The collaborative work will be carried out as a project of the Marlin Research Group under the auspices of the Interim Scientific Committee (ISC) for Tuna and Tuna-like Species of the North Pacific Ocean. Besides U.S. and Japanese, participation in the joint research, other ISC member countries (e.g., Taiwan, Mexico) and concerned scientific agencies (e.g., IATTC and South Pacific Commission) will be sought.

Sharks

Headquarters:

NMFS used the results of a new stock assessment on the status of large coastal sharks in late June, 1998 in the development of large coastal shark rebuilding measures proposed in the draft HMS FMP and finalized in the final HMS FMP. The stock assessment includes all known sources of mortality, including dead discards and state landings, and provides recommendations on appropriate levels of effective fishing mortality. The HMS Management Division closely monitors shark catches.

Recreational shark regulations were put in place. Recreational fishermen are allowed to keep 1 shark of any of the allowed species per vessel per trip, subject to a minimum size of 4.5 feet fork length. In addition, there is an allowance of 1 Atlantic sharpnose per person per trip, with no minimum size. The following species are prohibited in the recreational fishery: Atlantic angel, basking, bigeye thresher, bignose, Caribbean reef, Caribbean sharpnose, dusky, Galapagos, longfin mako, narrowtooth, night, sevengill, sixgill, bigeye sixgill, sand tiger, bigeye sand tiger, smalltail, whale, and white sharks. Recreational anglers for sharks are allowed to use rod and reel, handline, and bandit gear. Implementation of these regulations covering recreationally harvested sharks will benefit the recovery of the overfished large coastal shark group (blacktip, spinner, lemon, bull, nurse, smooth hammerhead, and great hammerhead) and help conserve the small coastal sharks (Atlantic sharpnose, blacknose, finetooth, and bonnethead), the pelagic sharks (shortfin mako, blue, thresher, porbeagle, and oceanic whitetip), deepwater sharks, and other sharks.

The HMS Management Division continues to contribute to the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (Apex Predator Program), in alliance with state and federal cooperators and HMS staff continue to cooperate with NEFSC staff in support of the shark tagging program.

Northeast Region:

Apex Predators Program (FEMAD) staff participated in a workshop in support of the Atlantic Shark Fishery Management Plan to provided an update on the status of shark resources in waters off the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts.

FEMAD staff participated in a technical workshop held by the ASMFC where data collection and management programs pertaining to sharks were discussed. Options were developed for the Commission's involvement in coast wide state management to complement federal shark rebuilding efforts.

FEMAD staff initiated a research project to characterize the physiological stamina and determine post-release recovery and survival in juvenile sandbar sharks. This study utilizes blood and muscle sampling methods to determine stress levels during a catch and release session and is a joint project with biologists at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

FEMAD staff conducted a biannual longline survey to collect biological and relative abundance data on shark species. Sets of bottom monofilament longline gear were made to assess the abundance and distribution of coastal sharks from five to 40 fathoms.

FEMAD staff conducted a longline cruise to target porbeagle sharks in the Gulf of Maine in both U.S. and Canadian waters. The cruise was designed to enhance ongoing age and growth, migration and life history studies including the attachment of archival tags on selected fish.

FEMAD staff completed the analysis of various length based relationships for 21 species of sharks to aid in the management of these species.

FEMAD staff attended a planning meeting for the International Pelagic Shark Workshop to be held by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign in February 2000. The workshop is intended to act as a forum for compiling information and expertise necessary for Atlantic and Pacific pelagic shark management.

FEMAD staff submitted abstracts on porbeagle shark biology and blue shark distribution and movements for the International Pelagic Shark Workshop held by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign in February 2000.

A tagging atlas completed by FEMAD staff was published by Marine Fisheries Review (Vol. 60, No. 2, 87p) showing geographic ranges and movement patterns for 33 species of coastal and pelagic shark species.

A COASTSPAN (Cooperative Atlantic States Shark Pupping and Nursery) Survey Workshop was held by FEMAD staff to report results from individual state coastal sampling and to coordinate future survey efforts. Participating state biologists, students and contract employees attended as well as HMS staff.

FEMAD staff continued a joint Canadian/U.S. research program on the porbeagle shark, an important recreational and commercial transboundary shark species. The study involves cooperative sampling and data collection, a stock assessment, and integration and joint publication of data and results. Contract staff participated in a longline cruise to collect reproductive and age samples.

READ staff assisted the Joint Council Dogfish Technical Committee in developing information and analyses supporting the development of management options for spiny dogfish.

FEMAD staff completed two manuscripts on elasmobranch reproductive behavior and worldwide tagging for a special issue of Environmental Biology of Fishes.

Southeast Region:

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center has an ongoing shark research program responsible for the assessment of shark populations. Main activities include analytical work on stock assessment and biological work corresponding to population assessment. Ongoing shark abundance surveys to assess juvenile sharks in coastal nursery areas have been conducted. Since 1994, abundance indices have been generated for up to eight species of sharks. In 1999, six peer reviewed publications and reports were generated from this program.

A Marine Fisheries Initiative (MARFIN) project, in the amount of $142,089 and awarded to the University of Mississippi will identify and characterize shark nursery grounds in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Alaska Region:

The Alaska Region, in cooperation with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), is involved in the review process for a proposal to develop a fishery management plan (FMP) for shark and skate recreational fisheries in Alaska. The preferred option for the FMP would manage the shark and skate recreational fisheries consistent with current State of Alaska management. Current state management is a daily bag/possession limit of one shark and an annual bag/possession limit of two sharks (all species). The Council has final action on the proposed FMP scheduled for October, 2000.

Southwest Region:

The Southwest Regional Office and Southwest Fisheries Science Center continue to be involved in technical reviews of the U.S. National Plan of Action for Shark Conservation mandated by United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization consultations. The Plan of Action will assist the NMFS promote and work to achieve shark conservation programs in the Pacific.

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center conducted a thresher shark tagging cruise on the NOAA Vessel David Starr Jordan in the coastal waters between Del Mar and Santa Monica, California. Onboard angler assistance was helpful to the scientific party. Eight common thresher were tagged with PTT satellite pop-off tags which are used to provide data on water temperature, migration and range. This is the first deployment of satellite telemetry on common threshers and will help define migratory patterns, stock boundary, and survival of released fish. Additionally, 33 common thresher and one shortfin mako shark were tagged, injected with oxytetracycline and released for age validation studies.

Tunas

Headquarters:

The HMS FMP includes measures for the United States to implement the November 1998 International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) recommendation for a 20 year rebuilding program for Western Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT), based on a new stock assessment conducted by the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS), ICCAT's scientific body. The rebuilding program set the annual total allowable catch (TAC) of western Atlantic BFT at 2,500 mt, including a 79 mt allowance for dead discards. The landing quota allocated to the United States was increased by 43 mt from 1,344 mt to 1,387 mt, to apply annually, until such time as the TAC is changed based on advice from SCRS. The U.S. allowance for dead discards is an additional 68 mt. If there are dead discards in excess of this allowance, they must be counted against the following year's quota. If there are fewer dead discards, then half of the underharvest may be added to the following year's quota while the other half is conserved. The new recommendation also allows four years to balance the 8 percent tolerance for bluefin under 115 cm (young school and school BFT). Implementation of the ICCAT rebuilding program for BFT was proposed in the Bluefin Tuna Addendum to the HMS FMP, published in February 1999, and was finalized with the adoption of the final HMS FMP in April 1999.

In August 1999, NMFS participated in a minimum size workshop of the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Section to ICCAT. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the efficacy of ICCAT minimum size measures as conservation and management tools relative to tunas and tuna-like species. The workshop resulted in recommendations on policy approaches that could improve poor compliance by some countries with international minimum size rules and on data and research needs that could lead to alternative, and perhaps more effective, management measures for juvenile tunas and tuna-like species.

The HMS Management Division closely monitors the catch of bluefin tuna in both the commercial and recreational sectors. Each bluefin landed by recreational and commercial fishers is reported to NMFS through real-time monitoring methods to ensure that the U.S. (and the individual fishing categories) does not exceed its quota. Commercial catches are monitored through dealer reporting, and recreational catch is monitored through a survey (the Large Pelagic Survey or LPS) as well as an automated call-in system developed in 1997. The automated call-in system is administered by a contractor for NMFS, and recreational anglers report their bluefin catches by calling 1-888-USA-TUNA (1-888-872-8862) or through the Internet at www.nmfspermits.com. Since January 1, 1998, bluefin measuring less than 73" can be retained exclusively by recreationally-permitted vessels.

HMS staff have worked with the State of North Carolina (since 1998) and the State of Maryland (effective in July 1999) to monitor the recreational bluefin fishery in those states. Vessel operators in North Carolina and Maryland complete a card for each bluefin landed, and exchange the card for a landing tag, which must be affixed to the bluefin tuna before removal from the vessel. The cards are available at numerous reporting stations (e.g., marinas and fishing centers) throughout the State of North Carolina, and throughout Ocean City, Maryland. Information on the cards is entered into a database in the Northeast Regional Office on a weekly basis. Dockside surveys were conducted simultaneously in North Carolina by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries on behalf of NMFS. In Maryland, the Large Pelagic Survey (dockside and telephone interviews) was conducted simultaneously with the tagging program. NMFS is preparing a report comparing the results of the tagging programs in North Carolina, as well as the Large Pelagics Survey in Maryland.

In response to recreational and charter boat fishermen requesting a more predictable recreational fishing season, NMFS managed the recreational bluefin tuna fishery in 1999 (June through October) using date-certain seasons. Recreational retention limits were raised for pre-determined time-periods during the early part of the season (June-July) when the fish are more available in the southern mid-Atlantic, and were then raised again during the later part of the season (September-October) when bluefin are more available in the northern mid-Atlantic area. These management measures were meant to provide more equitable access to fishing opportunities for all anglers along the Atlantic coast, and NMFS received positive feedback on the results.

HMS staff analyzed pelagic longline databases for interactions and catch rates between target species and incidental catches of Atlantic bluefin tuna. These analyses were used to develop and analyze alternatives, proposed in the Bluefin Tuna Addendum to the HMS FMP, for reducing bluefin tuna dead discards. With publication of the final HMS FMP and its implementing regulations, NMFS implemented a time/area closure for pelagic longline vessels in the northwest Atlantic. This closure is for the month of June each year, and went into effect on June 1, 1999. Analyses indicate that the time/area closure is estimated to reduce U.S. bluefin tuna dead discards by approximately 55 percent.

HMS staff worked on cooperative grants for high technology tagging of Atlantic bluefin tuna with Stanford University and the New England Aquarium. HMS and SEFSC staff worked with Stanford University and New England Aquarium researchers on the preparation of an archival tagging and satellite tagging research cruises. Efforts were expanded in 1998 and 1999 to include Canadian waters, New England waters and the Gulf of Mexico. The HMS Management Division has authorized and funded the Archival and Satellite Tagging program for three years with progress toward tag development and application techniques. Thirteen archival implant tags and 64 pop-up satellite tags have been recovered, from both the Eastern and Western Atlantic, and work is progressing on downloading and analyzing the data and improving this experimental technology. Since December 1998, continued archival and satellite tagging studies have been conducted off Hatteras, and parallel effort was developed off Morehead City/Beaufort with the "Tag-A-Giant" project. The Tag-A-Giant project is focused on gathering scientific data that will provide information necessary to address stock structure issues surrounding bluefin tuna. The major objective is to obtain data on the movement and biology of bluefin tuna, to better understand their behavior and migration patterns. At the same time it is designed to provide an enjoyable and mutually beneficial forum for anglers to assist researchers in collecting vital data on bluefin tuna. The HMS Management Division is working toward a coordinated effort for an archival and satellite tagging and recovery effort with the SEFSC and current and future grantees.

NMFS issued Scientific Research Permits to researchers from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to conduct research comparing the effects of circle and straight hooks on Atlantic bluefin and yellowfin tuna. The purpose of the project, authorized by NMFS since 1996, was to compare the performance of circle hooks to standard straight shank hooks in terms of hooking rate, hook location, hook damage, and hook effectiveness in the typical "chunk" tuna fisheries as practiced along the East Coast. The results of this study, presented at the National Symposium on Catch and Release in Marine Recreational Fisheries, in Virginia Beach, Virginia in December 1999, provide evidence that the use of circle hooks will reduce physical trauma associated with the catch and release of bluefin and yellowfin tuna.

Northeast Region:

During this period, Ecosystem Processes Division staff at the Howard Laboratory continued fundamental and applied research into otolith chemistry. Otoliths of several species from the northwest Atlantic were analyzed in order to investigate the applicability of otolith elemental fingerprinting to stock ID. Using a suitable elemental fingerprinting scheme, one FY00 objective is to test the two stock hypothesis currently employed in Atlantic bluefin tuna stock management. Specimens of 0 and 1 yr old bluefin tuna have been collected in or near their spawning grounds in the Mediterranean Sea and the western Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico and prepared for chemical analysis. Collections were made in collaboration with researchers from the University of Maryland, Texas A&M University, Quantec, NOAA's Highly Migratory Species Office, and local captains along the Atlantic coast. In conjunction with this effort, an international laboratory intercomparison exercise was conducted in order to benchmark the current status of otolith analytical chemistry. Researchers from 13 laboratories from 7 countries participated. Results of the exercise are currently being compiled for a report for the participants and for a presentation at an international conference to be held in January 2000. A peer reviewed manuscript will follow. Results will allow a direct comparison of the analytical techniques currently in use by the otolith research community. A basis for comparison of analytical techniques will become increasingly important as considerations based on otolith elemental fingerprinting become incorporated into more management decisions.

The Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program awarded $88,374 to the University of Maryland to use the results from a previous project on otolith micro-constituent analysis to determine the spatial and temporal stability of elemental fingerprints classified for Mediterranean and western Atlantic nurseries. Juvenile otoliths collected over two years among several sites within each nursery will be analyzed. ICPMS for the determination of elemental fingerprints associated with the first year of life will also be evaluated.

Southeast Region:

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) continued ongoing bluefin tuna archival tagging studies. SEFSC archival tagging of giant bluefin continued off North Carolina in 1999 and resulted in 110 additional fish being tagged with implanted archival tags. These tags record and store data on swimming depth, internal temperature, water temperature, and ambient light level for up to eight years, thereby providing a history of the fish's movements and migrations. Additionally, for the first time, four bluefin tuna were tagged with electronic tags in the primary known spawning are for West Atlantic bluefin, the Gulf of Mexico.

The SEFSC continued ongoing bluefin tuna DNA stock identification studies.

Research into Atlantic bluefin tuna stock structure was continued at multiple universities in the United States. Both genetic studies (DNA-based) and analyses of otolith elemental composition was conducted. The NMFS contributed to these programs by collecting samples from the large pelagic recreational fishery off the Northeast United States though the Large Pelagic Survey and through observer programs.

Research into bluefin tun reproductive physiology continued at North Carolina State University under federal support. The research resulted in the development of an assay to measure reproductive hormone levels in bluefin, yellowfin, and probably other tunas. It is anticipated that this technique will be used to study bluefin maturity at size for use in assessments and for comparison of life history characteristics between eastern and western bluefin.

Cooperative research with scientists from other nations was conducted on spawning and indices of abundance for yellowfin tuna. Research by NMFS and Mexico's INP was initiated to jointly analyze longline observer data from the Gulf of Mexico fisheries of both countries. The research resulted in the calculation of yellowfin tuna abundance indices during 1999. Future cooperative research plans include refining and updating the yellowfin tuna analysis using the most current data, as well as the development of abundance indices for sharks and other tunas.

Scientists from NMFS and Venezuela conducted cooperative research on the spawning of yellowfin tuna in the Western Central Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The condition of ovaries and the presence of hydrated oocytes were used to determine maturity and spawning status, respectively. Preliminary results of this ongoing study were presented in ICCAT SCRS/99/79.

Southwest Region:

Southwest Fisheries Science Center staff attended the Catch and Release Symposium held in Virginia Beach, Virginia (December, 1999) and presented a poster entitled, "Short-Term Survival Rates of Juvenile Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Following Catch and Release, Determined Using Ultrasonic Telemetry". The data presented were based on work primarily sponsored by the NMFS Highly Migratory Species Division in 1998 and addressed issues relevant to the catch-and-release recreational fishery directed at juvenile bluefin tuna along the eastern seaboard.

Southwest Fisheries Science Center staff and staff of the Edgerton Research Laboratory, New England Aquarium, have continued their successful research efforts designed to address critical questions concerning population assessments, long term movements, and spawning areas of Atlantic bluefin tuna. These efforts involve all user groups including recreational fishers, commercial harpoon fishers, and commercial purse seine fishers. This project has successfully brought together groups whose relationships in the past have often been adversarial. The project's most recent accomplishments have centered on placing pop-up satellite tags on giant North Atlantic bluefin tuna. From the acquired data, information on residence times in specific areas and migratory patterns can be discerned. Not only were recreational fishers directly involved with capture of the bluefin tuna on which the satellite tags attached, they were also instrumental in development of the critically important tag attachment system.

Southwest Fisheries Science Center staff co-authored a paper entitled, "Results of Pop-Up Satellite Tagging of Spawning Size Class Fish in the Gulf of Maine: Do North Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Spawn in the Mid-Atlantic", Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science (56:173-177).

Salmonids

Headquarters:

NMFS listed the Puget Sound, Lower Columbia River, and Upper Willamette spring-run chinook salmon ESUs as threatened and the Upper Columbia spring-run chinook salmon ESU as endangered on March 24, 1999.

NMFS listed the Hood Canal summer-run and Columbia River chum salmon ESUs and the Ozette Lake sockeye salmon ESU as threatened on March 25, 1999.

NMFS listed Central Valley spring-run chinook and California coastal chinook ESUs as threatened in September 1999.

NMFS issued permit #1150, a replacement for permit #844, to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game on May 28, 1999, to allow an incidental take (harvest) of threatened Snake River fall chinook salmon.

NMFS issued permit #1168 to the Washington Department of Natural Resources on June 14, 1999, to allow an annual take of threatened Lower Columbia River steelhead.

NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continued working cooperatively with the State of Maine in evaluating its conservation plan for Atlantic salmon in Maine. However, NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon distinct population segment (DPS) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act on November 17, 1999. The concern expressed by NMFS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the poor status of this DPS convinced the State of Maine to close its Atlantic salmon recreational fishery. The State agreed that the directed recreational fishery needs to be closed. If this DPS is listed under the ESA, a recovery plan will be developed so that Atlantic salmon in Maine can once again contribute to the ecosystem, including recreational fishers.

NMFS published a proposed section 4(d) rule for West Coast steelhead ESUs on December 30, 1999, which provides a mechanism whereby NMFS may limit application of take prohibitions to fisheries when a state develops an adequate Fishery Management and Evaluation Plan (FMEP). If NMFS finds that the FMEP contains specific management measures that adequately limits take of listed salmonids and otherwise protects the ESU, NMFS may enter into an MOA with the state for implementation of the plan. Where an FMEP and MOA that meet certain criteria are in place, NMFS concludes that problems associated with fishery impacts on listed salmonids will be addressed and that additional Federal protections through imposition of take prohibitions on harvest activities is not necessary and advisable. This proposed limit on the take prohibitions thus encourages states to move quickly to make needed changes in fishery management so that listed ESUs benefit from those improvements and protections as soon as possible.

Northeast Region:

The Region continues implementation of the Conservation Plan for Atlantic Salmon in Maine. The State of Maine submitted a progress report on implementation of the Maine Conservation Plan in January 1999. When the NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Services) withdrew a proposal to list a distinct population segment of Atlantic salmon as threatened in December 1997, a commitment was made to annually review implementation of the Maine Conservation Plan and the status of the species. The Services published a Federal Register Notice making that progress report available to the public for review and comment. Following that public comment period, the Services provided comments to the State and the State provided a final piece of correspondence formalizing changes to the Conservation Plan. Generally, the Services remain supportive of continued cooperative implementation of the Conservation Plan and encouraged the State, in light of the biological status of the species, to promptly address potential threats to the species and its habitat. The Services used the information the State provided in their 1999 update to the status review for Atlantic salmon which was released to the public on Friday October 8, 1999. Additional activities are anticipated in coming years including assessment of habitat protection measures.

Atlantic Salmon Amendment 1 discusses a definition for overfishing and establishes an aquaculture framework adjustment process for Atlantic salmon in addition to fulfilling Essential Fish Habitat requirements.

Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division (READ) staff developed information on stock abundance and factors influencing the survivorship of Atlantic salmon. These data are being used by the Agency and USFWS to determine the status relative to ESA considerations.

An Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IJ) project, in the amount of $12,536 and awarded to the State of Minnesota, will ascertain and monitor the status of the lake trout and commercial fish stocks in the Minnesota waters of Lake Superior and determine annual production and relative abundance indices, as well as the degree of interaction between different types of fishing, including sport fishing. Project data will be analyzed to aid decision making in the rehabilitation and utilization of these resources.

An IJ project, in the amount of $12,536 and awarded to the State of Michigan, will collect an ongoing series of catch, biological and pathological data for lake whitefish populations exploited by state-licensed commercial fisheries in Michigan waters of Lake Michigan. Study investigators will assess the current status and trends of these stocks through monitoring the whitefish harvest in the commercial trap fishery, and forecasting the total allowable yield of whitefish from discrete fishery management zones. Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) was recently documented in Lake Michigan whitefish populations. Activities will include determining the extent of the disease in whitefish from all management zones. Lake whitefish are an important recreational species.

An IJ project, in the amount of $12,536 and awarded to the State of Vermont, will address effects of thermal warming on the bioenergetics of age-1 salmon and the ultimate effect on individual growth rates. Faster growth rates of juvenile salmon has been related to higher marine survival.

An Anadromous Fish Conservation Act (AFC) project, in the amount of $36,700 and awarded to the State of Vermont, will investigate effects of feeding and habitat during the summer and fall on the bioenergetics of age-1 salmon, and the ultimate effect on individual growth rates.

An AFC project, in the amount of $3,970 and awarded to the State of Wisconsin, will determine the optimum distance upstream of Lake Michigan for stocking Chinook salmon fingerlings. A total of 25,000 chinook salmon will be marked with coded wire tags (CWT) and fin clipping and will be stocked at various locations in Lake Michigan over two consecutive years. The chinook with the CWTs will be collected at an anadromous fisheries facility and also through recreational creel census. Results will be used to improve the efficiency with which the agency rears and releases Chinook salmon fingerlings as part of the Lake Michigan anadromous fisheries management program.

An AFC project, in the amount of $20,900 and awarded to the State of Wisconsin, will sample and investigate instream physical characteristics, fish community attributes, and forest conditions in Wisconsin tributaries to Lake Superior. Age class abundance for each anadromous fish species will be determined. The results of the study will be used in determining the impacts of timber harvest on trout and salmon in Lake Superior.

An Unallied Science project, in the amount of $275,902 and awarded to the State of Maine, will trap adult Atlantic salmon from the Narraguagus and Penobscot Rivers. Fish will be measured, examined for tags and injuries, and scales will be taken for ageing. Narraguagus River smolts will be implanted with ultrasonic transmitters. Catch and effort statistics for the recreational fishery will also be determined. The biological, trap, tag, and sport fishery databases will be updated and analyzed. Spawning sites will be monitored to assess success and escapement. Upstream passage will also be monitored. In addition, assessments of the distant and homewater fisheries will be performed and staff will participate in stock assessment and tag recovery activities in the North Atlantic.

An Unallied Science project, in the amount of $34,975 and awarded to the State of Maine, will conduct hydrographic and planktonic sampling along a transect from inner Narraguagus-Pleasant Bay to the Eastern Maine Coastal Current in an effort to determine the degree to which the Bay offers a distinct hydrographic and planktonic environment from the coastal system. Study results will be evaluated in terms of how these conditions might affect the movements and ecology of migrating salmon.

Alaska Region:

The Pacific Salmon Treaty Program funds projects which develop information for the Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations for Yukon River salmon. The PST negotiations impact all Pacific salmon species (chinook, sockeye, coho, chum, and pink) indigenous to major U.S./Canadian transboundary rivers (Yukon, Taku, Stikine). Activities funded in 1999 ($3,993,800) include funds for the Administrative Liaison to the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for PST negotiations, including tagging programs, data sharing, stock assessment, and rebuilding. The Program also funds the Alaska Salmon Enhancement Program, which in 1999 transported over 5 million sockeye salmon eggs from Tahltan Lake and Tatsamenie Lake to the Snettisham Hatchery for screening, re-seeding, and fertilizing.

Anadromous Fisheries Conservation Act (AFC) funds, in the amount of $360,000, were awarded to the State of Alaska to improve the management of commercial, recreational, and subsistence salmon fisheries of southeast Alaska. During 1999, the traditional escapement indices for pink salmon in northern and southern southeast Alaska were updated and forwarded to all area management biologists. Staff also continued work on identifying and correcting for undercounting biases inherent in aerial and foot surveys of pink and chum salmon escapements.

The Alaska Salmon Enhancement Program funded ($380,000) projects including: 1) thermal marking of salmon stocks; 2) rearing sockeye alevin and fry; 3) screening juvenile salmon for viruses; and 4) transporting sockeye fry to stocking lakes to aid US/Canadian enhancement projects on the Taku and Stikine Rivers. During 1999, over 5 million sockeye salmon eggs collected from Tahltan Lake and Tatsamenie Lake were screened, re-seeded, and fertilized at the Snettisham Hatchery.

Northwest Region:

The Northwest Region worked collaboratively with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop angling regulations for 1999 inland fisheries affecting coho salmon listed under the ESA. The adopted regulations curtailed angling on severely depressed coho salmon stocks, while relaxing regulations on fisheries that target abundant hatchery coho salmon and healthy stocks of chinook salmon along the Oregon Coast. This package of regulations ensured that listed coho salmon stocks were protected and provided more fishery opportunities on healthy salmon stocks. Many of the regulations were restructured to be more consistent and to reduce angler confusion.

A biological opinion on renewing the permit for recreational fishing in Idaho was completed by the Northwest Region and a one tier permit was issued to allow the State to continue limited recreational fisheries for resident trout and surplus hatchery-produced anadromous fish. Also, a draft biological opinion on reissuing a permit to Idaho Department of Fish and Game for resident trout stocking in waters that may be occupied by listed salmonids has been completed. Renewal of the permit is pending.

The Northwest Fishery Science Center (NWFSC), in a cooperative agreement with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game since 1991, began taking all remaining sockeye salmon from Redeye Lake into captivity for a breeding program to stabilize and rebuild the population with funding from the Bonneville Power Administration. For the last few years, eggs from fish reared to adulthood in the NWFSC's captive broodstock program have been returned to Idaho and juveniles have been released to historic habitats (e.g., Redfish Lake) to aid recovery. This year, the first adults (6 males and 1 female) from these releases returned to the Lake. The NWFSC provided over 65,000 Redfish Lake sockeye salmon eggs to Idaho to continue these productive efforts. The number of fish returning is expected to expand many-fold over the next few years.

The NWFSC has been pioneering research on the reformation of hatchery practices and has developed protocols to produce artificially propagated juveniles similar to their wild cohorts in growth, development, and behavior. Identified strategies include use of captive broodstocks, rearing container structures, and feeding strategies that mimic natural conditions, behavioral conditioning, and optimal release strategies for restoration efforts. A NOAA Technical Memorandum describing conservation hatchery principals and protocols has been completed.

Natural Rearing Enhancement Systems (NATURES) research demonstrates that rearing fish in semi-natural raceways with gravel substrates, overhead cover, and instream structure increases the instream survival of juvenile hatchery-reared salmon migrating to the ocean by 8 to 51%. The NWFSC, in cooperation with Long Live the Kings, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bonneville Power Administration, and the Weyerhaeuser Company is continuing to study the systems. Specifically, the NWFSC is conducting a multi-year (1997-2000) production-scale study to determine whether NATURES rearing similarly increases the percentage of chinook salmon surviving to recruitment into the fishery and spawning population (smolt-to-adult survival). During the first three years, 200,000 fall chinook salmon have been reared in NATURES and conventional raceways at the State of Washington's Forks Creek Hatchery. Data are being collected on NATURES rearing effects on growth, coloration, health, and instream survival. Coded-wire-tag data from the released fish will determine smolt-to-adult survival over the next 5 years. This study will establish whether NATURES rearing increases smolt-to-adult survival over the 2% or less currently experienced by hatchery-reared chinook salmon.

The Northwest Region provided $50,000 to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to conduct a creel survey in the Rogue River in 1998 and 1999. This survey will provide needed information on angler effort and catch of coho salmon, chinook salmon, and steelhead and help guide fisheries management of listed fish. Preliminary results from this study indicate that selective fisheries can occur on non-listed fish with low impacts to listed salmon populations. The final report from this two year study will be published in early 2000.

The NWFSC, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, is developing techniques for evaluating selective fisheries for marked hatchery salmonids (incidental mortalities from the release of unmarked fish and difficulties with analyzing coded-wire tag recoveries). Selective fisheries are primarily recreational fisheries off the coasts of Oregon and Washington and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Results are applied in the Pacific Fishery Management Council salmon season setting process and in Pacific Salmon Treaty (U.S./Canada) negotiations.

Technical committees chaired by Northwest Region (NWR) scientists assisted the Pacific Fishery Management Council to develop regulations for the ocean salmon fisheries, which included opening the first recreational fishery to the retention of hatchery coho salmon off the coast of Oregon, in July, 1999. The NWR and NWFSC worked collaboratively with other management agencies to implement this fishery. The monitoring and evaluation of this fishery indicated that preseason estimates of encounter rates and impacts to wild coho salmon were similar to actual fishery estimates. Overall, this fishery was implemented successfully and provides additional evidence that selective recreational fisheries can be compatible with the conservation and recovery of listed salmon and steelhead populations. The selective fishery was accomplished by mass marked hatchery coho salmon and allowing only retention of hatchery fish with a healed adipose fin clip.

The Northwest Region required the continuation of the external marking (adipose fin clip) of hatchery spring chinook salmon in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon. This will allow hatchery fish to be differentiated from listed wild fish when they return as adults, thus increasing angling opportunity and catch of hatchery spring chinook, while reducing the overall impacts on wild populations.

The Northwest Region worked collaboratively with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop a fishery regime for 2000 to protect wild Willamette River spring chinook salmon, which were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1999. This fishery is one of the most popular in the State of Oregon and provides significant recreational and economic benefits. A fishery regime was adopted which significantly reduced the overall impacts to the wild spring chinook populations and increased the catch of externally marked hatchery chinook. Fishery opportunities were reduced in some streams due to the recent low escapements of wild fish. However, fishery managers are optimistic the catch of hatchery fish will increase significantly in 2001, when most of the return will be externally marked.

NWFSC scientists are participating in a review of hooking mortality impacts. Rates currently used are based on research done several years ago and, since then, several new studies have been carried out focusing on fishing methods used in the recreational and commercial fisheries. The review is being carried out in cooperation with the states, tribes, and Canada, and will develop recommendations for mortality rates to be used in assessing the impacts of recreational and commercial fisheries on non-retained catch.

NWFSC staff continued comprehensive studies with the Universities of Washington and Alaska and the Suquamish Tribe on the consequences of inbreeding in Puget Sound hatchery chinook salmon and of outbreeding in Alaska hatchery coho salmon. To date, one generation of close inbreeding has been imposed in the chinook population, and preliminary results provide some evidence for inbreeding depression. The second of two cohorts of coho salmon have been marked and released; upon their return in 2000 and 2001, second- generation hybrids will be spawned to test for outbreeding depression. These studies will provide information that should help to guide hatchery programs to increase productivity of their populations and minimize adverse interactions between hatchery and wild fish.

NWFSC staff continued to model the genetic and demographic consequences of hatchery supplementation of wild salmon populations. The modeling results will enhance understanding of factors affecting productivity of wild and hatchery fish when they co-mingle in nature.

NWFSC scientists initiated a study to quantify the relative reproductive success of wild and hatchery steelhead spawning naturally in a northeast Oregon stream. This study uses newly available molecular techniques to determine the parentage of wild-caught juveniles and compare the ratio of individuals of hatchery and wild origin with the ratio of marked and unmarked parents that were passed over the weir earlier in the year. Because the study is designed to include two full generations, it should be possible not only to evaluate differences in reproductive success, but may also show differences in mortality attributed to particular life-history stages.

NWFSC staff continued their baseline survey of protein variation in chinook salmon stocks in wild and hatchery populations in California. The study was conducted in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) and the NMFS Southwest Regional Office. A test fishery was conducted in April,1999, near Half Moon Bay, California, from which tissues samples for genetic stock identification were collected to learn about the ocean distribution of threatened or endangered salmon stocks in California. In July, 1999, NWFSC staff analyzed samples from a Bodega Bay test fishery, and began analyzing over 1400 samples of Central Valley chinook salmon collected by CDFG.

NWFSC staff continued a long-term study that monitors the genetic effects of hatchery supplementation on chinook salmon and steelhead from four different drainages in the Snake River Basin. Now in progress for over 10 years, this Bonneville Power Authority funded effort has produced the most comprehensive data set of its kind for evaluation of hatchery propagation in the recovery of depressed salmon populations.

NWFSC staff completed a status review of cutthroat trout in January 1999. Six Evolutionary Significant Units (ESUs) were identified, and the Southwestern Washington/Columbia River ESU was proposed as threatened. The conservation status of the ESU in the upper Willamette River was not formally evaluated because available evidence indicated that few anadromous coastal cutthroat trout occurred in this region.

NWFSC researchers are contributing to recreational fisheries efforts through developing an understanding of the physical and biological factors that affect the inter-annual abundance of juvenile Pacific salmon in the ocean and estuarine environment. The change in abundance of juvenile salmon affects recruitment to the adult stage and ultimately to the fisheries. NWFSC scientists are evaluating the influence of important trophic interactions (predator abundance, prey availability, influence of disease) and the physical factors (temperature, salinity, ocean upwelling) that affect the health (growth, condition, bioenergetics, and survival) of juvenile salmon in the coastal waters of Oregon and Washington. A focus of one the studies is on the Columbia River plume and the potential benefits of this particular habitat to juvenile salmon growth and survival. A complimentary study is ongoing to develop a conceptual model describing which attributes of estuaries, and in particular the Columbia River estuary, support the various salmon life history patterns historically present in the Pacific Northwest. This latter endeavor will be used to identify data gaps in existing knowledge and direct future research efforts.

NWFSC staff initiated a pilot study with Aquaseed Farms to map genes (Quantitative Trait Loci) for growth and early maturation in coho salmon, using fish from two divergent Washington stocks. This study will provide information on the genetic control of these traits, which should improve understanding of hatchery culture effects on productivity and the genetic underpinnings of life history in natural coho salmon populations.

NWFSC staff worked with biologists from public utility districts, state, tribal, and federal fish and wildlife agencies to identify interim recovery criteria for Endangered Species Act listed Upper Columbia spring chinook salmon and steelhead populations. Successful recovery of these populations is likely to lead to greater recreational fishing opportunities.

NWFSC staff continued genetic stock identification studies of adult steelhead trout at Bonneville Dam and in a bycatch fishery in Zone 6 of the Columbia River in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and NMFS Northwest Regional Office. The objective of the study is to develop a better understanding of steelhead trout stock composition in the two areas.

The Northwest Region has worked with Oregon and California to develop conservation plans for coastal and inland steelhead. These plans included protective measures such as establishing sanctuary areas, reducing or eliminating harvest of natural fish, and modifying angling seasons and methods. These conservation plans ensure that impacts from angling on natural steelhead are low, while still providing recreational fishery opportunities for steelhead, salmon, and trout. All of the negotiated angling regulations went into effect in January 1999, and were generally well received by anglers.

To protect listed winter steelhead in the Sandy and Clackamas River basins, the Northwest Region facilitated the initiation of a program to trap and remove non-listed hatchery winter and summer steelhead at Marmot Dam on the Sandy River and North Fork Dam on the Clackamas River. The program, which started in 1998, was continued in 1999. Hatchery adult winter and summer steelhead that are not part of the listed lower Columbia River steelhead Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU) are collected by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel, Portland General Electric biologists, and volunteers from local sport fishing groups at traps on the two dams. Wild listed fish and natural broodstock adults (hatchery supplementation steelhead) are released to continue upstream to spawn naturally. The hatchery fish are removed, marked and hauled downstream where they are released, providing more opportunity for harvest in the sport fisheries below the dams. Some hatchery steelhead in this program have been recycled through the sport fishery several times. Some of the hatchery steelhead are transported to nearby reservoirs to increase harvest opportunities and to prevent the non-native hatchery fish from spawning in the wild. Programs similar to these also occur in Washington tributaries to protect the lower Columbia River steelhead ESU, while providing sport harvest opportunities.

A graduate student working in the NWFSC's genetics laboratories has developed species-specific DNA markers for the study and management of hybrid steelhead and cutthroat trout populations that are important to recreational fisheries. In addition to the genetic characterization of hatchery brood stocks, as requested by state co-managers, the markers have also been used to examine a 50-year-old collection of scales to document changes in hybridization through time.

NWFSC staff has been collaborating with Alaska Fisheries Science Center staff to study pinniped predation on salmonid populations. Salmonid bones found in harbor seal droppings/waste samples are identified by species using molecular genetic techniques. Understanding how factors such as pinniped predation affect salmonid stocks will ultimately allow better management of these stocks and potentially greater recreational fishing opportunities.

A manuscript entitled, "Physiological Status of Naturally Reared Juvenile Spring Chinook Salmon in the Yakima River: Seasonal Dynamics and Changes Associated with Smolting", has been completed by Northwest Fisheries Science Center scientists and was accepted for publication in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. The research describes significant new information (distinct seasonal changes) on the physiological characteristics of wild juvenile salmon during early development to the juvenile smolt stage.

NWFSC and Southwest Fisheries Science Center scientists are finalizing a draft paper entitled, "Viable Populations of Pacific Salmonids", which describes the attributes of healthy salmonid populations, and is expected to play an important role in recovery planning for Endangered Species Act listed Pacific salmonids. A copy of the draft paper is located at http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/pubs/nwfscpubs.html.

Southwest Region:

Southwest Region staff continued participation in the California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout. This public/multi-agency committee provides advice to the California Department of Fish and Game regarding all matters related to salmonid conservation and management. Additionally, the Committee is the key group involved in recommending which habitat restoration and angler survey projects should be funded.

Southwest Region and Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) staff participated in meetings of the Steelhead Research and Monitoring Program (SRAMP). NMFS staff provided a critique of California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) research proposals for monitoring work to be conducted in the North Coast and Klamath Mountains Province Steelhead Evolutionary Significant Units (ESUs). The SRAMP group was formed in the second half of 1999 as a result of the NMFS-CDFG Memorandum of Agreement for not-listing the North Coast Steelhead ESU. Many of the research elements will directly benefit recreational fishing by collecting life history and abundance data for steelhead fisheries in the respective ESUs.

Southwest Region staff worked cooperatively with California Department of Fish and Game and the California Fish and Game Commission to assess the impacts of proposed sportfishing regulation changes on listed salmon and steelhead in California. As a result of this analysis, an agreement was reached that, among other things, led to increased monitoring (angler surveys, life history research) and education/enforcement efforts in the waters where the new regulations are to apply.

Southwest Region staff in cooperation with the Southwest Fisheries Science Center met with recreational and commercial salmon fishing representatives in November. Strategies for implementing the existing Endangered Species Act consultation standards for the endangered Sacramento River winter run chinook were discussed that would provide additional protection to newly listed Central Valley spring run chinook. As a result of the meeting, representatives agreed to support NMFS' request to the California Fish and Game Commission to delay the opening of the recreational salmon season south of Point Arena by two weeks. The recreational fishing minimum size limits, which in recent years have been 24 inches, may be reduced to 20 inches beginning June 2000, as result of the delayed opening.

Southwest Region staff have been working cooperatively with Redwood National Park staff to assess the catch-and-release angling impacts on adult summer steelhead inhabiting Redwood Creek. During the summer months, elevated water temperatures present an increased mortality risk to holding and migrating summer steelhead. Additional protective regulations are being considered as a result of the cooperative effort.

The Southwest Region and California Department of Fish and Game are conducting a joint review of California's hatcheries that produce salmon and steelhead trout. The review is examining all aspects of the hatcheries' guidelines and operations with the following objectives: determine if there are impacts by hatcheries on Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed fish; determine how hatcheries fit into salmon and steelhead stock management and restoration; and determine if Federal ESA authorization might be needed by hatcheries "taking" listed salmon or steelhead.

Staff biologists in the Habitat Conservation Division have been working on informal and formal Endangered Species Act Section 7 consultations for projects with possible effects on threatened and endangered steelhead. Through agency communication and cooperation, federal, state and local government activities can be completed in a manner that will allow for steelhead survival and recovery. Common activities requiring consultation included projects involving flood control, road/bridge repair and replacement, gravel mining, and habitat restoration.

Southwest Region staff reviewed the Lassen National Forest (LNF) Recreation Program with regards to angling-related impacts on Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed spring run chinook salmon and steelhead. Monitoring, enforcement, and education components were instituted in cooperation with LNF and California Department of Fish and Game as a result of this ESA Section 7 consultation.

Anadromous Fisheries Conservation Act (AFC) funds were awarded to the State of California to monitor the commercial and recreational fisheries off the coast of California. Ocean sport sampling data and heads of coded wire tagged salmon were collected from mid February through mid-November by port samplers between Oxnard, California and the Oregon border. The funding also includes a salmon creel census on the Klamath River.

The Southwest Region provided $90,000 for a study to quantify the predation by California sea lions and Pacific harbor seals on recreational salmonid fisheries in the Lower Klamath River. Observations were finished mid-November. Sea lion counts at Klamath Cove are still being made monthly and droppings/waste are being processed.

The Southwest Region provided $10,000 to complete an ongoing study designed to determine the amount of California sea lions and Pacific harbor seals interactions with recreational and commercial salmon fisheries in Monterey Bay, California. The field work was completed in November, 1999. Data analysis should be completed by July 2000.

The Southwest Region provided $40,000 to assess the impacts of California sea lions and Pacific harbor seals on migrating steelhead at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River in the Monterey Bay region. The field work is on-going and should be completed in April, 2000. Data analysis should be completed by July, 2000.

Red Snapper

Headquarters:

The MRFSS option for biological sampling was exercised for calender year 1999 to collect additional lengths and hard parts for red snapper stock assessment.

The MRFSS staff assisted the Southeast Region in preparation of the NMFS response to the Coastal Conservation Association petition to extend the red snapper season in the Gulf of Mexico.

Southeast Region:

NMFS hosted a workshop for recreational red snapper fishermen, April 21-22, 1999. The purpose was to explore management options for optimization of the red snapper recreational fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Workshop participants made recommendations to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council on bag limits, size limits, and closed seasons.

Sustainable Fisheries Division staff attended and actively engaged in the Gulf Red Snapper Stakeholders Meeting, September 26-27, 1999 in New Orleans. The meeting provided an arena for participants in the recreational fishery to provide suggestions to improve the management system. Discussion focused on recommendations that would reduce overfishing while providing for the fair, equitable, and effective means of allocating harvest. The Gulf Council proposals to manage the recreational fishery for the 2000 season were principally adopted from the recommendations developed at this meeting: 1) a 4-fish bag limit for all recreational harvesters, including captain and crew on for-hire vessels; 2) 16-inch total length minimum size limit; and 3) an April 21 - October 21 recreational fishing season.

To continue the programs to reduce mortality and maintain or rebuild overfished stocks of red snapper and other important finfish species in the Gulf, a protocol was established to certify that bycatch reduction devices (BRDS) required for installation in shrimp trawls will reduce the mortality of incidentally caught juvenile red snapper by 44 percent compared to the average mortality level determined for the 1984-89 period.

Economics Office staff participated in the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Recreational Red Snapper Ad Hoc Panel.

Beaufort Laboratory personnel cooperated with researchers at other laboratories in South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana by examining otolith sections from Gulf of Mexico red snapper.

A Marine Fisheries Initiative (MARFIN) project, in the amount of $38,511 and awarded to Texas A&M University Sea Grant College, will investigate the enhancement of shrimp retention and reduction in juvenile red snapper retention in selected Bycatch Reduction Devices employed in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic shrimp fisheries.

MARFIN funded three projects of $58,617 (University of Southern Alabama), $122,159 (Texas A&M Research Foundation), and $114,734 (Louisiana State University) to determine the population structure of red snapper in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

A MARFIN project, in the amount of $116,871 and awarded to Mote Marine Laboratory, will compare depth versus hooking effects in the release mortality of undersized red snapper.

A project under the Unallied Science Program and in the amount of $1,464,000 was awarded to the Mississippi Consortium to demonstrate the potential contribution that the responsible release of cultured red snapper can make to rebuild wild stocks. The project is currently developing the techniques to successfully culture red snapper.

Flatfishes

Northeast Region:

Reliable information, critical to the development of regional fishery management plans and subsequent amendments, and, ultimately, to the building and maintenance of sustainable fisheries, is produced through the Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) process, a cooperative effort of the NMFS/NEFSC and NER, the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC) Meetings of the 28th and 29th Northeast Regional SAW were held to peer review assessments and to craft the management advice including witch flounder, Cape Cod yellowtail flounder, Georges Bank winter flounder Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank American plaice, and Southern New England winter flounder.

Amendment 12 to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP was completed ahead of schedule on January 14, 1999 as part of an amendment combining Surf Clams and Ocean Quahogs with Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Squid, Mackerel and Butterfish. The Amendment was bound by statutory time frames which necessitated its approval no sooner than the end of April. Jointly with ASMFC, the MAFMC will amend the FMP to address the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, including the necessary fishing mortality and biomass targets and thresholds, EFH, and bycatch.

Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division (READ) staff provided information, analyses and personnel support to the National Academy of Sciences Panel reviewing the summer flounder stock assessment and data collection activities.

Amendment 9 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP was developed by the New England Fishery Management Council (Council) primarily to address the new requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA) on October 11, 1996. Amendment 9 proposes to include halibut in the NE Multispecies FMP and revise the overfishing definition for the following species: halibut, Gulf of Maine cod, American plaice, witch flounder, windowpane flounder, Gulf of Maine winter flounder, Southern New England winter flounder, and white hake. In addition to the new overfishing definitions, this action proposes to implement: 1) Protective measures for halibut including a maximum and minimum fish size, possession limit, and prohibition on directed fishing; 2) trip limit, minimum fish size, and/or trawl gear modifications to rebuild winter flounder stocks; 3) a running days-at-sea clock for all daily trip limit provisions; 4) a prohibition on street-sweeper gear (a relatively new trawl gear design); 5) elimination of the Gulf of Maine cod trip limit lay-over requirement implemented under Framework 24; and 6) an indefinite postponement of the multispecies Vessel Monitoring System for multispecies vessels. Measures included in this amendment propose to rebuild the stock over a ten year period, where possible, to a population where fishing could occur at optimum yield levels.

Researchers in the Coastal Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processes Division, Howard Laboratory, Highlands, NJ) are currently analyzing evidence of population movement and stock structure of summer flounder. Using juvenile and adult summer flounder collected from North Carolina to Georges Bank by the NMFS groundfish surveys, techniques are being applied that will better identify the geographic and environmental sources of summer flounder that survive to enter the fishery. These analyses are also designed to reveal interannual and age-specific trends in summer flounder movements throughout the Mid-Atlantic Bight. The techniques being used include: (1) environmentally induced meristic and morphometric variation, and (2) biochemical constituent analysis of otoliths.

Researchers in the Coastal Ecology Branch are also experimentally evaluating spawning levels and offspring quality of summer flounder and winter flounder. Laboratory experiments are being conducted to appraise the magnitude and basis of female differences in reproductive output. This assessment includes defining, quantifying, and validating 'offspring quality' based on various egg and larval attributes. Further, correlative analyses are being applied to these attributes to decide which are most predictive of future growth and survival. These projects will provide information for improved assessments of the spawning biomass (and reproductive potential) of these stocks.

Researchers in the Coastal Ecology Branch have begun analyses of growth and survival rates of young winter flounder and summer flounder. These preliminary studies, which demonstrated the feasibility of rearing these species at the Howard Laboratory, have led to improved estimates of population vital rates (larval growth, condition, and survival rates). In the upcoming year, this project will direct attention to 1) obtaining better estimates of survival of egg, larval, and juvenile summer flounder; 2) improving methods of age and growth determination of wild summer flounder; and 3) developing techniques that would allow inferences of habitats recently occupied by summer flounder.

Researchers in the Coastal Ecology Branch (EPD, Howard Laboratory) are assessing the risk of predation mortality of young summer flounder and winter flounder. At the time of settlement into the bottom habitats, young juveniles of both species are susceptible to predation from many vertebrate and invertebrate predators. Particularly common predators include the sevenspine bay shrimp and blue crab. We have conducted laboratory predation trials that quantify the rate of predation and demonstrate that it decreases as flatfish increase in size and/or when they are exposed to smaller predators. Further, estimates of temperature-dependent growth rates of flounder juveniles allows the quantification of the duration of time (and growth) after which summer and winter flounder achieve a size refuge from these abundant predators.

Field and laboratory research conducted by the Behavioral Ecology Branch (EPD, Howard Laboratory) indicate that age -1 summer flounder are among the most important predators on age -0 winter flounder in estuaries of the Middle Atlantic Bight. Both sea robins and summer flounder appear to be critical negative elements of the habitat for juvenile winter flounder, and habitats with low numbers of these predators are likely to yield higher productivities of winter flounder.

Staff authored an article entitled, "Behavior of Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) during the Reproductive Season: Laboratory and Field Observations on Spawning, Feeding and Locomotion", which was published in the Fisheries Bulletin (97:999-1016).

Staff authored an article entitled, "Predation by Striped Searobin (Prionotus evolans, Triglidae) on Young-of-the-Year Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus): Examining Prey Size Selection and Prey Choice using Field Observations and Laboratory Experiments", which was published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (242: 211-231).

A Marine Fisheries Initiative (MARFIN) project, in the amount of $210,000 and awarded to the Marine Biological Laboratory will investigate the stock assessment of yellowtail flounder in the Northeast. Yellowtail flounder samples will be collected from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, the South Channel, southern New England, and mid-Atlantic states. DNA fingerprinting analysis based on the Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction method (RAPD-PCR) will be performed on the blood of these flounders. The analysis will determine the relatedness of the flounder samples and define the regional stocks in the area. The results will be crucial to the development of strategies for stock management of yellowtail flounder. A neural network analysis of the fingerprint data as a predictor for future surveys will also be performed.

Southeast Region:

A report on the life-history, age structure, and reproduction of Paralichthid flounders from northwest Florida was presented to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This project was prompted by the need for a regional stock assessment and was conducted in cooperation with the Institute for Fishery Resource Ecology (IFRE) of Florida State University.

Alaska Region:

The Alaska Region continues to work cooperatively with the Halibut Charter Working Group of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the Pacific halibut guided sport industry to develop management measures for the halibut charter fishery and a management program for the Pacific halibut guided sport industry, respectively.

The Alaska Region has worked cooperatively within the North Pacific Fishery Management Council forum on a local area management plan (LAMP) protocol for Pacific halibut, and on a specific LAMP for Sitka Sound. On September 29, 1999, the AKR published a final rule implementing a LAMP for the Pacific halibut fishery in Sitka Sound in the Gulf of Alaska. The Sitka LAMP prohibits a person using a vessel greater than 35 feet in overall length from fishing for halibut with setline gear within Sitka Sound. The LAMP also prohibits a person using a vessel less than or equal to 35 feet in overall length from fishing for halibut with setline gear within Sitka Sound from June 1 through August 31. Finally, the rule prohibits all charter vessels from fishing for halibut within Sitka Sound from June 1 through August 31 and from retaining halibut caught within Sitka Sound while engaging in sport fishing for other species from June 1 through August 31. This LAMP is intended to prevent localized depletion of the Pacific halibut resource in Sitka Sound.

Pacific Lingcod/Rockfish/Groundfish

Northwest Region:

In response to a petition to list several species of Puget Sound marine fishes as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) staff initiated a review of the status of Pacific coast gadids (Pacific cod, walleye pollock, and Pacific hake). This Biological Review Team also includes scientists from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Scientists at the NWFSC, in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, are investigating the potential for stock enhancement and aquaculture for lingcod. In 1999, for the first time, lingcod were raised in captivity, from the embryonic stage to a size suitable for stocking, using methods that could be adopted for larger-scale production. This part of the study was projected to take three years, but was accomplished in only one year. Results from additional studies on developmental physiology of lingcod larvae, demonstrating the important effects of UV light on feed perception, and stress-induced dehydration, will enable improved rearing procedures.

Southwest Region:

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) and the California Department of Fish and Game completed a stock assessment of cowcod and determined that the stock was overfished. The cowcod, a prized catch in the southern California recreational fishery for rockfish, has shown marked declines in abundance. The assessment was presented to the Pacific Fishery Management Council in 1999, and resulted in major changes in management regulations in California. The status of cowcod and bocaccio, another species of rockfish, led to reductions of commercial quotas for rockfish in the Monterey and Conception management areas and a recreational closure of rockfish during January and February in southern California and March and April in northern California. A rebuilding plan for cowcod is now being developed.

The SWFSC, funded by the California Department of Fish and Game, is studying the stock structure and larval dispersal potential of nearshore rockfishes caught by recreational fishermen and the live fish fishery. This study will examine the genetic differences between the north, central, and south coasts of California. There are remarkable genetic differences between the three regions for grass, gopher, and black and yellow rockfish, suggesting that even though they produce pelagic larvae, the larvae remain near their birthplace perhaps by behavioral means.

Striped Bass

Northeast Region:

Until 1998, there were no studies that have compared the feeding behavior of striped bass and bluefish together. Anecdotal reports of striped bass feeding near or under schools of feeding bluefish suggest that striped bass may benefit from this interaction. Other anecdotal evidence suggest that striped bass "drive" bluefish away from prey schools. The Behavioral Ecology Branch of the Ecosystem Processes Division is currently addressing these questions by examining the foraging of adult striped bass and bluefish in the Howard Laboratory research aquarium. Within a species, there was no difference in prey capture success between mixed and single species treatments and little interference or facilitative behavior was observed. The Branch has also examined the potential for competition between juvenile bluefish and striped bass in a 60-day growth experiment. Bluefish grew significantly faster than striped bass; however, within a species, there was no significant differences in growth between the mixed and single species treatments when abundant food was provided in the laboratory setting. The data from these experiments have now been fully analyzed, and the results have been presented at scientific meetings.

The influence of juvenile striped bass density on juvenile bluefish predation rate was measured in laboratory evaluation of functional response conducted by members of the Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processes Division, Howard Laboratory). These experiments were performed on both small and large juvenile bluefish with and without the presence of a constant background density of Atlantic silversides. The effect of eelgrass on bluefish functional response was also measured. The influence of varying relative abundances of striped bass and Atlantic silversides on juvenile bluefish prey selection was examined in prey switching experiments. Prey switching occurs when the prey type with the highest relative abundance is included disproportionately more in the predator's diet than would be expected from random feeding. These experiments were performed both with and without the presence of eelgrass. The data from these experiments have now been fully analyzed, and the results have been submitted for publication and presented at scientific meetings.

In a cooperative effort between staff of the Behavioral Ecology Branch of the Ecosystem Processes Division (Howard Laboratory) and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, field collections of juvenile striped bass and bluefish were performed in Long Island marine embayments from June to October 1997 and 1998 at bi-weekly to monthly intervals. Fish were collected using a 61m beach seine. The overlap in habitat and food resource use between these two predators was examined. Juvenile bluefish and striped bass had moderate overlap in habitat use but not in diet suggesting low niche overlap. The data from this field work have now been fully analyzed, and the results have been presented at scientific meetings.

The main focus of a cooperative effort between staff of the Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processes Division, Howard Laboratory) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst is predator/prey interactions. The dominant forage fish for juvenile bluefish and striped bass on the East Coast is the bay anchovy. Laboratory experiments examining the capture success, prey choice, and size selectivity of juvenile bluefish and striped bass predators on bay anchovy and other dominant prey such as Atlantic menhaden and Atlantic silverside are being conducted. Data from these experiments will be used in building an individual based model to predict predator growth rates in the Hudson River estuary.

Staff presented research entitled, "Field and Laboratory Examination of Competition between Juvenile Bluefish and Striped Bass" at the American Fisheries Society - Early Life History section meeting in Beaufort, North Carolina.

Staff presented research entitled, "Field and Laboratory Examination of Competition between Juvenile Bluefish and Striped Bass" at the annual American Fisheries Society meeting, held in Charlotte, North Carolina.

An Anadromous Fish Conservation Act (AFC) project, in the amount of $52,000 and awarded to the State of New York, will provide an annual assessment of juvenile abundance of striped bass and other important recreational and commercial species in the Hudson River and Western Long Island through a relative index of abundance.

An Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (ACFCMA) project, in the amount of $29,149 and awarded to the District of Columbia, will investigate the movements of 18 inch and larger striped bass during the Spring 2000 spawning season through a radio telemetry study. This will be accomplished through the radio tagging of fifty fish and the monitoring of their movements to determine habitat preference and length of stay within the District's jurisdictional borders of the Potomac River. This information will assist fishery managers in determining the District's striped bass fishing season and size limit.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $114,688 and awarded to the State of Maryland, will implement, refine, and manage commercial and charter boat striped bass limited entry fisheries, via harvester declaration and reporting mechanisms, for temporal and areal harvest allocations, utilizing the most efficient methods. Harvest will be recorded and tracked for compliance with the interstate fishery management plan (FMP). Increased enforcement activities throughout tidal Maryland will also provide a deterrent to conservation violation.

An Unallied Science project, in the amount of $166,400 and awarded to the State of New York will monitor the biological characteristics, movements, and growth of the adult coastal migratory stock of striped bass off Long Island, New York. The haul seine survey provides the only fisheries management source of data from the mixed stock coastal component of the population. The project will provide essential information to study the population dynamics of striped bass.

A Marine Fisheries Initiative project, in the amount of $92,430 and awarded to the University of Maryland, will attempt to estimate age and sex specific probabilities of coastal habitat use for Chesapeake Bay male and female striped bass, estimate the frequency of spawning for the females, and to improve the sensitivity and spatial resolution for electron microprobe analysis of the collected otoliths. Data collected under the project will then provide a means to incorporate sex and age specific probabilities of seawater and freshwater habitat into striped bass stock assessments.

A Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program project, in the amount of $88,702 and awarded to the University of Maryland, will 1) estimate age and year class specific growth rates of Chesapeake Bay striped bass juveniles, pre-migrant subadults and migratory females, and examine evidence for density dependence in growth; 2) estimate fecundity and age at first maturation for females of year class varying in initial abundance and test for density effects on these rates; and 3) evaluate the importance of such density dependent effects for calculation of biological reference points and overfishing definitions.

Southeast Region:

A Beaufort Laboratory scientist assisted with the preparation of a report entitled, "Impact Assessment of Proposed Corps of Engineers Dredging Associated with the Dare County Beaches Project Upon Fisheries Resources". The report contained data on striped bass food habit studies conducted at Beaufort.

An Anadromous Fish Conservation Act project, in the amount of $44,653 and awarded to the University of Southern Mississippi, continues efforts to restore striped bass in Mississippi waters.

Southwest Region:

Southwest Fisheries Science Center scientists examined the impact of proposed striped bass stocking on the extinction and recovery dynamics of the endangered Sacramento River winter chinook salmon.

Other Species

Headquarters:

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries (IRF) initiated the development of the first national symposium to focus on issues related exclusively to marine recreational fishing. RecFish 2000, "Managing Marine Recreational Fisheries in the 21^st Century: Meeting the Needs of Managers, Anglers, & Industry" will convene in June, 2000 in San Diego, California. To ensure the involvement of the diverse elements of the marine recreational fishing community, IRF partnered with the National Sea Grant College Program to serve as co-conveners of the event. Sponsors as of December, 1999 include, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the California Department of Fish & Game. Boat/U.S., Pure Fishing, the Recreational Fishing Alliance, Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle, the Billfish Foundation and the American Sportfishing Association have expressed interest in sponsorship.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries maintained the EEZ regulations on striped bass and weakfish, along with participation in the interstate fisheries management process, has allowed those stocks to continue their recoveries.

The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) funds peer-reviewed research directed at the Bay's living resource problems, participates in CBP activities, provides technical assistance, coordinates these activities internally within NOAA and externally among CBP partners, and disseminates results and information to the general public. Many programs underway related to the Bay's restoration which will enhance recreational fishing the Chesapeake Bay.

The recreational fishery for blue crab is largely undocumented. There were attempts to estimate the scope of this fishery in Maryland in 1983, 1989 and 1990. These surveys were limited in geographical extent and made expansion to Baywide estimates difficult. Recognizing the need to fully assess the recreational fishery for blue crab, the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee funded the development of a Baywide survey that captures both private and public access components of the fishery. A survey design employing both a telephone component and a field intercept component for estimation of catch and effort was selected. The survey will provide preliminary estimates of blue crab recreational catch, effort, catch rates, size composition, and sex ratio based on the pilot survey design funded previously. The information will be used to determine the required sample size for a full recreational fishing survey and will lead to further recommendations for improvements in design. A complete analysis of the project will be completed by March 2000.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries participated in Regional Fishery Management Councils and Interstate Marine Fisheries Commissions briefings and meetings to provide input and be available for consultation on recreational fisheries issues as well as to meet with constituents on these issues.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries reviewed numerous fishery management plans and amendments and provided input pertaining to recreational fisheries issues and implementation of Executive Order 12962.

IRF staff participated in meeting with Southwest Region managers and the Manager of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary to discuss issues related to the creation of marine resource no-take zones. This will be an issue of high concern for marine anglers depending on their size, location, and other restrictions. This issue is on a fast track with the California Department of Fish and Game and is also becoming a high priority with the Pacific Fishery Management Council and its recently established Committee on Marine Reserves.

Northeast Region:

Reliable information, critical to the development of regional fishery management plans and subsequent amendments, and, ultimately, to the building and maintenance of sustainable fisheries, is produced through the Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) process, a cooperative effort of the NMFS/NEFSC and NER, the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC) Meetings of the 28th and 29th Northeast Regional SAW were held to peer review assessments and to craft the management advice including scallops, Loligo squid, Illex squid, and Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank white hake.

Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division (READ) staff participated in stock assessment updates (SARC 29) for important species of recreational/commercial importance, including, weakfish, tautog, Atlantic mackerel, and striped bass. Additionally, READ staff chaired the technical committee providing a revised summer flounder assessment and management-related analyses of options.

Sustainable Fisheries Act amendments for all FMPs were begun. These amendments will alter all FMPs by establishing new definitions of overfishing, overfished, OY, and MSY. These amendments will also establish definitions for Maximum Stock Size Threshold and Maximum Fishing Mortality Threshold, which are two measures used to determine if a fishery is overfished.

Controversial restrictions have been necessary to rebuild Gulf of Maine cod. For the fishing year that began in May, the New England Council relied on trip limits and limited closed areas to reduce cod landings to target levels. Commercial trip limits were set at 200 lb/day, a level intended to discourage the fishery from targeting cod. A series of sequential area closures were established that were limited in size and duration because of concerns that more extensive closures would preclude several fisheries for other species. In order to ensure that landings would not exceed the target level, the Council measures also required the Regional Administrator to reduce the trip limit when landings reached a specified trigger point. Due to relative concentrations of cod nearshore, the cod trigger point was quickly reached, requiring reduction of Gulf of Maine cod possession limits within the first month of the fishery. On May 28, 1999, the Regional Administrator reduced the daily commercial cod possession to 30 lbs, the equivalent of the recreational possession limit. Cod bycatch remained high and fishermen immediately reported high discards of cod in the Gulf of Maine. The New England Council requested emergency action to increase the trip limit to 700 lb/day, along with other measures. The Secretary of Commerce found that the situation did not meet the criteria for emergency action. In addition, the proposed trip limit would not have discouraged a directed fishery for cod and would likely have resulted in landings in excess of the level needed to allow rebuilding. Instead, interim measures were implemented on August 3, 1999, to increase the daily commercial possession limit of cod to 100 lbs to reduce discards and increase the incentive for fishermen to return to port earlier by increasing the overall profit of their trips. Long-term measures are being developed through Frameworks 31 and 32 to the multispecies fishery management plan.

READ staff participated in various Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission committees/teams/ working groups involved in the assessment/management of recreationally important stocks--including groundfish, flatfish, striped bass, bluefish, tautog, tilefish, and weakfish.

Researchers in the Coastal Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processes Division, Howard Laboratory, Highlands, NJ) are readying a flow-through aquarium facility to house cod found in shelf waters off of New Jersey. This stock occurs at the southernmost extreme of the geographic range of cod and is the target of a winter recreational fishery in New Jersey. We will compare the vital rates of offspring of New Jersey cod with stocks found further to the north. This kind of analysis will provide information critical to plans for stock rebuilding and broad-scale geographic trends in life history features that are important to our understanding of cod population processes.

The Behavioral Ecology Branch (EPD) is currently addressing the interaction between bluefish and striped bass with laboratory experiments at the James J. Howard Laboratory in Highlands, New Jersey. New experiments in 1999 were designed to examine predatory choices and efficiency of the two species feeding on Atlantic silversides, menhaden, and bay anchovies.

The Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processes Division, Howard Laboratory) conducted an analysis of adult bluefish predation on juvenile bluefish and alternative prey (Atlantic silversides) in the research aquarium. The laboratory results indicate that adult bluefish have a much higher capture success when feeding on silverside compared to juvenile bluefish prey, and while cannibalism in bluefish does occur in the field, the incidence is relatively low.

Ecosystem Processes Division personnel continued to gather data from several northeastern states on distribution/abundance of species for which essential fish habitat has been designated. Staff drafted a manuscript based on a two-year study of diets of common fish (and lobster) in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, as compared to diets reported for other Middle Atlantic Bight estuaries.

A cooperative study was conducted by the Behavioral Ecology and Marine Chemistry Branches (Ecosystem Processes Division, Howard Laboratory) to test the hypothesis that differences in natural food types would lead to differences in otolith (sagittae) microchemistry. Juvenile bluefish were captured immediately after their immigration into estuaries and fed either shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa and Palaemonetes spp.) or fish (Menidia menidia) prey over a 60 day period. At the end of the experiment, whole otolith microchemistry was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). There were significant differences in Ba/Ca, Sr/Ca, and Na/Ca ratios between fish- and shrimp-fed bluefish held under identical temperature and salinity. Our findings have implications for tracing environmental histories of individual fish and for stock discrimination/estuary of origin studies.

During FY 1999 the Region was able to cost share a study of shortnose sturgeon distribution and abundance in the Delaware River with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was also able to dedicate limited funding to a study of shortnose sturgeon in the Kennebec River in Maine. The goal of these studies is to establish shortnose sturgeon stock status and determine delisting criteria and/or recovery goals.

Staff authored an article entitled, "Impact of Age-0 Bluefish Predation on Age-0 Fishes in the Hudson River Estuary: Evidence for Density-Dependent Loss of Juvenile Striped Bass", which was published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (56:275-287).

Staff authored an article entitled, "Mutual Prey of Fish and Humans: A Comparison of Biomass Consumed by Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, with that Harvested by Fisheries", which was published in the Fisheries Bulletin (97:776-785).

Staff authored an article entitled, "Foraging Habits of Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, on the U.S. East Coast Continental Shelf", which was published in the Fisheries Bulletin (97:758-775).

Staff authored an article entitled, "Effects of Alternative Prey on Cannibalism in Age-1 Bluefish", which is in press in the Journal of Fisheries Biology.

Staff presented research entitled, "Cannibalistic Behavior of Age-1 Bluefish in the Presence of an Alternative Prey", at the Cooperative Marine Education and Research Science Symposium, held in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Staff presented a paper entitled, "Mutual Prey of Fish and Humans: A Comparison of Biomass Consumed by Bluefish with that Harvested by Fisheries", at the Trophic Interactions across Ecosystems: Predation vs. Fishing Mortality Symposium held during the annual American Fisheries Society meeting, Charlotte, North Carolina.

A manuscript by National Systemic Laboratory (NSL) staff on the systematics of biogeography of Spanish mackerels has been accepted for publication in Copeia.

A manuscript by NSL staff on reproductive biology of tautog in the lower Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters of Virginia is in press. A second manuscript describing methods for estimation of total fecundity is under revision.

NSL staff worked with representatives of Carribean nations testing species identification keys to Western Central Atlantic scombrids at an FAO-sponsored workshop.

Progress by the NSL staff continues on the revision of Bigelow & Schroeder's Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Drafts of all sections have now been submitted to Smithsonian Institution Press. These drafts have been instrumental in development of essential fish habitat guidelines.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center sponsored 19^th Milford Aquaculture Seminar held in New Haven, Connecticut, 22 - 24 February 1999. The 150 attendees, representing 42 public and private aquaculture ventures, 15 educational institutions, and 10 state and federal government agencies, met in formal and informal sessions to discuss recent problems/issues in the aquaculture industry and to share potential solutions. Topics included shellfish diseases and their effects on the local industry; new techniques for the culture of scallops, blackfish (Tautog), and summer flounder; biofiltration in recirculating systems; some Canadian experiences in aquaculture; the use of triploidy to enlarge crop animals; crop insurance availability; new regulations for permitting; and societal aspects of aquafarms.

Population enhancement efforts for the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians irradians, in the Niantic River estuary, Connecticut, have been conducted in a cooperative effort between Milford Laboratory's Habitat Evaluation Team and the Waterford East-Lyme Shellfish Commission (WELSCO). At present, the Niantic River supports only a minor population of the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians irradians, that is harvested recreationally. Bay scallop populations have fluctuated greatly within the estuary with peak level estimated as high as 20 million animals in the 1940s. Three potential enhancement strategies were evaluated: (1) collection of natural spatfall, (2) direct re-seeding, and (3) over-wintering of hatchery-reared stock for creation of spawner sanctuaries. Assessment of natural spatfall in 1997 indicated that too few spat were available for enhancement, they were dispersed widely, and peak spawning occurred in late July. In direct re-seeding trials, time of planting and the inferred predation intensity were major factors affecting survival, while planting density had no significant effect. Of 26,000 bay scallops over-wintered in suspension culture from 1998-1999 by WELSCO, approximately 60-80% survived and spawned during the summer of 1999 within mobile spawner sanctuaries. This effort is being repeated in 1999-2000. An annual recreational harvest survey has been initiated to assess enhancement activities. The pro-active approach of WELSCO in using aquacultural methods for enhancement of bay scallop populations is appropriate, when natural recruitment is poor and habitat and environmental conditions are not limiting.

An Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IJ) project, in the amount of $262,235 and awarded to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), will manage, enhance, restore and maintain the shared fisheries of the Atlantic Coast, with principal emphasis on the conservation and restoration of migratory marine diadromous fishery resources and their habitat, as well as the maintenance, enhancement and improvement of public uses and benefits of these resources.

An IJ project, in the amount of $12,536 and awarded to the Great Lakes Commission, will work to control nonindigenous aquatic nuisance species. The valuable Great Lakes fishery is threatened by the infestation of harmful nonindigenous aquatic nuisance species. These species alter the number and distribution of native species and have broad economic and societal impacts that extend well beyond shoreline residents and recreational users of regional water sources.

An IJ project, in the amount of $12,536 and awarded to the State of Illinois, will identify locations for the smallmouth bass sport fishery and to determine the sport harvest for this species along the Illinois shoreline.

An IJ project, in the amount of $15,771 and awarded to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, will focus on gear technology, research, current fishing activities in coastal waters of Massachusetts, and industry management liaison activities. Gear research will specifically investigate by catch reduction of juvenile finfish and non-target species. Impact on fishing gear on habitat will also be studied.

An Anadromous Fish Conservation Act (AFC) project, in the amount of $55,000 and awarded to the State of Connecticut, will monitor the population dynamics of American shad in the Connecticut and Thames Rivers. Collection of annual abundance data will include population size, age structure, and sex ratio. The commercial and sport fisheries will be monitored to collect catch and exploitation rates using commercial landings and creel surveys.

An AFC project, in the amount of $25,000 and awarded to the State of Michigan, will evaluate spawning site selection and long-range movements of spawning lake sturgeon in Lake St. Clair.

An AFC project, in the amount of $38,000 and awarded to the State of Virginia, will complete the icthyoplankton surveys of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers in the upper regions of both rivers as well as selected tidal creeks, count American shad eggs and larvae within the two rivers, delineate spawning reaches within the two rivers, and examine river discharge data in relation to juvenile shad indices and distribution. It will compare long term trends between rivers and attempt to correlate juvenile shad indices data with historical discharge records.

An AFC project, in the amount of $48,300 and awarded to the State of Virginia, will be a continuation study to meet the mandates of ASMFC and to produce appropriate stock assessment tools. There will be three primary components (tagging, monitoring, quantitative analysis) which are designed to address three objectives: 1) describe in-river migratory patterns and compare pre-spawning and post-spawning American shad catchability; 2) explore the application of index-removal estimation for assessing total abundance of spawning American shad and in-river exploitation rate; and 3) evaluate a tagging study option. This will help determine the abundance and exploitation rate of American shad in the York River system.

An Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (ACFCMA) project, in the amount of $1,722,846 and awarded to the ASMFC will manage, enhance, restore, and maintain the shared fisheries of the Atlantic coast, with principal emphasis on the conservation and restoration of migratory marine and diadromous fishery resources and their habitat, as well as the maintenance, enhancement, and improvement of public uses and benefits from these resources, including seafood production, recreation, and commerce. There will also be American shad and river herring technical committee meetings which will review current data on obstructions in the tributaries that hinder or prevent fish migrations in the watersheds that include the District of Columbia, as well as determine the associated impacts on the stocks. The project will also encourage greater public participation in the management of these fisheries by providing outreach and liaison between state marine fisheries agencies over a broad regional area with a wide diversity of fisheries constituencies.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $188,740 and awarded to the State of Delaware, will provide essential information for managing blue crabs, weakfish and horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay Estuary. Increased enforcement activities throughout tidal Delaware will also provide a deterrent to conservation violation.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $77,659 and awarded to the State of Maine, will provide administrative support to the Department of Marine Resources at Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meetings to facilitate the Department's participation in the management process for American lobster, menhaden, northern shrimp, bluefish, winter flounder, summer flounder, striped bass, Atlantic herring, Atlantic sturgeon, and shad and river herring. In addition, public input through public hearings and notices at the state level will be coordinated and minutes provided. Finally, coordination of legislative and biological information will be provided in the drafting of policy and regulatory provisions.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $89,932 and awarded to the State of Maryland, is in response to the ASMFC development of a management plan for American eels and horseshoe crabs. Maryland will conduct this project to characterize their eel population and current fishery which exists. Information to be collected includes, size, CPUE, sex, composition, age, and analysis of the market for eels.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $40,499 and awarded to the State of New Hampshire, will increase the effectiveness of law enforcement activities directed at the enforcement of rules and statutes promulgated for compliance with ASMFC fisheries management plans.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $245,310 and awarded to the State of New Jersey, will implement fishery management planning activities to support the interstate fisheries management efforts of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Project activities will include conduct of a glass eel monitoring program during Winter 1999-2000, initiating a sea sampling program to monitor catch and population parameters of the American lobster resource off the New Jersey coast, and participating in coastwide tagging programs for American shad and Atlantic sturgeon.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $223,430 and awarded to the State of New York, will provide support services in the administration, coordination, and dissemination of information about regulations for fisheries under the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission fishery management plans. Staff will also augment the collection and assessment of biological data on a series of ASMFC managed species, including American lobster, scup, tautog, and black sea bass.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $116,310 and awarded to the State of Pennsylvania, will aid in the restoration of American shad and river herring (Alosid) stocks in the Susquehanna River to their historic level of abundance. Restoration initiatives include: monitoring the reproductive success of transplanted gravid adult river herring through ichthyoplankton sampling at release sites; biological monitoring of Alosid juveniles to determine juvenile abundance, growth, and movements within the Susquehanna River; and determining the contribution of hatchery produced fish in relation to natural reproduction. Study activities respond to needs identified in the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for American Shad and River Herring.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $103,000 and awarded to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, will conduct public hearings, notices, and outreach on the various regulatory changes necessary for compliance with ASMFC fishery management plans. Recreational and commercial fisheries data will be collected and analyzed in relation to regulatory provisions. Also, American eel migrations along the Potomac River to the Eastern Seaboard will be monitored in response to identified research needs.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $113,384 and awarded to the State of Rhode Island, will provide administrative support for the implementation of Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission fishery management plans by coordinating public input at the state level, developing state regulations in accordance with plan requirements, as well as providing technical input to plan development.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $72,816 and awarded to the State of Rhode Island, will provide vehicle use to law enforcement personnel in order to enhance enforcement of scup, black sea bass, striped bass, menhaden, tautog, weakfish, bluefish, Atlantic sturgeon, summer flounder, winter flounder, and hard clam regulations.

An ACFCMA project, in the amount of $221,260 and awarded to the State of Virginia, will increase the effectiveness of law enforcement activities directed at enforcement of Virginia rules and statutes promulgated to ensure compliance with Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission fishery management plans.

A Chesapeake Bay studies project, in the amount of $86,340 and awarded to the State of Maryland, will focus on the development, revision, and monitoring of Chesapeake Bay fishery management plans (FMP). These activities address management and research priorities identified in 15 FMPs addressing 20 species. Project staff will assist with the revision of the Weakfish/Spotted Seatrout FMP, amend the Bluefish FMP, review the 1991 Spot/Croaker and 1994 Spanish/King Mackerel FMPs; and will improve coordination and integration of fishery management with ongoing fish passage restoration activities.

A Marine Fisheries Initiative (MARFIN) project, in the amount of $102,595 and awarded to New York University will investigate the stock structure of Atlantic cod in U.S. waters based on microsatellite analysis. Larval cod will be collected from sites on Georges Bank, Gulf of Maine, and Nantucket Shoals. Genetic stock analysis will be performed to estimate genetic distances and gene flow around cod stocks. A database and set of findings will be created that will be complementary and additive to the microsatellite work already performed on Atlantic cod in Canadian waters.

Southeast Region:

Explicit in the regulations regarding minium size limits for all managed species is the responsibility for all fishermen to release undersized fish immediately in a manner that causes minimum harm.

The Sustainable Fisheries Division produced and implemented fishery management plan amendments for overfishing definitions, essential fish habitat, shrimp, and snapper-grouper, and interim emergency rules for red snapper.

FMP actions which revised fishing specifications for king and Spanish mackerel, Gulf red snapper, and other Gulf and South Atlantic reef fish species were based on the best available scientific information. Those parameters, developed for stock assessment reports, were calculated from biological/statistical models that are designed to prevent overfishing and maintain stocks at or above MSY levels.

NMFS implemented a final rule for the Fishery Management Plans of the South Atlantic Region that implemented portions of the Comprehensive Amendment Addressing Sustainable Fishing Act Definitions and Other Required Provisions. The approved provisions, that became effective December 2, 1999, allow the addition of biomass levels and age-structure analyses for coastal migratory pelagic species (king and Spanish mackerel, cero, cobia, dolphin, little tunny, and in the Gulf of Mexico only, bluefish), South Atlantic snappers and grouper, and spiny lobster.

For the Fishery Management Plans of the Gulf of Mexico Region, NMFS published a proposed rule that would implement portions of the Sustainable Fishing Act Amendment for reef fish, red drum, and coastal migratory pelagic species. The proposed measures would allow timely addition/modification of biomass based estimates of maximum sustainable yield (MSY), optimum yield, minimum stock size threshold, and rebuilding schedules for overfished species as new scientific information becomes available.

To reduce recreational harvest and reduce the risks of overfishing, the minimum size limit for king mackerel was increased from 20 inches to 24 inches recreational and the bag limit for the Gulf migratory group was reduced to zero for captain and crew on charter vessels and headboats.

To prevent overfishing and initiate rebuilding of red porgy in the Atlantic, harvest has been prohibited by an emergency rule that became effective on September 8, 1999.

To maintain equitable harvest and allocation between commercial and recreational sectors, and to prevent overfishing and continue the rebuilding of overfished stocks, the commercial fisheries for Gulf group king mackerel, and the commercial and recreational fisheries for Gulf red snapper were closed when NMFS monitoring programs indicated that quotas were reached.

To reduce mortality on important juvenile fishes in the South Atlantic, a protocol was established to certify that BRDS required for installation in shrimp trawls will reduce the mortality of incidentally caught Spanish mackerel and weakfish by 40 percent in number by hour or reduce their fishing mortality by 50 percent.

To conserve and protect valuable coral reef resources, and reef fish stocks and their habitats, the Hind Bank Marine Conservation District was established off the Virgin Islands.

To reduce commercial and recreational harvest in the Gulf of Mexico on banded rudderfish, lesser amberjack, and misidentified greater amberjack, new bag (5-fish aggregate) and size limits (slot limit of 14 inches to 22 inches fork length) were established.

To provide greater protection through enhanced enforcement and compliance, bag and size limits were revised to conform with Florida regulations for 8 reef fish species in the Gulf of Mexico: cubera snapper, dog snapper, mahogany snapper, schoolmaster, mutton snapper, scamp, gray triggerfish, and hogfish.

To add protection for speckled hind and Warsaw grouper, both potential candidates for listing as threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, a one-fish bag limit for each species was established.

To protect spawning aggregations and prevent overfishing of gag grouper and black grouper, particularly males, in the Gulf of Mexico a regulatory package that proposes several protective measures. The proposals would increase the minimum size of the two species from 20 to 24 inches over a prescribed time period, prohibit sale from February 15 through March 15, and for a four year period close two important gag spawning areas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

To enhance the socioeconomic benefits to the recreational fishery for Gulf group Spanish mackerel, a proposed rule was published that would by increase TAC, the recreational allocation, and the daily bag limit from 10 to 15 fish per person.

To protect and conserve dolphin and wahoo resources throughout the Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Sea, the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Fishery Management Councils were requested to prepare a joint FMP.

Sustainable Fisheries Division staff participated in the National Symposium on Catch and Release in Marine Recreational Fisheries, Virginia Beach, VA, December 5-8, 1999.

Ongoing core efforts by the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) with the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Fishery Management Councils and Interstate Marine Fisheries Commissions (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission), and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas produce the scientific stock assessments and related information vital to the management of recreationally-important stocks such as reef fish, striped bass, red drum, coastal pelagics, sharks, tunas, swordfish, billfish, groundfish, flatfish, bluefish, amberjack, red snapper, vermilion snapper, mackerels, and gag-grouper. Full assessments were completed for North Atlantic swordfish, South Atlantic swordfish, Atlantic bigeye tuna, Atlantic skipjack tuna, Atlantic red drum (northern zone), Atlantic red porgy, Atlantic amberjack, Gulf of Mexico red drum, Gulf of Mexico red snapper, and Gulf of Mexico red grouper. In addition, significant analytical assistance by SEFSC scientists contributed to the assessment of weakfish stocks by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Continuing modeling efforts at the SEFSC were focused on estimates of measures of overfishing and recovery schedules for Southeast species of recreational concern.

SEFSC laboratories located in Beaufort, North Carolina and Panama City, Florida continued to work, in cooperation with academic scientists to obtain information on life history parameters (age, growth, fecundity, etc.) needed to assess the status of recreationally-caught species such as snappers/groupers, sharks, tunas, and billfish. For example, an age-growth study of mutton snappers is underway and will result in a peer reviewed publication, a report to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the results will be used in a stock assessment for that Council. Sampling the recreational catch for otoliths and reproductive tissues has been increased.

Basic biological studies (e.g., growth, reproduction, habitat) of important recreational species continue at the SEFSC.

Evaluation of the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary's management zones continued by the SEFSC.

The SEFSC continues to cooperate with BOAT/US under the MOU for volunteer tagging of near-shore species, including many recreationally important species such as striped bass, red drum, and tarpon.

The SEFSC continued an ongoing project to evaluate the jewfish population assessment and recovery. The objective of the research is to investigate basic aspects of the life history (growth, reproduction, and stock structure) and habitat ecology of the threatened jewfish in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. This research project is in cooperation with the Institute for Fishery Resources Ecology (IFRE), Florida State University.

Since 1990, the jewfish fishery has been closed to harvest throughout the Southeast Region of the United States. Researchers at SEFSC are monitoring the status and recovery of the jewfish population by compiling data on jewfish distribution and abundance (both juvenile and adult), migration patterns, age and growth, and habitat characterization and utilization. Research is being conducted in the Ten Thousand Islands area of southwest Florida and in the offshore waters of the Florida Keys and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. This project has profited from ongoing collaboration with researchers from Florida state University, Everglades National Park, and the recreational fishing and SCUBA diving communities. Databases from the Florida department of Environmental Protection and REEF are helping us better characterize and understand jewfish abundance throughout Florida. Funding for this project has been provided by NMFS' Recover Protected species and Essential Fish Habitat initiatives, as well as Everglades National Park, and the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation.

Another cooperative IFRE SEFSC project is investigating the efficacy of the Oculina Reserve off Ft. Pierce, Florida for recovering and managing reef fish stocks. Habitat mapping and restoration, recovery, and management of damaged coral habitat are also being undertaken.

Aerial surveys of recreational boating (i.e., charter, private/rental) use were continued and conducted from Miami to Key West in a cooperative effort with the U.S. Coast Guard. These data are being used to do a survey of the impacts of no-take marine reserves on recreational use of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

A report on the trends in catches of 15 species of reef fish was presented to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in early February at a meeting of the Snapper-Grouper Assessment Group in Charleston, South Carolina. The information is used by scientists to make recommendations to the Council on the status of various species. Information includes annual landings of each species for commercial, headboat, and recreational fisheries, mean sizes of fish caught by each fishery, and CPUE for each species by fishery and year.

A report on compliance with minimum size limits for reef fish was presented to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in early fall, 1999. The data presented revealed the percentage of fish for each regulated species that was landed under the size limit by geographical area, year, and fishery. Recreational anglers typically landed more illegal fish than did commercial fishermen or anglers fishing from headboats.

Age-growth studies of mutton snapper, red porgy, white grunt, wreckfish, and gray snapper were conducted during the year. Each will be used in population assessments, peer-review publications, and reports to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

A Reef Team member served on graduate student committees at East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Student research was conducted on important recreational species, including striped bass, yellowtail snapper, croakers, drums, and knobbed porgy.

Numerous ecological field studies continue throughout the year by the Beaufort Laboratory's Reef Team's SCUBA qualified personnel. These projects are all related to reef fish species that are important to recreational fisheries. Research was conducted off Beaufort, North Carolina, at Grays Reef off Georgia, and in Key Largo, Florida.

Staff co-authored a paper entitled, "Synopsis of Biological Data on the Nassau Grouper, Epinephelus striatus (Bloch, 1792), and the Jewfish, E. itajara (Lichtenstein, 1822)", which was published as NOAA Technical Report NMFS146 and FAO Fisheries Synopsis 157, 65 pages.

Staff co-authored a paper entitled, "Management and Conservation of Temperate Reef Fishes in the Grouper-Snapper Complex of the Southeastern United States", which was published as pages 233-242 IN J.A. Musick (ed.) Life in the Slow Lane: Ecology and Conservation of Long-Lived Marine Animals., American Fisheries Society Symposium 23.

Staff co-authored a paper comparing differences in fish populations inside no-take zones with surrounding areas entitled, "The Effectiveness of an Existing Estuarine No-Take Fish Sanctuary within the Kennedy Space Center, Florida", which was published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management 19(2): 436-453.

Staff co-authored a paper entitled, "No-Take Reserve Networks: Protection for Fishery Populations and Marine Ecosystems", which was published in Fisheries 24(11): 11-25.

Staff authored a paper entitled, "Ecosystem Management, Marine Reserves, and the art of Airplane Maintenance", which was published in Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, 50:304-311.

Staff co-authored a technical report entitled, "Baseline Data for Evaluating Reef Fish Populations in the Florida Keys", which was published as NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-427, 61 p.

A manuscript on the age and growth of coney and graysby was accepted for publication in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. This research was the first on age and growth for these two species off the southeastern United States and will provide needed information for management.

A manuscript pertaining to field study of reef fish predator removal was accepted for publication during the year.

Sustainable Fisheries Division staff attended and actively engaged in several meetings of the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and Caribbean Fishery Management Councils and participated in discussions that were concerned with protecting, conserving, and rebuilding finfish resources important to the recreational community. Economics Office staff also attended Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meetings.

Sustainable Fisheries Division staff attended and actively engaged in meetings with Sea Grant in Georgia, the Biological Reduction Devices meeting in Louisiana, the annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in North Carolina, and Stock Assessment Panel, AP and SSC meetings held in Florida concerned with the management of Gulf and South Atlantic snappers, groupers, reef fish, and red drum.

A project funded through the SEAMAP program, in the amount of $49,297, was awarded to the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Fish and Wildlife will assess shallow water reef fishes using fishery-independent methods.

A project funded through the SEAMAP program, in the amount of $255,418 and awarded to the state of South Carolina will collect and disseminate fishery-independent data of fish species including king and Spanish mackerel and red drum.

A project funded through the SEAMAP program, in the amount of $94,495, was awarded to the University of Southern Mississippi, will collect fishery independent data on marine fishery species including mackerels, jacks, drums, and reef fish.

A $47,167 Marine Fisheries Initiatives (MARFIN) grant was awarded to BOAT/U.S. Clean Water Trust to create, educate, and maintain a corps of recreational anglers that practice catch, tag, and release of red drum in the Gulf of Mexico.

A MARFIN award of $153,201 to the University of the Virgin Islands will investigate movement patterns and spawning habitat of red hind grouper in the newly established Marine Fishery Reserve in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A MARFIN award of $175,158 to the University of Florida will examine the ecological factors limiting density and regulating growth for gag grouper.

A MARFIN project, in the amount of $1,047,116 and awarded to the State of South Carolina will assess the populations of weakfish, spotted sea trout, and mullet along the southeast coast of the U.S.

A $327,783 project funded by the MARFIN was awarded to Mote Marine Lab and will evaluate factors involved in release mortality of undersized red grouper, red snapper, and vermillion snapper.

A MARFIN award of $66,185 to the State of Florida will examine the age, growth, and reproduction of hogfish.

A MARFIN award of $263,280 to the State of South Carolina will identify the stock structure of dolphin in the western central Atlantic.

A MARFIN award of $92,512 to the State of South Carolina will identify the stock structure of scamp, red grouper, and black grouper.

A MARFIN project, in the amount of $102,879 and awarded to the State of South Carolina, will study aspects of the life history of red grouper along the southeast U.S.

A MARFIN project, in the amount of $147,644 and awarded to the University of Southern Alabama will determine the movement, growth, and maturity of gray triggerfish in the Gulf of Mexico.

A MARFIN project, in the amount of $195,300 and awarded to Florida State University will identify the key mechanisms affecting year-class variability in gag.

A MARFIN project, in the amount of $166,752 and awarded to Louisiana State University will provide age, year-class strength, and reproductive information needed for continued management and monitoring of the recovery of red drum in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

A Saltonstall-Kennedy Act award of $144,100 to the University of Puerto Rico will develop a model to manage the red hind fishery in western Puerto Rico utilizing fish demography, larval settlement patterns, and genetic structure.

Under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IJ), a project of $25,072 was awarded to assess the ocean populations of red drum in South Carolina waters.

An IJ project, in the amount of $67,657 and awarded to the State of the Mississippi and will monitor and assess important marine fishery species including Atlantic croaker, whiting, spotted seatrout, sand seatrout, spot, and red drum.

A project under the Unallied Management Program, in the amount of $233,900, was awarded to the State of South Carolina, to improve knowledge on the biology of red drum with emphasis on the rates of survival.

Northwest Region:

Most of the recreational fisheries for anadromous fish in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho occur where Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed salmon and steelhead are present. Under the ESA, fishery managers are required to consult with NMFS. The NMFS has proposed a process to limit ESA prohibitions in fisheries if a Fisheries Management and Evaluation Plan (FMEP) is developed by the fishery manager and approved by NMFS. The NWR has developed a template which will help state agencies and tribes develop FMEPs. Included in this process is the opportunity for the public to provide insight and comment. The FMEPs will meet ESA requirements and provide increased opportunities over the long term.

A number of fish species that are not native to the Northwest have been introduced into waters which support listed anadromous and resident fish. Most of the exotic species are top level predators which have been introduced as game fish to support recreational fisheries. The impacts of predation and competition from non-native species on listed species is of concern. The Northwest Region (NWR) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife hosted a workshop in Portland, Oregon, to examine the management implications of co-occurring native and introduced fishes. Papers from the workshop suggested that impacts from introduced fishes vary significantly depending on the species of concern and time of year and, therefore, should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Recommendations for reducing impacts from introduced fishes included restoring proper habitat conditions in which native species thrive and promoting recreational fisheries for introduced species. Proceedings of the workshop are available on the NWR web site at www.nwr.noaa.gov/nnative .

Northwest Fisheries Science Center staff are conducting a review of marine fishes in Puget Sound to evaluate the conservation status of Pacific herring, Pacific cod, walleye pollock, Pacific hake, brown rockfish, copper rockfish, and quillback rockfish.

Southwest Region:

The Southwest Region and Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) worked with the State of California and Pacific Fishery Management Council to complete the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan, which was approved by the Secretary of Commerce on June 10, 1999. Species included in the plan include, Pacific mackerel, jack mackerel, northern anchovy, Pacific sardine, and market squid. Under the plan, an annual assessment of Pacific mackerel will be completed and harvest quotas set according to a harvest formula. Although many anglers do not keep Pacific mackerel, it usually accounts for the highest annual recreational catch in southern California. The FMP also includes conservative harvest strategies for Pacific sardine and northern anchovy, important forage species for recreational fish.

The SWFSC and California Department of Fish and Game, completed an annual assessment of Pacific sardine biomass. Sardine has now become the most abundant forage fish along the Pacific coast, and is clearly the food upon which many prized recreational fishes depend. The current biomass estimate was 1.2 million tons for the population.

The SWFSC is continuing a joint study with the California Department of Fish and Game on the age, growth, and reproduction of market squid in Central and Southern California. Squid are a major forage base for California recreational fishes. Work thus far indicates that market squid are a semiannual crop with longevity being 6 months or less. Squid is now a monitored species in the new Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan.

The SWFSC, with California Sea Grant funding, is conducting a study of the egg and larval fish production from marine reserves. One of the primary goals of the study is to evaluate the potential role of marine reserves in the overall management and conservation of coastal marine fishes. A total of 5 cruises have been completed spanning three years. Data are now being synthesized and will afford an opportunity to compare the effect of El Ni�o (1998) and La Ni�a (1999) conditions on reproduction and spawning behavior of important recreational fishes. Sampling was done primarily with an underway pump system that captured the eggs of fishes that were spawning in and adjacent to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Big Sycamore Canyon, Anacapa Island, and San Miguel Island. Some of the species for which new information on the timing, amount, and distribution of spawning was discovered are California halibut, white seabass, sheephead, barracuda, and rockfishes.

A Saltonstall-Kennedy award, in the amount of $300,000, was awarded to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in 1997 to design and test a pulsed powered device as a non-lethal deterrent of seals and sea lions from sport charter fishing vessels. On December 10, 1999, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) unanimously objected to the NMFS consistency determination, citing, among other things, that the proposed project did not contain enough information to evaluate whether the project is consistent with the California Coastal Management Program. Therefore, NMFS is currently considering scientific research to evaluate the effects of the pulse powered device on sea lions in captivity prior to proceeding with field tests. Based on the results from the study, NMFS will revise the environmental assessment, including the experimental protocols, and will likely re-submit a consistency determination to the CCC for field testing in 2001. Field trials to test the effectiveness of the device will be started after approval of an Environmental Assessment of the study design and protocols.

HABITAT

Headquarters:

The Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Management Division coordinated with the Regional Fishery Management Councils where possible in developing the HMS Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) documents for the draft and final HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment, as many areas designated EFH for species managed by the Councils overlap with EFH delineated for HMS. The final HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment include extensive descriptions and recommendations for HMS EFH.

As part of the HMS Management Division's mandate under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, HMS staff, working in cooperation with F/HC staff, and SEFSC and NEFSC scientists, compiled available information pertaining to the habitat ranges of all HMS managed within the U.S. EEZ, and, using this information as a basis, have delineated and described EFH for 38 HMS. After undergoing independent review, review by the HMS and Billfish Advisory Panels, and the public review process, this information was incorporated into the draft and final HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment.

The HMS Management Division has supported the Regional Fishery Management Councils regarding the protection of EFH. In support of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Regulatory Amendment to prohibit fishing within two sites in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in order to protect gag spawning aggregations and promote the survival of adult male gag, the Division began preparation of a compatible regulation that would prohibit HMS fishing as well within the two sites. Not only are the sites important heterogeneous habitats for reef fish abundance and diversity, as well as other species that serve as HMS prey items, but they also serve as EFH for HMS breeding and feeding activities. Thus, a prohibition of all activity within the two sites will benefit a range of fishery resources, in-part by protecting a portion of their EFH.

The HMS Management Division continues to fund, and HMS staff continue to participate in, a number of shark nursery/pupping ground area studies to continue the comprehensive and standardized investigation of shark nursery grounds along the Atlantic coast, including a Delaware Bay sandbar shark nursery longline and gillnet survey, the Cooperative Atlantic States Shark Pupping and Nursery Survey (COASTSPAN) shark study, and the Mote Marine Lab Shark Research Center nursery area indices. In addition, as part of the EFH documents prepared for HMS, research and information needs have been identified to further delineate habitat ranges and associations for all life history stages in order to expand the knowledge of EFH for these species. The HMS AP and several shark experts provided comments on the proposed EFH designations as part of the public review process.

An addendum to the HMS 2000 SAFE report was begun, and when completed, will include EFH designations for 51 additional shark species that have been added to the HMS management unit for finning prohibition. In addition, the HMS Management Division is currently funding a comprehensive data and information synthesis of all known shark nursery areas along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts that will be published as a definitive document on the subject in early 2001.

Policies on agricultural and urban water quality issues based on habitat requirements of NOAA trust resources are being developed. These policies build on conservation measures for non-fishing threats, reported in essential fish habitat amendments to fishery management plans, and the EPA's 1993 document, Guidance Specifying Management Measures For Sources of Nonpoint Pollution in Coastal Waters. Prior to this, NMFS had no policy to address water quality issues specifically. The Non-Point Source (NPS) Pollution Control policy is an effort to make our position on NPS pollution public knowledge and to encourage landowners to implement the conservation measures contained within the policy to reduce NPS pollutant loading. If landowners are willing to abide by the conservation measures supported within the policy, then NMFS would be able to provide them with some assurance of compliance for future consultation requirements under both the Endangered Species Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Act. For NMFS, having a policy on NPS pollution will assist in conservation of commercial and recreational fisheries by contributing to the reduction of this deleterious pollutant source.

Working with the Fisheries Management Councils, NMFS Highly Migratory Species Division and the NMFS Regions, the Office of Habitat Conservation implemented the EFH Guidelines and EFH Amendments to for every Fisheries Management Plan (FMP), except the Pacific salmon FMP, which is expected to be submitted for final approval in 2000. The FMPs cover species of major interest to recreational fishers, including bluefish, groundfish, summer flounder, Pacific rockfish, and reef fishes. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has initiated a similar effort to identify essential habitat in each of its plans.

The Restoration Center also is a part of NOAA's Damage Assessment and Restoration Program (DARP). Through DARP, NOAA claims damages for injuries to marine resources resulting from oil spills and other hazardous releases. Monetary awards from responsible parties are used to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the injured resources and to compensate for lost services. Restorations and habitat enhancements during 1999 include: completion of the second year of an eelgrass restoration project in New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts; completion of erosion stabilization efforts along an island located in the Delaware Estuary; completion of the Hamm Creek/City Light North restoration project in Elliott Bay, Washington which provides benefits to salmonids; completion of fencing to protect riparian habitat in Salmon, Idaho; completed structural restoration of an injury to a coral reef in the R/V Columbus Iselin case; completion of the restoration of intertidal habitat in Middle Waterway in Commencement Bay, Washington; continued lobster seeding in Rhode Island in the World Prodigy case; and completed the first year of a restoration project for roseate and common terns in New Bedford Harbor.

The Restoration Center also works to stem the tide of wetland loss in Louisiana, which is beset by the highest rate of coastal wetland loss in the nation. Under the Coastal Wetland Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA), NOAA and the State of Louisiana are engaged in a partnership to restore salt marshes lost to erosion, subsidence and hydrological alterations. NMFS participated in the Delta Wide Crevasse project as well as projects in Lake Chapeau, East Timbalier, and Little Vermilion. The Delta Wide project constructed 18 new artificial crevasses to foster natural wetlands creation in the Mississippi River delta. Crevasses are breaks in the levee that allow the River to deposit sediments into adjacent shallow bays. By opening and maintaining up to 30 crevasses over the next 20 years, approximately 2,400 acres of wetlands habitat will be created. The Lake Chapeau Sediment Input and Hydrologic Restoration project will restore marshes west of Lake Chapeau and reestablish a land bridge between two existing bayou watersheds. It will also help restore the natural circulation and drainage patterns over a 15,000 acre project site on Point au Fer Island, Louisiana. The East Timbalier barrier island project will dredge about 3 million cubic yards of sand to make a 200-foot wide dune and a 600-foot wide marsh platform that will create 170 acres of intertidal marsh and help protect thousands of acres of existing fringing marsh to the north. The Little Vermilion project created and planted 40 acres of low emergent terraces which function to support marsh vegetation, dissipate wave energy, and allow sediment to drop out of the water column. The sediment accretion will promote the development of additional wetland vegetation and over time result in the establishment of marsh habitat in Little Vermilion Bay.

NMFS has also partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to assess the relationship between benthic habitats and sustainable fisheries. This information will be used to recommend management strategies impacting recreational fisheries. Finally, an effort is underway to develop an inventory of available habitat data and information nationwide and to use an internet-based network to make these data available to recreational fisheries managers.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries represents the NMFS on the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force's Recreational Activities Committee. This Committee has developed protocols to stop the spread of aquatic nuisance species through recreational activities such as boating, fishing, and diving. The protocols have been forwarded to the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force for approval.

Northeast Region:

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center provided EFH source documents for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, surf clams, ocean quahogs, squid, mackerel, and butterfish and analyzed data to determine species distribution and relative abundance in order to provide a basis for the EFH requirements. The Regional Office's Habitat Conservation Division (HCD) provided extensive comments on the essential fish habitat provisions contained in a draft of the amendment. These comments were provided as the EFH recommendations which are required by the EFH regulations.

The Region, with the Mid-Atlantic and New England Councils, identified and designated EFH for 31 federally managed species comprising 11 different fishery management plan amendments. HCD staff provided extensive review, comments, and guidelines on these amendments, and worked closely with the Councils' EFH Technical Teams and Habitat Committees.

Reports by the EFH team of the Environmental Processes Division (EPD) are now in the final stage of publication in NEFSC's Technical Memorandum series. These reports cover distribution/abundance, life history, habitat characteristics, and research needs for 32 species for which EFH designations were required. A report was also developed on overall methods used to gather those data.

A proposal was submitted to continue and expand work on essential fish habitat in the inshore shark nursery grounds and to synthesize existing coastal U.S., Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean nursery ground research and results.

The HCD compiled and summarized all of the EFH designations Region-wide and prepared species lists based upon the 10 minute longitude by 10 minute latitude squares used by the Councils to map EFH. This summary data have been incorporated into the NERO/HCD web site for use by all interested parties as well as those required to conduct EFH consultations.

The HCD coordinates on EFH consultations with the Councils to seek their input on federal actions wherever appropriate. This increased coordination has been effective in developing the most appropriate EFH conservation recommendations for federal actions and for actions that require a federal permit to avoid and minimize adverse impacts to EFH.

The HCD has also coordinated with the Councils in the development of several EFH General Concurrences for several types of actions that have no more than minimal adverse effect on EFH either individually or cumulatively. These general concurrences, while providing the necessary protection to EFH, reduce the regulatory and administrative commitments placed upon NMFS and the federal action agencies during the individual EFH consultation process.

HCD staff time to develop and provide the Councils on EFH include 2 full-time, 1 part time, and 1 contractor.

Amendment 11 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP, Amendment 9 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP, and Amendment 1 to the Atlantic Salmon FMP are part of an omnibus EFH amendment prepared by the New England Fishery Management Council to implement the requirements of section 303(a)(7) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (the Act). The amendments describe and identify EFH for the specified fisheries, discuss measures to address the effects of fishing on EFH, and identify other actions for the conservation and enhancement of EFH. The EFH provisions for the MAFMC FMPs are included in Amendment 12 to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP, Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid and Butterfish FMP, Amendment 12 to the Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog FMP, and Amendment 1 to the Bluefish FMP.

The HCD identified three species with "habitats of particular concern" (HAPC) designation. In addition, HCD staff is providing support to the NEFMC in the development of a decision-making matrix for the designation of additional HAPCs.

The Region's EFH designation under Council FMPs encompasses many recreationally important species. Important habitats or HAPCs are specified when these ecological requirements are known. For instance, the importance of structure and rubble on the sea bottom is significant nursery habitat for juvenile codfish and has been redesignated as HAPC in the multispecies FMP.

In the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass FMP, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) has been designated as HAPC for summer flounder. Since SAV typically occurs in state waters, the FMP calls for protection of this habitat through Council, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), and the coastal state actions when addressing fishery interactions and coastal development projects. In this regard, HCD has worked cooperatively with ASMFC's habitat working group to establish interstate SAV/gear impact policy.

The NEFSC and the Regional Office are processing state coastal habitat data to produce better descriptions of inshore marine and estuarine areas important to NMFS' fishery resources. These refinements will constitute further specification and, thus, better protection of EFH.

Researchers in the Coastal Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processed Division, Howard Laboratory, Highlands, New Jersey) are investigating the location and duration of the spawning of winter flounder in Sandy Hook Bay, and the quality of spawning bed habitats. Researchers quantified the duration of the embryonic and larval periods when winter flounder in these life stages were subjected to a range of constant temperatures. Estimates of the durations of life stages, as well as the growth, condition, and mortality of these fish, are critical for a functional understanding of the timing of stage-specific movement habitats, and a baseline appraisal of the condition of winter flounder at these times.

The Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processed Division, Howard Laboratory, Highlands, New Jersey) completed a two-year survey at 84 fixed stations in the Navesink River/Sandy Hook Bay estuarine system with the purpose of characterizing habitat requirements for young-of-the-year fishery resource species. Generalized additive models were combined with geographic information systems (GIS) to plot favorable habitat for young winter flounder and a manuscript has been prepared on this new approach. Nominal habitat types such as seagrass beds, beaches, mud flats, and marsh creeks, were not good predictors of habitat association in the resource species collected, and it is clear that the more detailed statistical models will be necessary for characterization of habitat for fishery resource species. Major shifts in habitat also occur with small changes in fish size within the first year. Seasonal surveys at 25 stations continued in 1999 to for definition and assessment of habitat for winter flounder, summer flounder, blue crabs, and other resource species. A manuscript describing a habitat model for winter flounder is currently in press. A large effort is being placed on the integration of field data into predictive models for resource species (analysis of habitat quality) and combining the habitat models with GIS to quantify habitat, and explore the assumption that fish recruitment and production are correlated with habitat quantity.

Surveys conducted by the Behavioral Ecology Branch staff in the Navesink River/Sandy Hook Bay system have yielded large numbers of winter flounder, fluke, and other fishes for dietary studies. Interannual, seasonal, and spatial sources of variation are being examined in the context of the prey field available. Laboratory experiments are being conducted at the Howard Laboratory to examine prey choice, functional responses, and the effects of habitat characteristics on predation rates. In the summer of 1998, it was discovered that searobins may be one of the most important predators on age-0 winter flounder. New collections in the Sandy Hook area in 1999, and laboratory experiments conducted at the Howard Laboratory revealed that fluke is probably one of the most important predators on juvenile winter flounder in the inshore nursery grounds. Both searobins and fluke appear to be critical negative elements in the habitat for juvenile winter flounder, and habitats with low numbers of these predators are likely to yield higher productivities of winter flounder.

The Behavioral Ecology Branch conducted twice monthly gill net collections in the Navesink River-Sandy Hook Bay estuarine system from May to November, 1998 and 1999, to survey and assess habitat associations of pelagic species including bluefish, weakfish, and striped bass. Sampling was accomplished with multi-panel experimental gill nets set at 14 fixed stations. Nets were fished from the headwaters of the Navesink River to the tip of Sandy Hook in different habitats within each of the down-estuary strata. All fish were counted and measured and collections of otoliths and scales made for bluefish. Collections are also be retained for the piscivorus species to examine predator-prey relationships. These collections are currently under analysis, and models of gill net selectivity are being developed for bluefish and menhaden, the most numerous fishes collected.

The Culture Systems and Habitat Evaluation Branch of the Milford Laboratory is currently studying juvenile tautog habitat in New Haven Harbor, Connecticut. These fish occupy a near-shore habitat, vulnerable to degradation by human activities. Two aspects of the study are a coded wire tagging study to quantify movements and population levels and a study of sympatric species to identify potential predators and competitors. In addition to identifying and perhaps quantifying habitat in need of protection, this study also serves to lay the groundwork for stock enhancement studies made possible by the tautog culture group at the Milford Laboratory. Morris Cove, on the eastern side of New Haven Harbor, is an important nursery area for both tautog and cunner juveniles. Monthly beach seine samples at 10 sites in Morris Cove were initiated in May of 1998, to assess temporal and spatial distribution of nearshore fishes. Beginning in July of 1999, tautog were tagged with coded wire tags to assess habitat fidelity, measure individual growth rates, and estimate the juvenile tautog population in the cove. Since fish less than about 35 mm total length were too small to be tagged, the estimate of the population represents the numbers of fish greater than 35 mm. Nearly 600 tautog were captured, 295 fish were tagged, and 10 were recaptured (3.39%). The population estimate, using the Schnabel method, places the tautog population of this roughly 600 meter stretch of beach at 3,867 fish with upper and lower 95% confidence limits of 10,172 and 2,388 respectively. Fish showed a high degree of habitat fidelity with the majority of the recaptures occurring at the same location the fish were originally tagged. Days-at-liberty ranged from 1 to 43. The low numbers of fish captured greater than about 80 mm total length indicates that this is almost exclusively habitat for age 0 fish. Distribution of both species was not uniform along the beach, with more fish found at the cobble areas of the beach than the sandy areas. Macroalgal density along the beach also varied with site. Two sites at opposite ends of the sampling area seemed to produce the most vegetation, but only the site which included a cobble substrate produces large numbers of fish. There is also a small breakwater located just 20 meters beyond this cobble area which provides additional structure. It would seem that the structure provided by the cobble and the breakwater is a more important habitat feature for both cunner and tautog than vegetation alone. A similar beach seine study of Morris Cove was conducted in 1942 and 1943. In contrast to this study, the older study reports the capture of only 14 tautog and 1 cunner in their entire one-year study. We hypothesize that changes in the habitat since 1944 may account for this difference. In 1944 Morris Cove was a gently sloping sandy beach. Since then, the building of small breakwaters in the middle and at the southern end of the Cove, mining of the cove for sand and gravel for highway construction, and dredging of the harbor channel have led to the net transport of sand out of the cove leaving behind cobble. The replacement of the sand substrate with cobble may have provided essential habitat, preferred by the tautog and cunner.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center completed spatially-explicit habitat models for juvenile winter flounder in Mid-Atlantic nursery grounds incorporating elements of physical, chemical, and biological variables.

The Habitat Evaluation team at the Milford Laboratory completed the Essential Fish Habitat Source Document for winter flounder, which was forwarded to the Councils and will also be published as a NOAA Technical Memorandum.

The Northeast Fisheries Science Center completed field and laboratory experiments testing the effects of habitat (e.g., temperature, sediment quality) on the survival and growth of larvae and juveniles of both summer flounder and winter flounder.

Ecosystem Processes Division staff continued to work with the Delaware Bay, Barnegat Bay (New Jersey),and New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Programs to define available and critical fishery habitat within these estuaries, habitat restoration opportunities, and research needs.

Section 305(b)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (Act) requires federal agencies to consult with NMFS regarding any action authorized, funded or undertaken that may adversely effect EFH. The Act also requires that consultation be consolidated, where appropriate, with interagency coordination and other environmental review procedures. On April 16, 1999 the Northeast Region issued Findings Statements to the Norfolk and New England Army Corps of Engineers Districts for using existing review procedures for EFH consultations. Findings statements are being developed for the other three districts (Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York). The Region has begun EFH consultations with the Army Corps of Engineers for species under New England Fishery Management Council oversight, and has discussed EFH consultation requirements with other federal and state agencies to determine the best processes for consultation.

In cooperation with state biologists, research monitoring and assessing of coastal shark pupping and nursery grounds continued by Apex Predators Program (FEMAD) staff to determine the temporal and spatial distribution of neonate and juvenile sharks in 5 Atlantic coastal states. Research continued on the fine scale movements and activity patterns of neonates and juvenile sandbar sharks using acoustic telemetry methods on their nursery grounds in Delaware Bay to quantify habitat use.

FEMAD staff, cooperating with other investigators, continued to monitor primary and secondary nursery areas for sandbar, nurse, and other large and small coastal shark species. Environmental and habitat data associated with catches and movements of these species were collected, including air and water surface temperature, salinity, and wave height, as well as latitude, longitude and water depth.

Staff presented research entitled, "Considering the Ecosystem Context of Winter Flounder Nurseries", at the International Flatfish Symposium, Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

Staff presented research entitled, "Sediment Associations in Young-of-the-Year Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus)", at the Estuarine Research Federation Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Southeast Region:

The Habitat Conservation Division and the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) have worked in partnership with the South Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils to prepare Essential Fish Habitat Amendments.

Through the partnership between NMFS, Florida State University, and the Institute for Fishery Resources Ecology (IFRE), SEFSC is investigating the distribution, abundance, and habitat utilization and suitability for several important recreational species (e.g., gag, red grouper, gray snapper, lane snapper, etc.) along the west Florida Shelf, the outer continent shelves of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the Oculina Banks off the east coast of Florida.

A number of shark nursery/pupping ground area studies were conducted along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, including a Delaware Bay sandbar shark nursery gillnet study, the COASTSPAN shark study, and the Mote Marine Lab Shark Research center nursery area indices.

Habitat mapping and restoration, recovery, and management of shelf-edge reef habitat and damaged coral habitats are being undertaken cooperatively by the SEFSC Panama City Laboratory and Pascagoula Laboratory, the IFRE, and USGS on both the east and west coasts of Florida since 1994. In particular, an ongoing project investigated the efficacy of the Oculina Reserve off Ft. Pierce, Florida for recovery and managing reef fish stocks. Restoration of Oculina has been observed with increased presence of grouper species noted by ROV film footage. Research results showing dramatic changes in grouper demographics has led the

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to recommend closure of more than 200 square nautical miles of shelf-edge habitat for the experimental evaluation of the efficacy of such reserves in protecting the spawning potential of fishery-impacted species.

The SEFSC continues to play a lead role in the estuarine and marine science essential to the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration effort.

Continuing investigations were conducted by SEFSC scientists at Beaufort, North Carolina, Galveston, Texas, and Miami, Florida concerning the structural and functional value of various estuarine habitats to commercially and recreationally valuable fish stocks. These include: work to document the value of natural seagrass beds, salt marshes, and mud flats; research to evaluate the efficacy of habitat restoration efforts such as seagrass transplantation and marsh creation; and studies to understand the impact of changing salinities regimes in inshore marine ecosystems such as Florida Bay and other estuarine areas potentially influenced by the restoration of natural water flow patterns in South Florida.

Surveys of the fishery resources and habitats of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the proposed Tortugas 2000 marine reserve were conducted during 1999. In the Tortugas region alone, over 350 square miles with 450 sites and 1150 diver samples were sampled. Survey results indicate that coral reef habitat covered considerably more area than previously thought, based on digital maps available through NOAA and the State of Florida. For example, the Sherwood Forest Reef covered 30 square miles, an area 25 times greater than expected. These survey data will serve as a baseline for determining future changes in reef fish communities, will be used to assess the impact of proposed no-take zones, and will be used to develop spatial models to predict the effectiveness of marine reserves in achieving resource management goals.

Nassau grouper, currently considered fishery-extinct in the South Atlantic and Caribbean, is considered to be a candidate for protection under the ESA. Studies are underway to quantify the home range and identify habitats of this species in order to better define the spatial requirements and habitat necessary for its protection.

Regional Office Sustainable Fisheries Division staff attended and actively engaged in the Essential Fish Habitat Workshop held in Maryland.

A $100,000 Marine Fisheries Initiatives (MARFIN) grant was awarded to the Texas A&M Research Foundation to identify and characterize nursery habitat of red snapper in the northwest Gulf of Mexico.

Baseline habitat inventories were completed before the 2001 deadline.

Staff authored an article describing a controlled field experiment testing the effects of nutrient enrichment on a reef habitat, specifically the abundance of seaweeds entitled, "A New Method for Manipulating Nutrients on Coral Reefs: Effects of Nutrients vs. Herbivory on Reef Algae", which was published in Limnology and Oceanography (Vol. 44: 1847-1861).

Staff authored an article describing studies of the coral reef habitat restoration at the grounding sites of the M/V Elpis and the M/V Maitland in northern Key Largo, Florida entitled, "Assessment of Juvenile Coral Populations at Two Reef Restoration Sites in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: Indicators of Success?", published in the Bulletin of Marine Science.

Staff authored an article entitled, "Oculina Bank: Sidescan Sonar and Sediment Data from a Deep-Water Coral Habitat off East-Central Florida", which was published as USGS Open-file Report 99-10, CD-ROM.

Staff authored an article entitled, "Geology of Benthic Habitats at a Shelf-Edge Site in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico: Implications for Fishery Management", which is In Press in the Bulletin of Marine Science.

Staff authored an article entitled, "Protection of Fish Spawning Habitat for the Conservation of Warm Temperate Reef Fish Fisheries of Shelf-Edge Reefs of Florida", which is In Press in the Bulletin of Marine Science.

Staff authored an article entitled, "Superficial Seafloor Geology of a Shelf-Edge area off West Florida", in: Briere et al., In Press, West Florida Shelf: Sidescan-Sonar and sediment Data from Shelf-Edge Habitats in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, USGS Open-File Report 99-589, CD-ROM.

Staff authored an article describing a pilot experiment to assess predator removal as a targeted management approach to protect remnant populations of the important reef-building coral Acropora palmata, entitled, "Corallivorous Snail Removal: A Pilot Study to Evaluate Protection of Acropora palmata", In Review, Coral Reefs.

Alaska Region:

The Alaska Region (AKR) is working with the State of Alaska and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to protect habitat around the Mt. Edgecumbe pinnacles in the Gulf of Alaska. Surveys conducted by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game have shown that these pinnacles support a much greater diversity and density of fish than is typical of the eastern Gulf of Alaska. The AKR is currently reviewing proposed Amendment 59 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, a proposal that would close a 3.1 square mile reserve in the area of the Cape Edgecumbe pinnacles to groundfish fishing or boat anchoring by vessels carrying Federal fisheries permits. The accompanying regulatory amendment would prohibit commercial or recreational fishing for Pacific halibut, or anchoring by halibut vessels, under the Northern Pacific Halibut Act and associated conventions.

The Kenai River Restoration Project grant, awarded by NMFS in August, 1995, was extended through December, 1999 to promote awareness of habitat impacts and the restoration and protection of riparian habitat vital to salmonids of the Kenai River. Over the period of the grant, $926,000 was awarded for this project.

Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC) are those areas of special importance that may require additional protection from adverse effects. HAPC are defined on the basis of their ecological importance, sensitivity, exposure, and rarity. The Alaska Region has identified several types of habitat (living substrates and freshwater areas used by salmon) as HAPC as part of the Essential Fish Habitat considerations required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Northwest Region:

The Northwest NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement delivered its first Endangered Species Act Section 9 take case using the newly developed habitat degradation investigative and case documentation standards to the NOAA General Counsel for enforcement litigation. The protocol allows cases involving the taking of an endangered species through habitat degradation to be investigated and prosecuted without the discovery of a dead animal. This kind of enforcement capability will help to protect habitat important to both recreationally and commercially important fish.

Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) researchers continue their evaluation of various stream restoration techniques designed to increase juvenile and adult salmon survival and production. Stream and watershed restoration are key components to salmon recovery efforts. Little information exists on the effectiveness of various freshwater habitat restoration techniques for Pacific salmon. Current NWFSC projects include the evaluation of instream restoration in western Washington and Oregon and the monitoring of a large river restoration project in western Washington. The results of these projects will be used to provide technical information necessary to guide future stream restoration efforts.

Southwest Region:

Essential Fish Habitat amendments to the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan and the Coastal Pelagics Fishery Management Plan have been adopted by the Pacific Fishery Management

Council. Southwest Region staff is working closely with other state and federal regulatory agencies to adopt a streamlined approach for permitting ocean activities/development.

The Southwest Region continues to participate in the CALFED Bay-Delta Program as one of the lead agencies. The CALFED Bay-Delta Program is a cooperative interagency effort to develop a long-term solution to fish and wildlife, water supply reliability, flood control, and water quality problems in the Bay-Delta. NMFS involvement in the program is to facilitate the restoration of salmonid populations in the California Central Valley. In June,1999, CALFED issued a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/ Environmental Impact Report on the implementation strategy for the program.

Southwest Region Endangered Species Act Section 7 coordination resulted in more than 21 completed or ongoing formal consultations and 4 informal consultations. These consultations covered Federally-funded activities ranging from habitat restoration and water diversion projects to recreational and commercial management plans and cooperative fish rearing projects.

Southwest Region staff participated in an effort to increase habitat complexity within a recently constructed flood bypass channel within Chorro Creek, San Luis Obispo County. The by-pass channel was constructed to minimize input of fine sediment to Morro Bay, and the channel now serves as the active channel. The California Department of Fish and Game and Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District proposed to increase instream habitat complexity within the new channel for creating pools and other elements of rearing habitat for steelhead. The Southwest Region reviewed the habitat improvement proposal and developed measures to improve the quality of the project. Once completed, the project is expected to increase the carrying capacity of the local channel, thus increasing the number of juvenile steelhead that could establish seasonal residence there.

Southwest Region (SWR) staff completed a comprehensive consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the City of San Luis Obispo's water reuse project. As a result, a quantitative and qualitative effect analysis was conducted to develop an understanding of the potential effects of the project on steelhead and their habitat. Mitigation measures were developed to ensure full compensation for the resource. SWR staff participated in numerous meetings with EPA, the City, and their legal counsel to discuss elements of the project and resolve conflicts. As a result of the SWR consultation, habitat functions will be maintained within the drainage.

Southwest Region staff continued oversight of long-term monitoring of the Batiquitos Lagoon restoration project near San Diego. That monitoring is composed of five main elements including vegetation, fish, benthic, avian, and water quality/sediment monitoring studies. The first year of monitoring documented the dramatic colonization of the Lagoon by fish species that reached 56 species during the second year of monitoring. Large numbers of juvenile California halibut, a species of particular recreational importance, have been caught during sampling efforts. Shallow water habitats such as Batiquitos Lagoon have been documented as essential habitat for this species. Continued sampling will occur in years 3, 5, and 10.

Southwest Region Habitat staff continued participation on the Bolsa Chica wetlands restoration project steering committee which consists of eight Federal and State agencies. Currently, the restoration project is in the planning/design phase to determine the best method to restore the degraded wetlands. When completed this project, located in Orange County, could include the restoration of over 400 acres of subtidal habitat of importance to a variety of commercial and recreational fish species.

Southwest Region staff joined the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in selecting and funding several salmon and steelhead habitat restoration projects in Washington, Oregon, and California coastal watersheds. High priority projects were those that had high matching funds ratios, on the ground habitat work, and solid partnership commitments.

Southwest Region staff remain involved in issues related to the decommissioning of oil and gas platforms in southern California. SWR staff presented a paper at the 7th International Conference on Artificial Habitats that evaluated whether platforms could be considered essential fish habitats (EFH). The paper concluded that even though managed species under the Pacific Groundfish Fishery Management Plan do associate with platforms, insufficient information exists to determine whether these habitats are necessary for supporting a sustainable fishery. The paper did note that important nursery and spawning functions may be occurring and suggests that additional research is needed.

Southwest Region staff is reviewing the habitat activities of federal agencies and providing essential fish habitat (EFH) conservation recommendations. These recommendations are being provided on actions that may adversely affect the EFH of groundfish and coastal pelagics under the Pacific Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP)and the Coastal Pelagics FMP. EFH provisions under the Pacific Salmon FMP are scheduled for adoption by the Secretary of Commerce in 2000.

ACCESS AND FACILITIES

Headquarters:

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries completed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with non-governmental organizations. MOUs have been signed with the National Association of Marine Educators, Fishing Has No Boundaries, the Girl Scouts of America, the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. MOUs with Boat/U.S., the American Sportfishing Association, and the International Game Fish Association have been approved and await their respective signing ceremonies.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries continued to work with the National Fishing Week Steering Committee to foster an increased emphasis on saltwater fishing in 1999. The annual kick-off event for National Fishing Week included NMFS/NOAA volunteers coordinated by the Office.

On June 7, 1999, three Highly Migratory Species (HMS) staffers helped at the "Take a Kid Fishing" kick-off event to National Fishing Week. This event allowed HMS to help introduce recreational fishing to children of the inner city and instill in them a sense of stewardship by teaching the children the benefits of saltwater fishing, conservation principles, and angling ethics.

NMFS continues to provide technical guidance to state and Federal agencies on thousands of wetland and waterway permit and license applications under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and other authorities that date back to the early 1970s. Activities with the greatest potential to affect recreational fish species and their habitats include hydropower projects that affect anadromous fish, dredging projects that affect habitat health and angling opportunities, and shoreline development projects that can preempt recreational access or resources available for angler harvest.

The Office of Habitat Conservation worked extensively with other Federal agencies throughout 1999 to establish EFH consultation procedures that ensures adequate review of projects impacting fisheries. EFH consultations provide an opportunity for NMFS and the regional fishery management councils to influence state and Federal actions impacting fish habitat important to recreational fish species. The new EFH consultation process took effect once the EFH amendments were approved during FY99 and is now fully operational except for the Pacific salmon EFH areas in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California. As of the end of 1999, NMFS Regional Offices had applied the new EFH process to 5,000 Federal actions with indications that some action agencies are giving greater weight to fish habitat concerns than they might have prior to the new EFH mandate.

Nationally, the NMFS has also been engaged in discussions with agencies and industry sectors on dredging and dredged material disposal, coastal development practices and policies, oil and gas activities, water diversion programs, and other sectors that have the potential to adversely affect EFH. For some of those industries and Federal programs, NMFS is developing cooperative agreements to implement EFH, hydropower, and other key habitat programs. On issues involving submerged aquatic vegetation and fish passage in rivers, NMFS is developing policies that will summarize applicable science and state agency policy and will strengthen our ability to influence actions that may affect recreational fish species or their habitat.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries continued to revise the National Artificial Reef Plan.

Staff from the Pacific Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries continued to participate in Interagency Decommissioning Work Group Meetings to discuss rigs-to-reefs issues.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries has funded and is coordinating the expansion of the Fishing Tackle Loaner Program into the saltwater environment. Sites were established out of the Boston Community Centers and the Cannon Street YMCA in Charleston, South Carolina in July, 1999. Rods, reels, and tackle boxes are provided for the public to borrow to experience saltwater recreational fishing.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries provided financial and staff support at youth fishing program activities in North Carolina, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, California, and Mississippi.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries provided financial and staff support at Paralyzed Veterans of America fishing program activities in Puerto Rico during the National Wheelchair Athletics Games, New York, Massachusetts, and California.

Northeast Region:

Ecosystem Processes Division staff contributed, in cooperation with committees from ASMFC and GSMFC and others, to the publishing a revision to the 1985 NMFS National Artificial Reef Plan. The revised plan provides updated guidance on why and how to monitor the effectiveness of Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)-permitted artificial habitats. Artificial reefs are primarily developed to support recreational fisheries. The plan also provides an information background for the ACOE and others to use for guidance in developing and monitoring artificial habitats in marine and estuarine environments.

Ecosystem Processes Division staff is cooperating with the ACOE to document the results of a study in Delaware Bay on the fishery habitat enhancement and habitat-loss mitigation value of an artificial reef in that estuary; the remaining fisheries in that Bay are primarily recreational. This information is essential for the ACOE and natural resource management agencies to evaluate any proposed future use of artificial reefs in estuaries and coastal bays as fishery habitat loss mitigation or for habitat enhancement (beneficial use of waste materials).

Ecosystem Processes Division staff continued to supply information to ACOE pertinent to the draft report on the Beneficial Uses of Dredged Material for Habitat Creation, Enhancement and Restoration in NY/NJ Harbor. Topics covered that included EPD staff input were: use as artificial reefs, restoring shellfish beds, creation of wetlands and other estuarine habitat, and affects on fish and megainvertebrate resources.

The Northeast Region has coordinated with the ACOE to refine the environmental review procedures for regulatory and civil works projects to encompass the requirements of EFH consultation. Since the ACOE's actions account for the majority of federal actions within the Region, these were targeted first. The Region is continuing to work with other federal agencies such as the EPA and with state agencies to develop consultation procedures.

The Regional Office's Habitat Conservation division (HCD) has provided the ACOE with criteria for monitoring aquaculture structures. These requirements have been included in the permit conditions for several states to ensure that best management practices are implemented and that further knowledge of the impacts of aquaculture operations continue to be provided.

The HCD also has provided artificial reef guidelines to the States of New York and New Jersey through ACOE permit conditions, and have recommended best practical use of consolidated dredge materials that create fish habitat and benefit our various resources. For example, rock rubble out of the Kill Van Kull was placed at sea as part of the New Jersey artificial reef program.

Ecosystem Processes Division staff continued to provide input to the ACOE on the design of studies to monitor effects of sand mining and beach nourishment on resources and habitats of New Jersey coastal waters. Comments were also provided on an ACOE proposal to fill borrow pits in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey.

Southeast Region:

The Public Affairs Officer (PAO) met with senior management and public relations, education & outreach personnel of the International Game Fish Association at the World Fishing Center and Hall of Fame (Center) in Dania Beach, Florida to establish a mutually beneficial relationship. Following the meeting, the PAO sent a large case of educational materials about habitat restoration and protection, catch and release, and generic NMFS publications to the Center that were used in youth workshops throughout the summer. The PAO also guided Center personnel to and encouraged them to take full advantage of the educational resources available on NOAA's web site.

There are indications that the ten Special Management Zones that were established in the Exclusive Economic Zone off South Carolina, at the sites of artificial reefs constructed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources are improving recreational fishing opportunities.

Staff authored an article describing the important benefits that can result from an experimental process-based approach in artificial reef research entitled, "Using "Natural" Reef Ecology in Artificial Reef Research: Advancing Artificial Reef Goals Through Better Understanding of Ecological Processes", which is In Review in the Journal of Marine Science.

A summary of Southeast Region habitat conservation activities affecting fisheries habitat for all of 1999 under various regulatory programs:

Project Kind	N1	N2	Acres Proposed By Applicants	Acres Accepted By NMFS	Potential Acres Conserved	Mitigation*
10	1012	39	75.8	64.9	10.9	2.4
10/404	1234	184	5995.4	1411.7	4583.7	538.8
404	749	54	483.3	139.1	344.2	178.8
CFP	73	5	265.0	10.0	255.0	1.0
CG	36	2	4.2	0.0	4.2	0.0
EFH**	15	0	-	-	-	-
FERC	4	0	-	-	-	-
FWS	5	0	-	-	-	-
GP	27	0	-	-	-	-
I10	29	2	1.7	0.0	1.7	0.0
I10/404	36	3	12.6	0.0	12.6	0.0
I404	92	6	10.8	5.2	5.6	0.0
MMS	59	0	-	-	-	-
MSC	17	0	-	-	-	-
NEPA	102	2	118.5	11.0	107.5	10.0
NWP	13	0	-	-	-	-
PCN	826	102	209.7	57.1	152.6	320.6
PI	1	0	-	-	-	-
PRE	224	5	23.7	23.7	0.0	399.2
ST	39	0	-	-	-	-
Total	4,583	404	7,200.7	1,722.7	5,478.0	1.450.8

N1 - Total projects reviewed in this category.

N2 - Number of projects where acreage could be determined.

* - Includes habitat restoration, creation, and enhancement.

** - This includes only EFH consultations for NOAA/NMFS internal actions such as fishery management plan amendments. Other consultations are included under the appropriate "kind" designation.

10 = projects requested pursuant to Section 10 of the River and Harbor Act;
404 = projects requested pursuant to the Clean Water Act (CWA);
10/404 = projects advertised under Section 10 and 404 CWA authorities;
CFP = Corps Federal Project;
CG = U.S. Coast Guard bridge/causeway permit application;
FERC = Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permits and licenses;
FWS = Fish and Wildlife Service sponsored activities;
GP = General Permits;
I10, I404, and I10/404 = unauthorized projects;
MMS = Minerals Management Service oil and gas leasing activities;
MSC = miscellaneous projects;
NEPA = environmental impact statements and assessments;
NWP = Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permits;
PCN = preconstruction notifications for nationwide and general permits;
PI = public inquiries;
PRE = preapplication planning;
ST = state-sponsored projects.

Southwest Region:

Southwest Region staff provided assistance to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in identifying a project under Section 1135 of the Water Resources Development Act for implementation at the Ballona wetlands near Los Angeles. The project at the Ballona wetlands would include the installation of new tidal gates that would allow full tidal flushing to a significant area of the near 300 acre degraded wetland site.

Southwest Region staff continued participation in the review of mitigation plans developed by Southern California Edison to mitigate unavoidable impacts to the marine environment resulting from operation of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) cooling water systems. The mitigation program includes: a) restoration of 150 acres of degraded wetlands at San Dieguito Lagoon to mitigate impacts to marine fish populations caused by estimated mortality to fish eggs and larvae; b) improvements to the fish protection systems at SONGS to increase survival of adult fish which enter the cooling water systems; c) the two-phased construction of an artificial kelp reef to mitigate impacts to the San Onofre Kelp Bed caused by SONGS operations; and d) funding for a marine fish hatchery program which is intended as supplementary mitigation for kelp impacts.

Southwest Region staff participated in a California State Lands Commission workshop regarding the topic of "Rigs to Reefs".

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

Headquarters:

After the set of consolidated Highly Migratory Species (HMS) regulations were finalized, the Chief of the HMS Division attended 10 meetings with the regional Fishery Management Councils and recreational fishing groups to explain what was in the final HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment, and why HMS and NMFS selected the alternatives that it did. These meetings also provided an opportunity to hand out HMS educational material to recreational anglers.

The HMS Management Division offers a "Guide to the Tunas of the Western Atlantic Ocean" and mails Atlantic tuna and billfish regulatory brochures annually. The information in these publications is also available by Internet at www.usatuna.com, a website administered by the contractor for constituents to renew permits and obtain fishery information, and on the NMFS SFA homepage (http://nmfs.gov/sfa).

Based on feedback from Atlantic tuna permit holders, NMFS has significantly improved the Atlantic tunas permitting and recreational bluefin tuna landings reporting system. HMS staff are working with a new contractor for the issuance of Atlantic tunas permits and the reporting of recreationally-landed bluefin tuna; the new contractor began issuing Atlantic tuna permits in December 1999. The new system is accessible 24 hours a day/seven days a week via telephone at 1-888-872-8862 or via the Internet at www.nmfspermits.com/ . The new system allows vessel owners to choose to receive their Atlantic tunas permit a number of ways: by printing it off the Internet following approval of their application; by fax; by Priority mail; or by First Class mail. The system designed by the new contractor has the capabilities to handle issuance of several types of permits, and NMFS is working with the contractor on the future issuance of HMS tournament registrations and Charter/Headboat permits for all HMS.

The telephone and Internet systems designed to facilitate issuance of tuna permits and recreational landings provides up-to-date information on the Atlantic tunas fisheries, including regulations and current landings estimates. The HMS Management Division is also developing a toll-free information line with information on all Atlantic HMS.

The HMS Division is in the process of setting up a toll-free HMS information line to complement the Atlantic tunas information line by providing regulatory, permitting, and quota information for sharks, swordfish, and billfish. This in-house system will be updated and maintained by the HMS Division, and will refer caller seeking information about tunas to the Atlantic tunas information line; eventually the two systems will be merged. In addition, callers can choose to have certain documents provided to them by mail, fax-on-demand, or via the web. Availability of this service is expected to be announce by the beginning of the fishing year (June 1, 2000).

After publication of the HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment, the HMS division developed a "Compliance Guide" that provides a plain English summary of what recreational anglers need to do to comply with the consolidated regulations for Atlantic tunas, swordfish, sharks, and billfish. This compliance guide has been widely distributed to recreational anglers along the east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as being available to the public on the NMFS SFA homepage (http://nmfs.gov/sfa).

HMS staff attended the annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Charlotte, North Carolina and had an outreach and education booth to provide educational material and give a presentation to recreational anglers, fisheries managers, and scientists about the new set of consolidated regulations for Atlantic tunas, swordfish, sharks, and billfish. The Division also had a booth at the National Symposium on Catch and Release in Marine Recreational Fisheries held December, 1999, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

HMS Management division staff prepared and presented a public talk in July 1999 on HMS management and science at the cape Cod National Seashore Visitors Center in Eastham, Massachusetts.

HMS Management Division staff observed fishing operations on several vessels fishing for HMS. HMS staff are encouraged to join fishermen, when possible, for short trips to observe the variety of gears and techniques employed in HMS fishing.

As part of the FMP process for the HMS FMP and Amendment to the Billfish FMP, the HMS Management Division sent letters to the state CZM offices after the publication of draft FMP and FMP Amendment, asking the CZM offices to determine consistency with the Coastal Zone Management Act. CZM programs and Sea Grant offices were also contacted for their input on locations for public hearings on the FMP and FMP Amendment, as well as for, and assistance in, notifying the public about the hearings.

The HMS Management Division maintains a fax network to inform fishing organization representatives, marina and tackle shop operators, state agencies, and individuals of regulatory changes, scheduled public hearings, Advisory Panel activities, etc. The HMS Management Division also maintains an Atlantic tunas Information Line (978-281-9305, containing recorded tuna fisheries updates (annual quotas, size limits, current bag limits, closure notices, etc.)); constituents may also obtain this information toll-free by calling 888-USA-TUNA (information is remotely recorded by HMS staff), which is operated for NMFS by the contractor assisting NMFS with issuing tuna permits and monitoring recreational bluefin tuna landings. HMS staff also arrange for fisheries updates to be posted on the www.usatuna.com website. Contact information for billfish and other HMS regulations are also posted on this website.

Several documents related to HMS, such as the final HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment, transcripts of HMS and Billfish Advisory Panel meetings, and the regulations Compliance Guide have been posted on the NMFS SFA homepage http://nmfs.gov/sfa.

Information regarding brochures and publications available from NMFS, as well as information on Atlantic tunas permitting and reporting, has been published in newsletters of recreational fishing groups, national sportfishing magazines, and sportfishing catalogs.

A member of the HMS Division staff attended the National Marine Educators Association annual meeting in Charleston, South Carolina to educate science teachers, aquarium personnel, and other marine educators about the new regulations for swordfish, sharks, billfish, and tunas in the Atlantic.

NMFS is working with other states to develop similar programs to monitor recreational bluefin tuna landings similar to those developed and implemented with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries began planning for a National "Marine Recreational Fisheries Symposium" in the year 2000. A consultant was hired to assist with symposium development and implementation. The symposium will be held June 25-28 at the Town & Country Hotel & Convention Center in San Diego, California. The symposium will be co-convened by NMFS and the National Sea Grant College Program and cosponsored by a number of other private and government organizations. The purpose of the symposium is to bring together, for the first time, federal and state marine resource and policy managers, marine fishery conservation and advocacy organizations, marine industries, researchers, outdoor media, and the marine angling public. It is expected that the symposium will be attended by 300 to 600 people. Registration information is available at the Rec Fish 2000 web site at www.nmfs.gov/irf/irf.html.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries provided input to the Outreach & Education Coordinator, Office of Habitat Conservation in the preparation of an article entitled "10 Things You Could Tell Kids about Keeping Fish Healthy." The article was published as a special fish issue insert to the Wild Outdoor World Magazine.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries co-sponsored the Canadian Recreational Fishing Symposium, "Evaluating the Benefits of Recreational Fishing". The Symposium, was held at the University of British Columbia, Fisheries Center, Vancouver, B.C., June 1-4, 1999, and attracted approximately 100 fisheries scientists and anglers. The web site http://www.fisheries.ubc.ca/ lists the meeting agenda and abstracts. A paper entitled, "Resource Management Connection to Recreational Fishing Policies and Programs" was presented by Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries staff. A total of six papers were presented by staff from various NMFS line offices. Additionally, the Symposium provided a forum for NMFS to display educational materials developed for marine anglers.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries conducted presentations at various primary and secondary schools on the topics of marine conservation, angling, and careers in marine science.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries provided various angling and educational organizations, including Sportfishing Association of California, Avalon Tuna Club, United Anglers of Northern California, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Marine Educators Association, West Palm Beach Fishing Club, Ladies, Let's Go Fishing, Connecticut Marine Trades, Inc., and Boston Community Centers, with outreach materials related to recreational fishing.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries continued to develop contacts in the recreational fishing community and gave presentations at various angling organization meetings around the country, such as United Anglers of Southern California, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association, and the Bluewater Sportfishing Association. Presentations provide input on issues of concern and gain feedback, describe NMFS recreational fishery programs, and provide angler related public outreach materials.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries attended conferences, such as the annual American Sportfishing Association, American Fishery Society, Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, Lake Arrowhead Tuna Conference, and the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists, to further develop partnerships and implement the NMFS Recreational Fishery Resources Conservation Plan.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries sponsored the recreational fisheries session at the 52^nd Annual Meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries worked cooperatively with other NMFS line offices, federal agencies, state agencies and NGOs in developing and providing various outreach materials of interest to marine anglers.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries completed 30 Region-specific identification guides to recreational fishes of the Atlantic and Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific coasts. These guides will be used not only to assist anglers in fish identification, but also provide conservation and fishing tips. Publication and distribution of materials is planned as soon as funding becomes available.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries updated the NMFS Code of Angling Ethics with input from various conservation groups, recreational fishing groups, and anglers. NMFS formally adopted the revised Code as published in the Federal Register, February 11, 1999.

In July, 1999, BOAT/U.S. endorsed the NMFS Code of Angling Ethics and began to work with staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries to reach a broader constituency through a modified version of the Code.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries prepared the Annual Recreational Fishery Resources Conservation Plan Accomplishments Report using input from NMFS line offices, Regions, and Science Centers. The Report was submitted to the Sportfish and Boating Partnership Council for evaluation of NMFS implementation of Executive Order 12962, and to key recreational fisheries constituents.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries, along with Southeast Fisheries Science Center staff, met with representatives of the International Game Fish Association to discuss developing a visiting scientist program and a permanent NMFS display at the new World Fishing Center in Dania, Florida.

Southeast Region:

Southeast Regional Office's Public Affairs Officer (PAO) was appointed as an advisor to the South Atlantic Marine Reserves Advisory Panel Outreach Committee.

The PAO has distributed publications and lists of pertinent web sites to scores of educators, students, and park and resource managers throughout the Region.

PAO has responded to countless requests from science teachers, home schoolers, and students by sending them comprehensive information packages and lists of NOAA/NMFS & non-governmental resources available on the world wide web.

The Sustainable Fisheries Division has designated a staff member to serve as an outreach and educational coordinator on a collateral duty basis.

Several members of the Southeast Regional Office, Southeast Enforcement, Seafood Inspection, and the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries staffed a booth at John's Pass Seafood Festival from October 29-31, 1999, at Madeira Beach, Florida. The team explained NMFS missions, responsibilities, and activities related to fishery, habitat, and resource management, and distributed a considerable amount of NOAA/NMFS educational materials, including hundreds of recreational fishing and ethical angling publications, to the public.

Several Southeast Regional Office personnel participated in the Great American Teach-In by delivering presentations and distributing publications, including those that pertain to recreational fishing and ethical angling, at local schools on November 17, 1999.

Sustainable Fisheries Division staff has initiated contact with local scouting professionals and begun identifying and assembling reference materials for establishing Marine Resources Merit badges and/or Eagle projects.

The SEFSC has enhanced the educational component of the jewfish project in order to enlist the cooperation of anglers and divers who come in contact with jewfish. Posters created by the Center for Marine Conservation which disseminate information about the project and its requirements, highlighting the tagging study and the life history of jewfish. The posters also provide the tagging hotline number, so that anglers and divers can report recaptures or underwater observations. One of the most remarkable results to date, documenting movement of a large juvenile from the nursery habitat to a reef farther offshore, came from a fisherman who called the tagging hotline. Researchers have been featured in local television and newspaper reports, and most recently, the cable network Animal Planet filmed an episode on NMFS jewfish research and management.

SEFSC scientific staff serve as advisors on numerous graduate student committees at various universities. In addition, staff has given numerous presentations at scientific conferences, regional fishery management council meetings, university classes, and to the general public. For example, members of the biodiversity team in Miami made presentations to local dive clubs, chambers of commerce, educational workshops, and constituent groups. Two senior staff members attended the conference entitled, "Building on Leopold's Legacy: Conservation for a New Century", and one delivered a keynote address on the application of conservation principles to the marine environment.

Alaska Region:

The NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement produced a video to educate commercial and recreational vessel operators in Alaska on how to view humpback whales with the least amount of impact. The video, showing operators the correct way of viewing whales, contains segments on operating procedures, whale behavior, and the interrelationship of whales and vessels, along with a discussion of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the regulatory process. Keeping anglers informed about these regulations is the best way to get compliance and it assists anglers

in avoiding violations. The video is planned for public release pending the publication of final regulations on viewing whales planned for late 2000.

Northwest Region:

The Northwest Region participated in National Fishing Week. Two free fishing weekend events were held in June, 1999 at Cooper Creek Reservoir, Oregon. The events hosted over 500 kids and their families. This is the 5th annual event, and also included participation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, Douglas County Parks, Umpqua Valley Bassmasters, Umpqua Fishermen's Association, Veteran's of Foreign Wars, PriceLess Foods, and the Campfire Boys and Girls. Activities included: casting contests; fishing derbies; fly tying demonstrations; scavenger hunts; informational displays regarding watershed restoration; and instructional videos.

The Northwest Region issued 1999 Federal Regulations Booklets for the West Coast Salmon Fisheries. This booklet provides fishermen with a quick reference guide to the Federal regulations governing commercial and recreational salmon fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone off Washington, Oregon, and California. These booklets were mailed to state licenced recreational charter boat operators in addition to commercial permit holders. Notice of inseason changes to the Federal regulations can be obtained from: NMFS Ocean Salmon Hotline (800) 662-9825 or (206) 526-6667; U.S. Coast Guard Notice to Mariners broadcasts on Channel 16 VHF-FM and 2182 kHz; NMFS, Northwest Region web site www.nwr.noaa.gov, Federal Register; and NMFS, Northwest Region Office 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., BIN C15700-Building 1, Seattle, WA 98115-0070, phone:(206) 526-6140.

COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS

Headquarters:

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries revamped its website (http://www.nmfs.gov/irf/irf.html) posting items of interest to the recreational fishing community such as fishing tackle loaner sites, meeting notices, regulatory updates, tagging registry information, and ethical angling precepts. The Pacific Office also maintains a web site with more regional information at http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recofc.htm.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries funded and helped to develop a web-based angler-tagging programs registry (http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/tagging/) to improve tagging information and to diminish interference with bona fide scientific research.

Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries staff continue to work with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission resolving angler tagging issues.

Our Living Oceans 1999, the 5th biological status report on U.S. living marine resources, was released to the American public as a WWW product in June 1999. Relevant sections reporting on the status of significant recreational fishery resources include a feature article on Gulf of Mexico king mackerel and units covering Atlantic anadromous fisheries (striped bass), Atlantic and Pacific highly migratory fisheries (tunas and billfishes), Atlantic shark fisheries, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico migratory pelagic fisheries (king and Spanish mackerels), Southeast drum and croaker fisheries, Southeast and Caribbean invertebrate fisheries, and an expanded nearshore unit for fisheries under state jurisdiction within 0-3 nautical miles of the U.S. coast.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Science and Technology has published a comprehensive ten books/volumes analysis of the World Swordfish Fisheries and, in the later part of 2000, the final books/volumes on Caribbean swordfish fisheries will be published. The published ten volumes include an Executive Summary, and regional studies of Africa/Middle East, Asia, South America-Pacific Coast (2 volumes), South America-Atlantic Coast (3 volumes), North America, and Western Europe. Each volume of the study contains information about catch, fishing grounds, fishing fleets, markets, trade, bycatch, research, international relations, and other facets of the fishery. The books are carefully documented and have extensive statistical appendices, graphics, and photographic images to help explain the fishery and illustrate key trends. The preparation of the study involved extensive coordination with Department of Commerce Foreign and Commercial Service officers in various U. S. missions overseas, as well as the U. S. Department of State, foreign government officials, U. S. and foreign businesses involved in commercial and recreational fisheries, universities, and individual fishermen.

Several documents, such as the final HMS FMP and Billfish Amendment, transcripts of HMS and Billfish Advisory Panel meetings, and the regulations Compliance Guide have been posted on the NMFS SFA homepage http://nmfs.gov/sfa. HMS staff continually update the www.usatuna.com website with current HMS fisheries information (primarily regarding the Atlantic tuna fisheries), including "A Guide to the Tunas of the Western Atlantic Ocean". Constituents are able to either print out a copy of the Guide to the Tunas, or they can complete an order form on the Internet and have a hard copy sent to them in the mail. Information on HMS can also be found in recent copies of Our Living Oceans and Fisheries of the United States, which can be viewed at http://kingfish.ssp.nmfs.gov/olo/ and http://remora.ssp.nmfs.gov, respectively.

HMS Staff made a presentation on NMFS' shark management and the draft HMS FMP at an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Policy Board meeting in April 1999. The ASMFC is currently in the process of developing an initial FMP for Spiny Dogfish with the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils, and also plans to develop a Coastal Shark FMP in cooperation with the Secretary of Commerce (NMFS/HMS).

In cooperation with several other federal agencies, the Office of Habitat Conservation implemented the Aquatic Restoration and Conservation (ARC) Partnership. The goal of the ARC Partnership is to create a common information base and provide options for restoring and conserving the ecological and economic integrity of our nation's marine, estuarine, and freshwater living resources into the 21st century. One of the many objectives of the Partnership is to characterize and map freshwater, estuarine, and marine species, communities, and their habitats on a landscape scale. This will allow decision makers and resource managers at local, state, regional, and national levels to evaluate aquatic resources, and, through characterization and mapping, make conservation decisions that will improve stocks of recreational fisheries. In October 1999, the Offices of Habitat Conservation and Protected Resources, in collaboration with the Ecological Society of America, sponsored a workshop to develop a standard approach for classifying marine and estuarine habitats. Objectives of the workshop were to: (1) review existing global and regional classification systems, (2) develop the framework of a national classification system and (3) propose a plan to develop the framework into a full classification system.

NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) jointly drafted an interagency policy for developing fishway prescriptions under section 18 of the Federal Power Act. The interagency policy clarifies agency rationale and requirements for the prescription of fishways. It will increase the predictability of the fishway prescription process, allows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), applicants, licensees, and the public to anticipate agency fishway prescriptions and reduces potential conflicts and project delays. Additionally, the proposed policy will provide guidance to ensure compliance with the Bangor opinion, which requires agency fishway prescriptions to be supported by substantial evidence in the administrative record before the FERC. The policy will ensure consistency in fishway prescriptions by NMFS regional staff and between NMFS and FWS in order to provide the hydropower industry with increased certainty regarding any requirements NMFS may request to protect recreational fisheries for salmon in the FERC dam relicensing process.

The Chesapeake Bay Program coordinates Federal fish passage activities in the Chesapeake Watershed, including fish blockage removals, stocking, and upstream habitat quality. All of these activities are conducted on an interagency basis with the states and Federal agencies. In October 1999, a ceremony was held to commemorate the start of a $2 million project to cut a notch in a low-head dam at Little Falls on the Potomac River. The Little Falls fishway project was supported by over a dozen Federal, state, and local organizations in addition to NOAA. Under planning for a decade, the Corps of Engineers/Maryland Department of Natural Resources project will reopen 10 miles of the Potomac River to anadromous shad and other species. This stretch of the River has been closed due to mill dams since the early 1800s and for the supply of drinking water since the 1950s. It is expected that spawning shad may return above the dam as early as spring 2000.

The NOAA Restoration Center administers a Community-Based Restoration Program to promote stewardship and a conservation ethic among coastal communities. This program enables NMFS staff to become directly involved in local habitat restoration activities, forming strong partnerships with local government agencies and volunteer organizations to benefit NOAA fisheries. An example of this significant program is the Haskell Slough restoration project, a model of cooperation between the NOAA Restoration Center, the Northwest Chinook Recovery, and other partners including 10 private landowners. Phase one of the project reopened 3.5 miles of the slough to full salmonid use for an estimated 10,000 juvenile salmon. Preliminary monitoring of the project has shown the return of juvenile chum and chinook salmon to this important summering and spawning habitat. The project is now moving into phase two, which will maximize the salmon benefits of the newly created habitat through placement of logs and root wads, erosion control and revegetating stream banks.

The NOAA Restoration Center continued a landmark partnership with the American Sportfishing Association's (ASA) FishAmerica Foundation to restore the Nation's fisheries. The Joint Project Agreement serves as an "umbrella" under which NOAA and ASA agree to jointly fund habitat restoration of estuarine and marine habitats, especially salt marshes, seagrass beds, coral reefs, mangrove forests, and freshwater habitat important to marine species. Technical experts from NOAA, along with a large volunteer base of local partners, jointly undertake the community-based habitat restorations. These community-based projects have the added benefit of promoting stewardship and a conservation ethic among coastal communities. Some of the twenty-eight newly funded restoration projects with ASA include: a highly visible dam removal/fish ladder project in Plymouth, Massachusetts; the addition of large woody debris to Willow Creek to provide refuge for salmonids in California; an eelgrass restoration project that uses school students to raise eelgrass for transplanting in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island; a project to stabilize stream banks and preserve public access to king salmon fishing streams in Soldotna, Alaska; the stabilization and repair of eroding riverbanks for salmon along the Little Susitna River in Alaska; the construction a step-pool fishway to allow fish access past the defunct Roys Dam in California; the revegetation and stabilization of channelized sections of White River that will improve conditions for trout and Atlantic salmon in Vermont; and the construction a fish ladder at Ed Bill's pond to remove the last significant human barrier to anadromous fish spawning habitats on the Eight Mile River in Connecticut.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries continues to provide a monthly newsletter recounting significant Office activities to all NMFS Offices, Regions, and Science Centers.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries continues to co-chair National Recreational Fisheries Coordination Council (NRFCC) staff-level committee meetings, cooperate with other NRFCC members to move the Executive Order on Recreational Fisheries on the ground, and work with the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council's Technical Workgroup to increase recreational fishing opportunities.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries initiated and funded a contract with Mr. Andy Loftus to identify/establish a website for Federal recreational fisheries regulations and updates.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries submitted a Pioneer Grant proposal to the Department of Commerce to translate and print ethical angling materials in Spanish and Vietnamese.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries co-sponsored the National Symposium on Catch and Release in Marine Recreational Fisheries held December, 1999 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The meeting was designed to maximize interaction among speakers and participants regarding a wide variety of catch and release (and tag and release) issues in coastal and offshore recreational fisheries.

Staff from the Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries met with representatives from the American Sportfishing Association, Bass Pro Shops, Southwick Associates, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to discuss Federal programmatic support for the 1-800-ASK FISH Program and increasing support for federal recreational fisheries programs.

The Office of Intergovernmental and Recreational Fisheries, in partnership with the Coastal Conservation Association and Mote Marine Laboratory, co-sponsored the 11^th Annual Gulf Coast Shark Census Tournament which serves to educate the public by teaching resource conservation.

Northeast Region:

Resource Evaluation and Assessment Division (READ) staff contributed to the development of the 1999 version of Our Living Oceans, which is available on the world wide web. Additionally, READ staff began updating stock status summaries for all Northeast species for distribution via the NEFSC home page.

The Edwards Dam, located on the Kennebec River in Augusta, Maine was removed in July 1999. The removal of this obstruction has reclaimed 20 miles of free flowing water from Augusta to Waterville, Maine. For the first time in 162 years, 10 species of migratory fish will be able to access this habitat. Species include Atlantic salmon, Atlantic sturgeon, shortnose sturgeon, striped bass, American shad, alewives, blueback herring, and rainbow smelt. Dam removal is expected to be a "win-win" situation for the environment as well as the local community as an initial projection of $48 million in economic benefits from enhanced sport fishing is realized. Subsequent assessments have concluded that this amount may be understated as additional revenues and a "ripple effect" are realized from related and co-located businesses, e.g. the twenty miles of free flowing water are expected to open up 5 miles of class I and II rapids which will provide opportunities for rafting outfitters, kayak and boating sales, related equipment, and the food and lodging industry.

The Regional Office's Habitat Conservation Division (HCD) staff participates regularly in joint efforts with other federal agencies to maintain, restore, and enhance habitat for resources of NMFS' interests which benefit anadromous fish runs. Our participation as various river technical and policy committees advocates for species biological and habitat requirements within river management plans. Some of the river basins overseen by interagency committees and cooperatives in which HCD participates in include: Delaware Basin to restore and maintain American shad and striped bass; Merrimac and Connecticut River to restore and maintain Atlantic salmon and American shad; Susquehanna River to restore and maintain American shad.

The HCD has also been active in efforts that led to dam removal or implementation of fish passage requirements for anadromous species in Virginia, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine. In Massachusetts, HCD participates on the State's dam task force. In Maine, HCD was an integral interagency partner on the Kennebec accord that enabled removal of Edwards Dam. As a member of the Delaware Basin Cooperative, HCD helped Pennsylvania Fish and Boating Commission's initiative to install fish ladders on the Lehigh and Schuylkill Rivers. HCD has also been a participant in the Salem Nuclear Generating Station's Monitoring Advisory Committee which oversaw the construction of six fish ladders in the States of Delaware and New Jersey. Most recently, HCD staff are involved with the State of Maine, other federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations in the planning of fish passage requirements on the Penobscot and Presumpscot Rivers.

During the past year, the HCD has participated in an IPA with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to assist us in EFH implementation. This IPA allowed HCD to maintain close coordination with the Commission between our respective habitat conservation programs.

Two undergraduate interns from the Five Colleges Marine Sciences Program based in Amherst, Massachusetts began work during the summer of 1999 on determining the capture success of two different predators, bluefish and striped bass, on several different prey types including Atlantic menhaden and bay anchovy. This work assisted the cooperative effort of the Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processed Division, Howard Laboratory) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

During the summer of 1999, a Northeast Fisheries Science Center sponsored undergraduate intern worked with Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processed Division, Howard Laboratory) on a variety of projects related to both benthic and pelagic studies within the Branch.

During 1999, an undergraduate participant in the Cooperative Education Program of Southampton College, Long Island conducted research on juvenile bluefish and striped bass foraging behavior to assist the cooperative effort of the Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processed Division, Howard Laboratory) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The research will form the basis of an honors thesis.

Research by two Ph.D. students is currently being supported within the Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processed Division, Howard Laboratory). One of these students, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has conducted research on predator-prey relationships using both juvenile bluefish and striped bass as predators. The second student, from Rutgers University, is exploring prey choice by newly settled winter flounder.

The Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processed Division, Howard Laboratory) is a regular participant in the Cooperative Education Program of Rutgers University. During 1999, a student from Rutgers worked with Branch mentors in research related to fluke and bluefish at the Howard Laboratory. College credit is received for this volunteer service.

Students from Brookdale Community College are regular participants in field and laboratory research being conducted by the Behavioral Ecology Branch (Ecosystem Processed Division, Howard Laboratory).

Apex Predators Program (FEMAD) staff continued its Cooperative Shark Tagging Program in 1999. Since the Program's beginning in 1962, more than 155,000 sharks of 40 species have been tagged and released and, of these, more than 8,200 sharks have been recaptured. Cooperators include recreational and commercial fishers, fisheries observers, and biologists.

FEMAD staff made several presentations on shark tagging, the results of the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program, and shark biology and management. Audiences included recreational fishermen at shark fishing tournaments and the general public at public forums. In addition, several undergraduate and graduate students assisted in research projects related to data derived from recreational shark fishing.

The annual Shark Tagger Newsletter summarizing the previous year's tag and recapture data from the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program and biological studies on sharks was completed. Additionally, a web page was updated to report current shark tagging and recapture results, research on shark age and growth, food habits and reproduction, along with other state, federal, and university cooperative biological studies and shark management updates.

An Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (IJ) project, in the amount of $12,536 and awarded to the State of Pennsylvania, will monitor anadromous runs of American shad and other alosids utilizing fish passage facilities at the Easton and Chain Dams on the Lehigh River.

An Anadromous Fish Conservation Act (AFC) project, in the amount of $50,000 and awarded to the State of Maine, will manage an alewife run that will supply bait for commercial fishermen and a food base for resident fish species within the Androscoggin River system, as well as for larger anadromous species such as striped bass. It will provide fish passage for American shad, Atlantic salmon, and other resident species, as well as rapidly expanding recreational fisheries on the lower Androscoggin River.

A Chesapeake Bay Studies (CBS) project, in the amount of $158,155 and awarded to the State of Maryland, will focus on the restoration of fish stocks in the Chesapeake Bay to their historical level of abundance. Restoration activities will include relocating a portion of Whitemarsh Stream around an existing concrete weir blockage to provide migratory access for anadromous fish. Personnel will also participate in a comprehensive study to evaluate the status of biological resources in Maryland's Eastern Shore non-tidal streams.

A CBS project, in the amount of $280,000 and awarded to the State of Maryland, will include fishway construction and/or blockage removal on Octoraro Creek, Dorsey Run, Patapsco River, and the Chester River. Stream surveys will be conducted upstream of planned and constructed fish passage sites for habitat assessment.

A CBS project, in the amount of $50,000 and awarded to the State of Pennsylvania, will focus on the coordination, development and implementation of anadromous fish restoration initiatives in the Susquehanna River and its tributaries.

A CBS project, in the amount of $30,000 and awarded to the State of Pennsylvania, will conduct a two-year study evaluating fish assemblage and benthic macroinvertebrate response to the removal of two, run-of-river dams in the Susquehanna River drainage. Study results will provide critical information on the positive and negative impacts of small dam removal on stream fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages that will be useful for dam owners, conservation groups, natural resource managers and regulatory agencies.

A CBS project, in the amount of $68,000 and awarded to the State of Virginia, will include the re-establishment of anadromous fish spawning populations to historic spawning areas via stocking by transport of adult river herring and American shad.

Southeast Region:

The Southeast Regional Office's Public Affairs Officer (PAO) serves as the Region's delegate to Coastal America and EPA's Gulf of Mexico Program. The PAO has established a considerable network that is serving the Region and NMFS extremely well. The PAO attends meetings of those groups, serves on their outreach committees and helped NMFS to become known as a reliable source of information and a key player in all living marine resource issues.

The Southeast Regional Office regularly distributes pertinent news releases and fishery management bulletins to the editors of many constituents' newsletters, fishermen, and outdoors and sports writers at key daily and weekly newspapers throughout the Gulf and South Atlantic.

The Southeast Regional collateral-duty Recreational Fishing Coordinator is also the Regional Public Affairs Officer (PAO). The PAO maintains and employs a comprehensive media list and established a network of journalists, editors, news directors, educators, and leaders of key constituent groups to whom he distributes News Releases and Southeast Fishery Bulletins of interest to recreational fishermen and fishing communities within minutes of their final clearance. The Regional Office of Sustainable Fisheries also maintains and employs a comprehensive constituents list. The PAO also reviews all Southeast Regional Office public announcements for clarity, conciseness, and to purge them of scientific jargon and "governmentese" to ensure that they can be easily understood by the layperson. In addition, all such announcements are posted on the Region's "Announcements" web page within 24 hours of their final clearance and most are sent to NOAA and NMFS webmasters who post them on their respective news web pages. The following news releases of interest to recreational fishermen, many of which prompted considerable media coverage, were disseminated during the reporting period: NR99-051, 9/7/99- NOAA Charges Louisiana Seafood Dealer And Fisherman With Significant Shark Fishery Violations; NR99-053, 9/20/99- NOAA Wins One For Gulf Red Snapper Fishermen Seafood Dealer; Vessel Owner To Pay $800,000 for Federal Fishery Violations; NR99-060, 10/6/99- NOAA Charges Vessel Owners and Operators for Fishing in Florida West Coast Protected Areas; NR99-059, 10/26/99- North Florida Commercial Dive Fisherman Loses Permits for Life and Fined $10,000 for Violating Federal Fisheries Laws; NR99-066, 11/24/99- Florida Fisherman Pays $800 Penalty for Taking a Dead Green Sea Turtle; NR99-069, 12/8/99- NOAA Assesses More than $433,000 in Fines and Seeks Permit Sanctions Against North Florida Fishermen Engaged in Massive Fisheries Fraud; and NR99-074, 12/22/99- Recent Study Off Cape Canaveral Shows Greater Abundance, Biological Diversity and Sizes of Fish in Protected Areas.

The Sustainable Fisheries Division and Public Affairs Officer frequently draft and disseminate Southeast Fishery Bulletins to keep recreational fishermen apprized of impending rule changes, public meetings, etc. These bulletins are distributed as expediently as possible to fishermen, fish houses, bait and tackle shops, key resource management and enforcement agencies, news media, and key constituents, many of whom head recreational fishing organizations and publish newsletters. The following SERO Fishery Bulletins of interest to the recreational fishing community were issued during the reporting period: NR99-041, 7/14/99- New Management Measures Proposed for Mackerels (Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources); NR99-044, 8/23/99- Catch Limit Changes Approved for King and Spanish Mackerel; NR99-047, 8/20/99- Red Snapper Recreational Season Closes At 12:01 Am on August 29, 1999; NR99-050, 9/3/99- Emergency Rule to Close Red Porgy Fishery in South Atlantic Effective September 8, 1999; NR99-052, 9/4/99- New Regulations Approved for the Recreational and Commercial Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Fisheries; NR99-061,11/4/99 Marine Conservation District Established In Federal Waters off the U.S. Virgin Islands; NR99-062,11/4/99- New Bag and Size Limits Established for Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish; NR99-072,12/15/99- New Regulations Approved for the Recreational and Commercial Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Fisheries; and NR99-073, 12/21/99- Catch Limit Changes Proposed For Gulf Group King and Spanish Mackerel.

The Sustainable Fisheries Division tracks recreational fishery quotas in the southeastern United States and posts landing information as the information becomes available at the web site: http://caldera.sero.nmfs.gov/fishery/intro.htm.

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center's (SEFSC) Cooperative Tagging Center, founded in 1954, is a continuing joint research effort by scientists and recreational and commercial fishermen. It is designed to provide information on the movements and biology of marine fish species including Atlantic tunas and billfish throughout the southeast (Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea) through the direct participation of the public in scientific research. Today over 20,000 participants contribute to the program, from virtually every segment of both the recreational and commercial fishing communities. The number of fish released has been exceptional in the last few years.

Bluefin tuna fishing for the future is one of the SEFSC's cooperative tagging programs conducted with the Tuna Research and Conservation Center in collaboration with the community of Hatteras, North Carolina and The Cape Lookout Sportfishing Association between December 28, 1998 through January 10, 1999 for Morehead City, North Carolina and January 15 through February 15, 1999 for Hatteras, North Carolina. This history in the making where scientists, anglers, and charter fishermen are working together to conduct one of the largest bluefin tuna archival tagging efforts in the Atlantic. Tag-A-Giant researchers hope to put in 1,000 archival and pop-off tags on bluefin tuna by the year 2000. Tags have been deployed from the Carolinas to New England. Tag-A-Giant is not a tournament. The Tag-A-Giant research project is providing new data on the offshore movement patterns and biology of bluefin tuna that will aid in future management decisions.

The SEFSC continues to cooperate with BOAT/US under the MOU for volunteer tagging of near-shore species, including many recreationally important species such as striped bass, red drum, and tarpon.

The SEFSC continued as a cooperating participant in the AFCTO Tag/Flag Tournament for large Pelagics in the Atlantic, distributed tags, and served as a repository for tag return information. Annual statistical reports were provided by the SEFSC documenting tournament participation and accomplishments.

The SEFSC has, since 1972, monitored landings of billfish at recreational tournaments conducted in the U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean. Because a large portion of the recreational effort is expressed through tournament fishing, the resulting information is vital to the management of billfish, both in U.S. waters and internationally. Work is conducted in cooperation with The Billfish Foundation, which provides substantial assistance and manpower under an existing MOU. Data obtained for 1998 have been completed and these recorded over 86,000 hours of effort, and documented the catch (boated+released+tagged and released) of 1206 blue marlin, 1551 white marlin, and 786 sailfish.

A Reef Team member served as an advisor to the Beaufort Habitat Division for issues pertaining to anadromous fish and riverine water flow conditions. Consultation was provided to prevent stranding of fish, and to increase spawning habitat.

The following activities describe some of the more significant and representative activities in the Southeast Region taken on behalf of anadromous fishes. Most of these activities are ongoing, taking many years to complete:

Savannah River Fisheries Committee - This group was established to address estuarine, diadromous, and resident freshwater fisheries issues in the Savannah River Basin. Representatives of Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR), South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Corps of Engineers (COE), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and University of Georgia were present to discuss research needs, ongoing management problems, and development issues. A key topic of discussion was the need for a comprehensive plan for diadromous fish restoration and management on the Savannah River. Opportunities include fish passage improvements at the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam (NSBLD), the Augusta Diversion Dam, and the Stevens Creek Lock and Dam Project. Through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relicensing process, a prescription for mandatory fish passage has been included in the Stevens Creek FERC license. Relicensing studies are underway at the Augusta Hydro power Project downstream from Stevens Creek. The first dam encountered by migratory fish is the NSBLD Project. Recent cooperative efforts by GDNR, SCDNR, FWS, NMFS, COE, and Richmond County have demonstrated that passage of most anadromous species can be achieved by operation of the project's lock and flow regulation gate structures under some flow conditions during spawning seasons. Effective passage at the Augusta Diversion Dam, along with NSBLD and Stevens Creek would reopen about 30 miles of high quality riverine shoal habitat that has been isolated from anadromous fish spawning populations since 1845. The Committee also discussed fishery studies that may be needed to support environmental impact evaluations pertinent to the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

Wisconsin Tissue Incorporated Proposed New Paper Mill - Staff participated in a preapplication on-site meeting to discuss the environmental issues and concerns with a proposal for a new plant adjacent to the Roanoke River just downstream of Weldon in Halifax County, North Carolina. Direct wetland impacts may be minimal. However, we are concerned that up to ten million gallons of water per day could be withdrawn and discharged back into the River as treated process water. Entrainment of larval and juvenile shad and striped bass is problematic as is the potential degradation of water quality. The endangered shortnose sturgeon also may be an issue in this river system. Neither state nor Federal resource agencies were consulted during the site selection process which was directed by the North Carolina Department of Commerce. The proposed mill site is located adjacent to the most important anadromous fish spawning and nursery habitat in the entire River. Further, the nearby Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge may be affected. Most recent efforts of the resource agencies were directed at efforts to relocate this facility elsewhere and seek to purchase the property, as a part of the Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge, in view of its value as essential spawning habitat for striped bass. The most recent information appears to indicate now that this facility will not likely be pursued as a consequence of the purchase of the parent company by another industry.

Columbia Hydroelectric Project, Broad and Congaree Rivers at Columbia, South Carolina - Staff participated in an interagency teleconference to review fishery resource studies being conducted by the South Carolina Electric and Gas Company (SCEG) as a part of the FERC relicensing process. Completed studies include instream flow, water quality, fresh water and anadromous fish population dynamics surveys, and impingement, entrainment, and turbine mortality studies. Upcoming milestones include attempts to reach agreement on instream flows, and development of alternative fishway designs. In a separate, but related effort, the Charleston Area Office has been facilitating efforts to develop an anadromous fish restoration plan (Plan) for the Santee-Cooper-Congaree River Basin, in cooperation with SCDNR and FWS. A component of the Plan will establish specific fish passage goals for the Columbia Project. The Plan will constitute a "comprehensive plan" in accordance with Section 10(a) (2)(A) of the FPA. Under the FPA, FERC must insure that licensing actions are consistent with the goals of approved state or Federal comprehensive plans. The goal of NMFS' participation in the Columbia Hydro Project studies is to restore upstream passage of anadromous fish to extensive spawning habitats that have been isolated since 1824, following construction of the Columbia Canal Hydroelectric Project. Prior to dam construction, American shad, blueback herring, striped bass, and sturgeon ascended the Broad River up to 150 miles above the fall line at Columbia. Related and subsequent efforts have addressed the instream flow study using the Instream Flow Incremental

Methodology (IFIM); fishways and related considerations such as design and engineering needed to prepare a fishway prescription; and routine participation in efforts of the relicensing team.

Weyerhaeuser Paper Mill Intake Relocation, Roanoke River - Staff responded to an emergency proposal by the COE to issue a Letter of Permission to authorize the temporary relocation of the water intake structure. As a result of low flow conditions in the Roanoke River, a salt wedge has extended upriver threatening to close the plant. The project consists of placing three large pumps on a barge at a site about three miles upstream of the current intake and using large pipes placed in the River to transport the water to the mill. The NMFS advised the COE that the site for the new intake provides nursery habitat for a variety of anadromous fishery resources including striped bass and American shad and that entrainment and impingement of juvenile fish would be problematic. We also advised that the current situation is a symptom of overall water flow problems in the River. We recommended that the COE advertise the project as an individual permit with a 15-day review period so that the resource agencies could assist Weyerhaeuser in designing water intake structures that would minimize adverse impact to juvenile fish. We also recommended that the company, as a part of this action, be required to conduct a comprehensive study of their water needs, alternatives to address these needs and their effect on the Roanoke River and its fisheries.

Roanoke Rapids and Gaston Hydro power Project, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina - The NMFS participates in FERC relicensing study negotiations with the FWS, North Carolina Department of Natural Resources (NCDNR), local governments, and non-governmental organizations. The Roanoke Rapids/Lake Gaston Project is operated by North Carolina Power Corporation (NPC) and is located approximately 90 miles upstream of the mouth of the Roanoke River. The Roanoke River is one of the most important riverine habitats for striped bass on the Atlantic seaboard. It also supports large spawning populations of American shad, hickory shad, alewife, blueback herring, and American eel and it is inhabited by Atlantic and shortnose sturgeons. The Roanoke River is currently the focus of major interagency efforts to restore populations of diadromous fishes. Goals of the NMFS and other Federal and state natural resource agencies are beneficial adjustment of project operations to improve habitat conditions and the restoration of access to upstream spawning habitats that were previously used by anadromous species. Project relicensing is controversial since lakefront (reservoir) property owners are concerned that the resource agencies may recommend dam removal. Property owners are also concerned that water releases, as needed to sustain and restore fish migrations, could alter lake levels and interfere with existing recreational uses and aesthetics. It is unlikely that dam removal will occur; however, other actions that might foster restoration of diadromous fish are likely to be recommended by state and Federal resource agencies.

Charleston Estuary Project, South Carolina - The Charleston Estuary Project Reconnaissance Study was initiated by the South Carolina Legislative Delegation to identify strategies for implementing the recommendations of the earlier Charleston Harbor Project. This effort was conducted by the South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (SCOCRM) in partnership with the COE, SCDNR, Santee-Cooper Public Service Authority, NMFS, Charleston County, the City of Charleston, and local industry. Among the recommendations are programs for estuarine/coastal marine habitat protection and restoration, water quality improvement, and anadromous fish passage, and improvements on the Cooper River at the Pinopolis Lock and Dam. The COE anticipates Federal funding, with a local match from the state and local government partners, for a feasibility study to be initiated in FY 2000. Potential beneficial outcomes of the Charleston Estuary Project are strengthened wetland and water quality protection measures within the coastal watersheds covered by the project, and fish passage improvements for American shad, blueback herring, striped bass, and sturgeon at the Pinopolis Lock and Dam.

Charleston Naval Base Redevelopment, South Carolina - Staff attended an interagency meeting to discuss a major harbor dredging proposal by the Charleston Naval Base Redevelopment Authority. The Authority plans to develop the former Charleston Naval Base as a commercial shipping terminal. The proposal involves extensive dredging along a three-mile area of waterfront bordering the Cooper River and development of new and rebuilt docks and terminal facilities. An extensive sediment testing project is being planned to assess the level of contaminants that may be present. Past limited testing in adjacent upland areas, and in some of the proposed dredging area, has revealed contamination that is well above acceptable levels for heavy metals and hydrocarbons. The proposed dredging project is located in a section of the Cooper River that is of major importance as a migration corridor for anadromous fish, including American shad, blueback herring, striped bass, Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon. Based on recent population sampling and telemetry data collected by the SCDNR, the Cooper River at this location is likely to be an important forage habitat for juvenile shortnose sturgeon. The NMFS and other resource agencies have recommended extensive sediment testing prior to development of dredging and disposal alternatives.

Augusta Canal Hydro power Project, Georgia - Staff participated in an IFIM field data collection effort on the Savannah River at the Augusta shoals. The IFIM study is being conducted as a part of the FERC relicensing studies. The NMFS, FWS, SCDNR, and GDNR are seeking appropriate instream flows and anadromous fish passage at the project as a component of interagency efforts to restore and enhance Savannah River populations of American shad, blueback herring, striped bass, Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon. The Augusta shoal area was formerly a major passage corridor for all anadromous species, and spawning habitat for striped bass.

Flint River Hydroelectric Project, Albany, Georgia - Staff coordinated with Regional General Counsel on a motion to intervene, and to file a fishway reservation with FERC in connection with NMFS ongoing review. The Flint River Project is operated by Georgia Power and is located about 75 miles upstream from Lake Seminole on the Flint River, a major tributary of the Apalachicola River system. Fish passage at the Flint River Project is not a management objective now, but may be in the future if successful passage can be achieved at the Woodruff Dam downstream on the Apalachicola River. Georgia Power is seeking a new license for the project, and NMFS has requested that reservation of future fishway prescription authority be included in the issued FERC license. Prior to construction of dams on the Apalachicola River system, anadromous fish species including Alabama shad, sturgeon, and striped bass ascended up to 150 miles on major tributaries. Anadromous fish runs are effectively blocked at the Woodruff Dam, but a remnant, perhaps landlocked population of striped bass remains below the Flint River Project dam. Each spring, striped bass ascend the Flint River from Lake Seminole to spawn below the Flint River Project.

New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam, Georgia - Staff coordinated with Regional General Counsel concerning an application for a FERC preliminary permit for development of hydro power facilities at the NSBLD Project operated by the COE Savannah District. The project was mainly built for navigation and water regulation purposes and does not have hydro power generation capability. In recent years the GDNR and SCDNR, FWS, NMFS, and COE have been conducting experiments aimed at improving passage of anadromous fish at the project site. Passage of American shad, blueback herring, and striped bass is possible at the facility by manipulating the navigation lock and the flow regulation gates. In connection with upcoming deregulation of the hydro power production industry, sites such as NSBLD are being examined for installation of small generating facilities. The FERC now has two competing applications for a preliminary permit at the NSBLD project. Installation of hydro power facilities could seriously compromise fish passage capabilities and jeopardize efforts to restore anadromous fish populations in the upper reaches of the Savannah River. To assure the opportunity to participate in the licensing process, the NMFS has requested assistance from the NOAA General Counsel Office in processing a formal petition to intervene on the FERC hydro power licensing process at NSBLD. The NMFS has been active with SCDNR and FWS regarding development of plans for anadromous fish sampling in the Savannah River. The focus of this sampling effort is to collect basic year-round population dynamics information on American shad above and below the dam.

Pee Dee River General Investigation Study - The Charleston District has 40 projects in various planning stages, including 14 environmental restoration projects, and 3 major general investigation studies. Among the studies discussed, the Pee-Dee River Basin Study has the greatest potential to involve NMFS trust resources. The impetus for the Pee-Dee River Basin Study has come from concerns by several South Carolina municipalities that activities in North Carolina may jeopardize their future water supply and wastewater load allocations. This may be the beginning of a major interstate water resources allocation dispute. The Pee Dee River is one of the most important river systems for anadromous fish populations, including American shad, blueback herring, striped bass, Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon. Due to more pressing management problems in other river systems in South Carolina, fishery population dynamics has not been studied much during the past 25 years in the lower Pee Dee River. The Pee Dee River Basin Study may provide impetus and funding for cooperation among the COE, FERC, SCDNR, FWS, and NMFS on fishery population dynamics studies in the Waccamaw-Pee Dee Basin.

Santee Cooper Hydroelectric Project, South Carolina - The Santee Cooper Project will be up for relicensing in 2006. Although the Santee Cooper Project will not enter the relicensing study process until 2001, fish passage studies and actions are being pursued with the COE under their environmental restoration authorities. Early considerations include downstream passage at Wilson Dam on the Santee River, improvement of upstream and downstream passage at the St. Stephen Facility (located at the head of the rediversion canal), and improvement of upstream and downstream passage at Pinnopolis Dam on the Cooper River. Since problems and opportunities vary at each location, a combination of passage techniques must be employed, including fish lifts and possibly ladder type structures. The NMFS could play a key role in restoring anadromous and catadromous fishes in the Southeast, but this would be a major shift in priorities and would require additional personnel. As part of our efforts, preliminary fishway design feasibility evaluations were performed. The three projects visited are all high priority and have substantial promise for restoring migrations of American shad, blueback herring, American eel, striped bass, Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon.

American Shad Restoration Project, North Carolina - Staff met with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to discuss the project funded by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Because of the adverse impacts on anadromous fishery resources resulting from the replacement of the I-95 bridges over the Roanoke River, the NCDOT provided approximately $330,000 for the restoration of American shad resources in the River. The project, initiated in the spring of 1998, experienced difficulty in obtaining ripe females as a source of eggs. Since the shad population in the River is so low, NMFS staff discussed locating an alternative source of eggs from either the Cape Fear River or Tar River. However, the population in the Tar River is also small and there are genetic differences in the Cape Fear and Roanoke populations that must be considered.

Granby Lock and Dam Removal, South Carolina - Staff participated in a field visit to the facility located on the Congaree River near Columbia. The old lock and dam was constructed around 1920 as a part of a plan to improve river navigation up the Santee and Congaree Rivers to Columbia. The expected commercial navigation traffic never materialized and the facility was abandoned. The old dam is still intact and is a barrier to upstream movements of anadromous fish, particularly shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon. The dam is also a significant recreational boating hazard. Although the old lock is now open, the relatively high current velocity and length of the lock serve as an impediment to upstream fish movements. A primary objective of interagency anadromous fish restoration efforts on the Santee-Congaree Rivers is to improve access to spawning habitats on the upper Congaree River and its major tributaries. Removal of the old lock and dam offers an important opportunity for anadromous fish restoration in the system and interagency discussions are underway to develop a plan and funding strategy.

Hydro power Facilities and Restorable Anadromous Fish Habitats (150 stream miles) - Staff participated in an interagency tour of major facilities on the Broad and Wateree-Catawba Rivers in South Carolina and North Carolina. The tour was arranged by SCDNR, and was attended by FWS, NMFS, Duke Power Company, and South Carolina Electric and Gas Company. The Broad and Wateree-Catawba Rivers are two of the larger tributaries of the Santee River Basin and supported important anadromous fish runs and fisheries prior to 1930. Both systems contained the major portion of spawning and juvenile habitat for striped bass, American shad, blueback herring, and sturgeons in the Santee Basin. Primary spawning habitats consisted of extensive rocky shoals, riffles, and pools (locally called "falls") that extended from the fall line upstream in each river for over 150 miles. The Broad River fish runs were blocked in 1824 by construction of the CCHP to provide river boat navigation above Columbia. The Wateree-Catawba falls were too extensive to provide any hope for navigation, so this system remained intact much longer. After 1900, the falls on both rivers were recognized to be excellent sites for hydro power development and construction of dams began in earnest by 1904. Presently, the Broad River is blocked by hydro power dams at Columbia, Parr Shoals, Neal Shoals, and Lockhart. The now abandoned Granby Lock and Dam at Columbia is also a partial blockage on the Congaree River below the Columbia Diversion Dam. The Wateree-Catawba is blocked by the Wateree, Rocky Creek-Cedar Creek, Great Falls-Dearborn, and Fishing Creek Dams. Important anadromous fish restoration opportunities exist through upcoming relicensing of the lower dams on both river systems. The old Granby Lock and Dam is one of the best dam removal opportunities in the Southeast. A fishway is being designed for the Columbia Hydro Project on the lower Broad River and the Wateree-Catawba Project licenses will expire in 2008. A major objective of the interagency tour was to continue development of a comprehensive plan for restoration and management of diadromous fisheries in the Santee Basin. Using funds provided by the FWS, SCDNR will be completing the draft fishery restoration plan that was developed by state and Federal resource agencies. The plan will ultimately be filed with FERC and should strengthen prospects for achieving restoration of fish populations during upcoming FERC hydro power relicensing efforts in the Santee Basin.

Santee-Cooper Anadromous Fish Restoration Plan, South Carolina - Staff coordinated with the FWS on the status of the plan. The plan is a cooperative effort of the NMFS, FWS, and the SCDNR and will be used in connection with FERC relicensing activities. A draft plan is under development and was sent to FWS some time ago for review and comment. The FWS has received about $30K in additional funds for use in furthering the plan and they are exploring options for contracting work or hiring temporary help. FWS intends to make needed changes and redistribute the draft document for review where we will try to finalize assignments and establish a target date for plan distribution. Since key players will include the COE and Santee-Cooper Power, staff anticipate meeting with them to explain our goals and to form a partnership to restore anadromous fish.

Wilmington Harbor Navigation Project, North Carolina - Staff coordinated with the FWS concerning alternative mitigation plans to offset adverse impacts associated with the COE proposal to construct a 250-acre open water dredged material disposal site in the lower Cape Fear River near Snows Cut in New Hanover County. Current plans to offset losses of shallow water habitat involve the removal of existing dredged material disposal islands in the lower river to restore shallow water habitat. However, there are numerous problems with this plan including the impact of dredging and dredged material disposal and loss of waterbird habitat. An alternative mitigation plan involves breaching the three locks and dams on the river upstream from Wilmington. These structures act as impediments to upstream migration of anadromous fish including the endangered shortnose sturgeon. Breaching these structures could improve access to habitat that has been unavailable to anadromous fishery resources for many years. Although this alternative is out-of-kind mitigation, it may be preferable to what is currently proposed.

Flat Swamp Mitigation Bank, North Carolina (386 acres) - Staff participated in a Mitigation Bank Review Team preapplication on-site inspection of a mitigation bank proposed in Craven County. The 386-acre site consists of prior converted farm lands with a small area of wet pine flatwoods and nonriverine wet hardwood forest. In addition to wetland restoration on prior converted farm land, the bank would include the restoration of the headwater stream that was lost when the area was cleared for farming. Approximately one mile of stream bed would be designed into the project plans and connected to Flat Swamp. Flat Swamp, a tributary of the Neuse River, supports anadromous fishery resources. The River, including the Flat Swamp site, has been identified by the NCDWQ as a nutrient sensitive watershed. In addition, this work is consistent with the goals of the Basinwide Wetlands and Riparian Restoration Plan for the Neuse River Basin prepared the North Carolina Wetland Restoration Program. NMFS is in the process of reviewing the Mitigation Banking Instrument (MBI) and the Mitigation Plan for the project site. Some unresolved issues include the amount of riverine wetland credits available as a result of inclusion of the stream component in the mitigation plan, monitoring procedures to evaluate the success of the stream component, the use of water control structures, and the eventual disposition of the property.

Northwest/Southwest Regions:

The two Regions are engaging in and coordinating enforcement efforts with state and local agencies to further the protection of Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed anadromous fish. The NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement has conducted five enforcement workshop in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California through its Action Team Program conducted by the West Coast Coordinator for ESA Enforcement. Workshop participants include state and tribal enforcement officers and biologists, in addition to National Marine Fisheries Service biologists and agents. These workshops should play an important role in the recovery of endangered salmonids by not only educating agency staff in law enforcement issues designed to promote recovery, but also, as part of the workshop, an education module provides them with tools to more effectively educate anglers and the public on recovery issues and the law.

Northwest Region:

A new web site developed by the Northwest NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement is now available to individuals interested in investigating the taking of anadromous fish protected by the Endangered Species Act. As a component to the web site, individuals can now report violation on-line directly to the Officer for Law Enforcement. Just click on http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ole/Northwest/esa_home.htm. Enhanced enforcement capabilities, such as this, should play an important role in speeding recovery of endangered salmonids, thus making it possible to resume recreational fisheries.

Southwest Region:

The Billfish Newsletter is an annual publication that describes two of the primary components of billfish research at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) . The newsletter is also posted at http://swfsc.ucsd.edu. The International Billfish Angling Survey and the Billfish Tagging Program provide essential information about the recreational billfish angling community for exploring management concerns. The Angler Survey provides catch and angler effort information from the recreational fisheries. The Billfish Tagging Program provides much needed data on the biology, distribution and migration rates of these far ranging species. Both investigations rely on continued cooperation from billfish anglers, sport fishing clubs, commercial fishers, and agencies affiliated with the SWFSC. Additionally, billfish catch data from the program are specially summarized in support of the AFTCO Annual Tag/Flag Tournament.

The SWFSC continued as a cooperating participant in the AFCTO Tag/Flag Tournament for large Pelagics in the Pacific, distributed tags, and served as a repository for tag return information. Striped marlin off Baja California, sailfish, and bluefin tuna were also added to the program. Annual statistical reports were provided to the tournament committee by the SWFSC documenting tournament participation and accomplishments.

The Southwest Region is highly involved in deliberations with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to provide fishery restoration flows in the Eel River located on the North California Coast. With much support from recreational fishing and tribal interests, NMFS and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service are petitioning for fewer Eel River flows being diverted from to the Russian River for power production. This is extremely controversial since the diverted water is in high demand for the much drier Russian River watershed.

The Southwest Region initiated a new project with the United Anglers of Casa Grande High School, Petaluma, California. The project would build a demonstration livestock fencing project to keep cattle from entering and damaging the creek.

Work continues on the Adobe Creek video tape that will be used to motivate and assemble other community habitat restoration partnerships. The tape shows the effort and success in restoring fish passage at a major road culvert. The United Anglers were recently acknowledged as a cover feature story in Readers Digest and on a national CNN television special.

Southwest Region staff consultation with the Santa Barbara County Flood District resulted in a fish passage channel being incorporated into a proposed debris basin on Montecito Creek. Without NMFS influence, the basin would have been a complete barrier to steelhead migration. Also in Santa Barbara County, NMFS is working with the Army Corps of Engineers on the proposed Lower Mission Creek Flood Control Project. Input from NMFS will insure that in addition to improved bank stabilization and flood control, the project will allow improved passage for steelhead migration to essential spawning and rearing habitat. NMFS is also working with gravel mining operations to monitor levels of gravel excavation and recruitment in order to characterize and minimize adverse effects to critical steelhead habitat. Several projects have also been undertaken to improve steelhead habitat; NMFS provided technical assistance to the California Department of Parks and Recreation for the development of a fish passage improvement project on Gaviota Creek.

The Southwest Region completed negotiations with a major utility to restore approximately 42 miles of salmon and steelhead habitat in the Battle Creek drainage, a tributary to the Sacramento River. Battle Creek is historically one of the most prolific producers of salmon and steelhead in the Sacramento River Basin. Parties to that negotiation included NMFS, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the California Department of Fish and Game. In addition to the removal of five dams, the parties agreed to increase instream flows and construct screens and ladders at PG&E's remaining diversions.

Southwest Region staff responded to a San Luis Obispo County proposed replacement of a Chorro Creek road crossing that was damaged by high flows in 1995. The existing road crossing impedes passage of steelhead, and the proposed replacement would have continued to impede passage. Region staff developed a road crossing design, based on characteristics of the site, historical hydrology, and swimming ability of steelhead, that is expected to provide passage for adult and juvenile steelhead. The existing crossing is the principal migratory impediment on Chorro Creek; removing this impediment provides steelhead access to a substantial amount of spawning and rearing habitat, both in Upper Chorro Creek and its tributaries.

Southwest Region staff assisted the National Park Service and the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains in recovering the local population of steelhead historically present in Solstice Creek, Los Angeles County. Staff participated in a two-day habitat mapping project at the Creek which assessed the appropriateness of the Creek for steelhead spawning and rearing. Staff also prepared a report which presented the results of the habitat mapping effort, performed an inspection of several steelhead passage barriers with NMFS engineering staff, and developed guidance criteria for improving fish passage conditions at the barriers.

Southwest Region staff worked with the City of Ojai engineering staff in the design of a bridge replacement project over Stewart Creek in the Ventura River watershed. The project resulted in improved juvenile and adult steelhead passage into this tributary.

Southwest Region staff worked in association with the California Department of Fish and Game and the City of Santa Paula in the development and completion of a fish ladder facility at Harvey Dam on Santa Paula Creek, Santa Clara River watershed. The existing structure had been a steelhead migration barrier for several decades, precluding access to spawning and rearing habitat. The passage facility construction will be completed February, 2000.

Southwest Region staff continue to work with the Casitas Municipal Water District in designing a steelhead passage at the Robles Diversion Dam on the Ventura River. The existing facility has been a steelhead migration barrier for several decades, precluding access to important spawning and rearing habitat. This is an ongoing project and is anticipated to be completed in the fall of 2000.

Southwest Region staff continued to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Santa Clara Valley Water District to ensure that sufficient mitigation (adequate flows, temperatures, and riparian habitat for steelhead and chinook) will be provided for several flood control projects in the Guadalupe River near San Jose, California. Recently, the Water District began operating a fish ladder at the confluence of the Guadalupe River that now allows steelhead to migrate an additional 3 miles upstream into Guadalupe Creek for spawning and rearing activities. Additional fish ladders are planned for completion in 2000.

The proceedings of the Symposium on Marine Harvest Refugia, sponsored by the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation (CalCOFI), were published in October, 1999 in the CalCOFI Reports. CalCOFI is supported by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, University of California, and California Department of Fish and Game. The Symposium provided a balanced account of the benefits and limitations of harvest refugia.

The Southwest Region continues to maintain a web site that posts new data and information on Regional activities, sportfishing information, and links to other web sites of interest to anglers at http://swr.ucsd.edu/hcd/action.htm.

The Southwest Region formed a community initiative to improve coho salmon passage at a derelict water diversion structure (Roy's Dam) on Geronimo Creek, Marin County near San Francisco, California. Trout Unlimited agreed to lead the project and coordinate volunteers, while NMFS agreed to seek modest funds and provide technical engineering advice. Other participants include Marin County supervisors, pro bono fishery consultants, and construction companies. The NMFS Habitat Restoration Center is providing funds to assist in removing much of the structure and restoring the fish ladder.

The Southwest Region, partnering with the State of California, Sonoma County, private interests, and other federal agencies, paved the way for the construction of a fish step-pool pathway which would open a fifteen foot high road culvert wall blocking the way to high elevation steelhead spawning grounds in Adobe Creek. The project was completed for about $60,000 in donations of money, labor, equipment, and technical expertise. This example of true partnering and taxpayer savings earned the project the Vice Presidential Silver Hammer Award for partnering and reinventing government.

The Southwest Region (SWR) is currently represented on the Advisory Council for the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. This Council brings together a broad mix of stakeholders who have a vital interest in the waters within and around the Sanctuary. The SWR is also participating with the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) on their marine reserves committee to consider the potential use of refugia as a management tool to achieve sustainable fisheries along the Pacific coast.

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