THE UNITED STATES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
SERVICE

its responsibilities and functions

Circular 97

THE UNITED STATES

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

its responsibilities and functions

U.S. Department of the Interior
Fish and Wildlife Service
Circular 97
Washington • I960

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Stewart JL. Udall, Secretary

Frank P. Briggs, Assistant Secretary
for Fish and Wildlife

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE

Daniel H. Janzen, Director

BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES

Donald L. McKernan, Director

Fish and Wildlife Circular 97

Published December i960

Reprinted March 1961

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction 1

The Federal Government's role in wildlife con-
servation 3

Origin of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service ..... 4
The U. S. Fish Commission and the Bureau

of Fisheries 4

The Bureau of Biological Survey.. 7

Transfer and merger 9

Reorganization in 1956 10

Organization of the Service.. 11

Functions of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 13

Biological research... 13

Industrial research 16

Essential services 17

Commercial fisheries of Alaska 19

Fur seal industry of Alaska.. 20

Salton st all -Kennedy program 22

Columbia River fisheries program 23

Fishery loan fund 23

International fishery agreements 24

Functions of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and

Wildlife 25

National fish hatcheries 25

Sport fishery research 27

Fishery management services 29

National wildlife refuge system... 30

Wildlife research • 34

Law enforcement and game management.. 35
Federal aid to fish and wildlife restora-
tion 38

Management of predatory animals and

rodents 39

River basin studies 40

Alaska's sport fish and game 42

A look to the future • 43

in

Hunting and fishing are enjoyed by millions of Americans--one aspect of the great
recreational and commercial value of our fish and wildlife resources.

IV

THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE

SERVICE

Its Responsibilities and Functions

By Edna N. Sater, Office of Information
Office of the Commissioner

Fish and wildlife are products of the land and
waters and rank among the Nation's most important
renewable natural resources. Their value is measured
not only in terms of their annual monetary worth but
also in terms of their intangible worth as a source of
outdoor recreation and pleasure available to all
Americans .

The problems of wildlife and fishery conservation
are as varied and as changing as the resources them-
selves. Yet basically, the principal problem is always
the same- -how to keep fish and wildlife populations
high enough to satisfy the needs of modern civilization,
a civilization that demands more and more benefits
from these resources but at almost every step impairs
or destroys the environment that fish and wildlife must
have to survive.

Americans look to their fish and wildlife resources
for many things. Broadly speaking, wild animals --
mammals, birds, and fishes of our land and inland
waters- -are primarily a recreational resource,
although large economic values are involved in the
pursuit of hunting and sport fishing. The marine
fishes, on the other hand, are principally a commer-
cial resource. Each year the fishing industry produces
around 5 billion pounds of food and related products
estimated to have a retail value of more than a billion
dollars. In recent years marine sport fishing has been
increasing in popularity.

America's fish and wildlife resources have become
a vital factor in the American way of life. In 1955, a
nationwide survey showed that 25 million American
anglers and hunters spent nearly $3 billion and 500
million days pursuing their favorite sport. In 1959 the
national wildlife refuges recorded nearly 10 million

1

visitors who came to fish, picnic, swim, watch the
birds, photograph the wildlife, and hunt.

Vitally important as these resources are, per-
petuating them for future generations poses grave
problems for Federal and State wildlife administra-
tors. Fish and wildlife are under tremendous pressure
today in the keen battle for land and water that is so
characteristic of our expanding population and indus-
trialization. The demands of civilization are reducing
their natural habitats at an alarming rate. An exploding
population requires new homes, new industrial plants,
and new networks of highways, progressively crowding
fish and game into smaller and less suitable areas.
The basic problem becomes that of trying to cushion
the impact men are making on our natural resources
by setting aside small areas in which trained wildlife
managers through new techniques compensate in part
for the great losses in fish and wildlife habitats.

The demands of civilization are inexorable. But
this need not mean the complete destruction of our
fish and wildlife resources if we give proper consider-
ation to their conservation in the course of develop-
ment.

Fortunately, there is a growing awareness of the
critical situation confronting American wildlife and of
its vital importance to our people. Most people realize
that although not everyone hunts or fishes, everyone
does have a stake of some kind in wildlife, whether it
be as a source of food or of recreation to relieve the
tensions of life.

Yellowfin tuna, part of thefive billion poundsoffish which
American commercial fishermen bring in each year.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Protecting, conserving, and restoring our fish and
wildlife resources is a public problem. For this reason
the status of these resources is very much a concern
of the Federal Government and has been since 1871
when the Congress established the U.S. Fish Commis-
sion to study the depletion of the fisheries of our
seacoasts and lakes.

The Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States
Department of the Interior is the agency through which
the Federal Government assumes leadership in the
management and protection of fish and wildlife. The
responsibilities of the Fish and Wildlife Service are
so broad that they affect, directly or indirectly,
almost every species of fish and wildlife found in this
country. Concisely stated, in performing its duties,
the Service --

Formulates, issues, and enforces annual regula-
tions for the hunting of migratory waterfowl.

Enforces international treaty acts.

Acquires land for new refuges and fish hatcheries.

Manages and develops a system of refuges for
waterfowl and other species of wildlife, particularly
endangered species.

Operates nearly 100 fish hatcheries to propagate
fishes for stocking public waters and farm ponds.

Controls predatory animals and injurious rodents.

Enforces Federal conservation laws.

Administers the fur seal industry of Alaska.

Carries on biological and technological research
on fishes, birds, and mammals to learn their habits
and living needs and economic utilization.

Conducts studies on commercial species of fish to
find ways to improve catching methods, preservation,
utilization, and marketing.

Conducts river basin studies to ensure that fish
and wildlife are included in water development plans.

Administers the Federal Aid in Wildlife and Sport
Fishery Restoration Acts.

The goal of the Fish and Wildlife Service is to
maintain our fish and Wildlife resources at a level
that will have the greatest economic, esthetic, and
recreational value possible for all of our citizens.

ORIGIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

All of us familiar with history books have read of
the abundance of fish, shellfish, birds, small game,
and furbearers that early settlers in this country
found readily available. Fish and shellfish from the
Atlantic Ocean saved some of the early coastal
settlements from starvation. Frontiersmen obtained
their food from the meat and their clothing from the
skins of bear, elk, moose, deer, bison, beavers,
raccoons, and other game animals. Before long the
commercial fisheries became a cornerstone of New
England's economy and fishery products were among
the first items exported abroad; fur trapping was the
foundation for many of America's early family for-
tunes.

But little thought was given in those early days to
husbanding our natural resources. As long as they had
new streams to fish and new fields to hunt, Americans
maintained that the supply of fish and game was
boundless and that they had the inherent right to hunt
and fish when, how, and as much as they desired.

As settlement of the country progressed and the
population grew, the American people were forced to
revise their concept of an inexhaustible supply of fish
and game. Gradually they came to recognize that the
mounting numbers of hunters and anglers were a
tremendous drain on these natural resources and that
the requirements of an ever-increasing human popula-
tion were steadily reducing the living space of our
game and fish. What to do to keep these resources at
a high productive level, and how to do it, were
debatable subjects even back as far as the 1860's.

The U.S. Fish Commission and the Bureau of
Fisheries

Because fish were an important source of food, the
fisheries were the first renewable resource to receive
public attention in this country. Concerned lest over-
fishing destroy this natural resource, the Congress
recognized the national aspect in the conservation of
fisheries in 1871 by authorizing appointment of a

Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries to study the
"decrease of the food fishes of the seacoasts and
lakes of the United States, and to suggest remedial
measures.*'

The new Commission, which started out with an
initial appropriation of $5,000, functioned as an inde-
pendent establishment of the Government from 1871 to
1903. In 1903, it was placed in the newly established
Department of Commerce and Labor and was renamed
the Bureau of Fisheries. In 1913, the Department of
Labor was separated from Commerce and the Bureau
of Fisheries remained in the Department of Commerce
until 1939.

Originally, the Fish Commission was organized to
carry on scientific, statistical, and economic investi-
gations of the fisheries. In 1872, however, on the
insistence of the American Fish Cultural Association,
the Congress authorized the Commission to establish
fish hatcheries for the propagation of food fishes and
appropriated $15,000 for this work.

New duties were added through the years. In 1905,
the Bureau became responsible for the administration
and enforcement of the laws protecting the salmon
fisheries of Alaska, and in 1910 it was given control of
the fur seals and foxes of the Pribilof Islands in
Bering Sea.

In 1906 the Bureau became responsible for enforc-
ing an act to regulate the taking of sponges in waters
of the Gulf of Mexico and off the coasts of Florida. In
1920 it was given supervision of the conservation of
sea otters, walruses, and other aquatic mammals in
Alaska. Enforcement of the act relating to the inter-
state transportation of black bass was entrusted to the
Bureau in 1930; administration of the act authorizing
cooperative associations of producers of aquatic
products, in 1935; and certain functions connected with
the administration of the Whaling Treaty Act, in 1936.

Since its origin in 1871, the primary functions of
the Federal fishery agency however, have been investi-
gational and advisory. With the exception of Alaska
while a territory, the Bureau has been without power
to regulate the fisheries, either sport or commercial.
Control of the fisheries within its borders is vested in
the State and is one of the powers that was not given
to the Federal Government under the Constitution of
the United States.

.2-c"

.= ?

■£ c

c

>. o

o o

O V)

.a >*
o o
— *

en a>

o 5

I-S

».-

*■ Q.
*_2

U Q)

a> to

©.-
E >

O w

E o-
«

-O «-

**-

© O

I-
.E O

_S.£

The Bureau of Biological Survey

The wildlife functions of the Fish and Wildlife
Service had their genesis in the activities of a private
organization, the American Ornithologists* Union
founded in 1883. In 1885 the Union memorialized the
Congress to establish a unit in the U. S. Department
of Agriculture to take over an unexpectedly large
amount of data that the Union had received in response
to questionnaires circulated by committees studying
bird migrations and the relation of the introduced
English sparrow to agriculture. The Congress re-
sponded with an appropriation of $5,000 for the pro-
motion of "economic ornithology, or the study of the
interrelation of birds and agriculture, an investigation
of the food, habits, and migration of birds in relation
to both insects and plants.*'

The new unit began its work on July 1, 1885, in the
Department of Agriculture and grew steadily from the
beginning. In 1886, with a doubled appropriation and a
broadened research scope, it became known as the
Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy.
In 1896 it was designated the Division of Biological
Survey and in 1905 it was given Bureau status.

During its first 20 years, the Survey confined its
work almost exclusively to scientific research. In
1900, however, some functions of game law enforce-
ment were added with the passage of the Lacey Act.
This act prohibited the importation into the United
States of certain species of birds and animals "de-
clared to be injurious to the interests of agriculture
or horticulture.*'

In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt by an Execu-
tive order established the first wildlife refuge of a
steadily growing system of refuges. The scope of the
Bureau's wildlife conservation work was extended by
the passage of the Alaska game laws in 1902, 1908, and
1925, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The
Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929 and the Mi-
gratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 19 34 provided for the
acquiring of land for the present extensive system of
national wildlife refuges. These laws were designed to
carry out the provisions of the Migratory Bird Treaty
of 1916 with Great Britain for the protection of birds
migrating between the United States and Canada. In
1936, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was amended

4h " ':>'' h

The Whooping Crane, picturesque at rest, graceful in flight, the most beloved
migratory bird, because of its great fight against extinction.

These three whitetailed deer are typical of the deer family which is responding
so well to management practices often financed by Federal Aid.

to extend its provisions to a similar treaty with
Mexico.

In 1909, the Bureau began a series of experiments,
which have continued over the years, to develop
methods for controlling predatory and noxious ani-
mals. In 1931, the Congress formally recognized the
predatory animal and rodent control program as a
Bureau function. Fur-resources investigations were
initiated in 1912. Bird banding, which previously had
been conducted by the American Bird Banding Associ-
ation, was taken over by the Biological Survey in 1920.

In 1934 the original version of the Coordination
Act was passed. This act, for the first time, recognized
the importance of conserving fish and wildlife re-
sources in the planning of the Nation's water develop-
ment program.

In 1937 the Pittman-Robertson program to provide
Federal aid to the States for wildlife restoration was
approved, permitting the new activity to start in 1938.

Transfer and Merger

On July 1, 1939, under the authority of the Presi-
dent's Reorganization Plan II, the Bureau of Fisheries,
U. S. Department of Commerce, and the Bureau of
Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
were transferred from their respective Departments
to the Department of the Interior. A year later, on
June 30, 1940, in accordance with Reorganization Plan
III, the two Bureaus were merged to form the Fish and
Wildlife Service. Policies and programs for the
restoration and protection of fishery and wildlife re-
sources were coordinated and, with only a few excep-
tions, the lines of work formerly authorized were
continued.

The merger of these two relatively small Federal
agencies into a single, large organization in 1940 was
considered one of the most significant and forward
steps taken in conservation history in many years. In
recognition of this, the Congress granted increased
appropriations and additional authority to the new Fish
and Wildlife Service that permitted it to expand its
regular activities and to enter new fields of manage-
ment and research, such as the badly needed explora-
tion of the high seas.

Thus, the demands of the American public for
wiser use and better administration of the national fish
and wildlife resources and increased economic and
recreational pressures have brought expansion each
year in the Service's activities. The period since
1940, when the Fish and Wildlife Service was created,
has been one of tremendous growth in the field of
natural-resource conservation.

Reorganization in 1956

To expand and improve national programs con-
cerned with the conservation of our fishery and wild-
life resources and to strengthen these important
segments of our national economy, the Fish and Wild-
life Act of 1956 was passed by the 84th Congress at
its second session. It was signed into law by President
Eisenhower on August 8, 1956.

This act established a new national policy for
the development, protection, and wise use of the
country's fish and wildlife resources, as this brief
quotation from the "Declaration of Policy" indi-
cates:

The Congress hereby declares that the fish,
shellfish, and wildlife resources of the Nation make
a material contribution to our national economy
and food supply, as well as a material contribu-
tion to the health, recreation, and well-being of
our citizens.

Among other provisions, the new law called for a
complete reorganization of the fishery and wildlife
activities of the United States Department of the
Interior. The Fish and Wildlife Service, as it had
previously existed, was replaced by a United States
Fish and Wildlife Service that was increased in stature
by the creation of two new administrative posts- -an
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and a Com-
missioner of Fish and Wildlife. Two bureaus were
established as components of the new Service, the
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and the Bureau of
Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, realining the functions
of the earlier Service. This reorganization, prescribed
by law, became effective on November 6, 1956, and
was completed in 1959.

10

Organization of the Service

The Fish and Wildlife Service is now under the
supervision of the Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife.
The Commissioner, in turn, is subject to direction
from the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish
and Wildlife.

The Office of the Commissioner includes his
immediate staff and the Offices of Information, Inter-
national Relations, and Program Review.

The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, under a
Director, is responsible for matters relating primarily
to the commercial fisheries, whales, seals, and sea-
lions. It consists of the Office of the Director and the
four Divisions of Biological Research, Industrial
Research, Resource Development, and Administration.

The Bureau's field activities, formerly under the
direct supervision of the Central Office in Washington,
have been decentralized. Regional headquarters are
as follows:

Pacific Region, Seattle, Wash.; Gulf and South
Atlantic Region, St. Petersburg Beach, Fla.; North
Atlantic Region, Gloucester, Mass.; Great Lakes and
Central Region, Ann Arbor, Mich.; and the Alaska
Region at Juneau. In southern California an area
office has been established at Terminal Island to
supervise activities concerned with some of the
Nation's largest fisheries in that area. Another area
office comprising the former Pacific Oceanic Fishery
Investigations is located in Honolulu, Hawaii. In all,
the Bureau operates 177 biological laboratories and
field or experimental stations.

Organization of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and
Wildlife includes the Office of the Director, and the
Divisions of Sport Fisheries, Technical Services,
Wildlife, and Administration. It operates 500 wildlife
refuges, management areas, fish hatcheries, experi-
ment stations and field stations; is responsible for
conservation and management of migratory waterfowl;
conducts research on the sport fisheries and on wild-
life; carries on specific fish and wildlife management
on Federal lands; and administers Federal assistance
and coordination programs for fishery and wildlife
conservation in the States.

Regional offices of the Bureau, to which consider-
able authority formerly held in the Washington Office

11

has now been delegated, are located at Boston, Mass.;
Atlanta, Ga.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Albuquerque,
N. Mex.; Portland, Oreg.; and Juneau, Alaska. Except
for those field installations engaged in fundamental
research whose officials report directly to the Central
Office in Washington, D. C, officials of the 500 sub-
ordinate field installations report to the Regional
Directors.

Shellfish helped avert famine in the early colonies and today are still importanl

for food and commerce.

12

FUNCTIONS OF THE BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL

FISHERIES

With the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 its basic
legislative guide, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries
engages in biological and technological research,
carries on studies and market promotion programs,
collects and publishes statistical data, conducts eco-
nomic studies, spearheads the program to develop the
Columbia River fisheries, and manages the fur seal
resources of the Pribilof Islands in Alaska.

The objective of all Bureau activities is the main-
tenance of the domestic fishing industry in a healthy
and competitive state to provide needed animal protein
foods in variety and abundance for human use and
fishery products for industrial use.

Biological Research

The living resources in the oceans, rivers, lakes,
and estuaries supply the raw material for the fishing
industry. Sound management- -the development and
application of measures to obtain the greatest sus-
tained public benefit from the re source --depends on a
knowledge of these resources that is provided, in
large part, by biological research.

The fishery biological research carried on today by
the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries is a direct out-
growth of the scientific investigations of the old Fish
Commission and these studies form the foundation of
all activities for the protection and utilization of the
commercial fishes. The most important phase of work
in the field of biological research is concerned with
learning the causes for the great fluctuations in
abundance of the fishery resource that so deeply
affect the fishing industry. Complicated interrelation-
ships, fishing intensity, rate of growth, age at ma-
turity, time and amount of spawning, feeding habits,
extent and direction of migrations, and natural en-
emies are the subject of intensive studies.

Biological research is conducted in four principal
areas: anadromous fisheries, inland fisheries, marine
fisheries, and shellfisheries.

13

Underwater television helps biologists study fish behavior; it also helps in
studying the effect of gear upon fish.

A baited fish trap with underwater television in position is going over the rail of
a Bureau gear research vessel.

14

Anadromous fishes spawn in fresh water and spend
part of their lives in the sea. These species, which
include the Pacific and Atlantic salmons, Atlantic shad,
and striped bass of both coasts, are sought by sport
fishermen as well as by commercial fishermen.

Because part of their life is spent in streams, we
can "do something" about the anadromous fishes.
Stream conditions can be improved, pollution abated,
fishways built, and adequate numbers of adult fish
permitted to escape to spawn. Anadromous fishery
research now being conducted by the Bureau is de-
signed to provide the information needed to do these
things.

Of all our inland waters, the Great Lakes produce
the choicest freshwater fishes. But the fisheries
fluctuate widely; fisheries for certain species collapse
or sporadically expand to the ultimate disadvantage of
all concerned. These fluctuations and their underlying
causes are not completely understood although specific
causes such as sea lamprey invasions have received
considerable attention.

To save the lake trout and other fish from the
predatory sea lamprey and restore the livelihood of
many fishermen, the Bureau, the States bordering the
Great Lakes, and Canada conduct research and test
control measures against the lamprey. Chemicals that
destroy lamprey larvae without significantly harming
fish and other aquatic organisms have been found and
are used to control sea lampreys in streams tributary
to the Great Lakes.

Research on marine fishery resources encom-
passes the waters of the Atlantic Ocean from the
Grand Banks to Florida, the entire Gulf of Mexico,
and the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. The Bureau
is carrying on projects dealing with life history,
migration, distribution, racial identity, abundance,
growth, mortality, relation to environment, pre dation,
and general biology for various species of commercial
importance. In addition to the economic species, their
food and their enemies, the conditions in their environ-
ment which favor or injure their wellbeing- -the whole
field of oceanography is an important area of research.

At six laboratories along the Atlantic coast from
Maine to Florida, Bureau scientists are conducting
research on oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels.
They are studying ways to propagate these shellfish

15

artificially so they can breed them later for resist-
ance to disease and parasites; they are studying the
causes of mass deaths, such as occur among oysters
some years; they are searching for and finding ways
to control predators, such as the drill and starfish;
and they are developing new and improved culture
methods.

The results of the Bureau's biological research
are the basis for recommending management or con-
servation measures to the States and to international
commissions for regulations and other actions to
ensure conservation compatible with maximum use of
the resource.

Industrial Research

Industrial research of the Bureau of Commercial
Fisheries ranges from exploration for new fishing
grounds to technological studies to improve quality
and find better ways to utilize the fishery resource.

Research involving exploratory fishing and gear
development is concerned with planning and conducting
exploratory fishing programs to locate new fishing
grounds and determine their extent and estimate the
size and character of the resource. It is also concerned
with developing, designing, and testing new and con-
ventional types of fishing gear and fishing craft, and
demonstrating the most efficient means and methods
of operation.

Three Bureau vessels figured in recent discov-
eries: the Delaware found commercial quantities of
bluefin tuna in the Gulf Stream areas of the western
North Atlantic; the John N. Cobb located commercial
quantities of shrimp in central Alaska waters; and the
Oregon found at least six species of fish, now little

ureg<
used

or not used at all, in possible commercial quan-
tities in the Gulf of Mexico.

Through technological research, the Bureau de-
velops better and more economical ways of handling
and processing fish and shellfish and new ways of
using fishery byproducts and seaweed products.

Technological research on fish oils and fish meals
has resulted in some valuable findings. Fatty acids
derived from certain fish oils, particularly menhaden,
have potential medicinal value. They markedly lower

16

the cholesterol level of the blood that is associated
with the common circulatory disease, atherosclerosis.
Fish oils are useful, too, in dressing hides in certain
kinds of leathers. Scientific studies have shown con-
clusively that fish meal added to commercial animal
food provides important but still unknown growth
factors and is more economical than other supple-
ments.

Essential Services

For many years the Bureau of Commercial Fish-
eries has provided numerous distinct and unique
services to the fishing industry and to the general
public. For example, fishery statistics have been
collected, analyzed, and published since 1880. It was
one of the first functions of the old U. S. Fish Com-
mission. Each year detailed statistical surveys on
employment in the fisheries, volume and value of the
catch, and the production of manufactured fishery
products for all sections of the country are completed
and published. With the ever- increasing use of our
national fishery resources, the need for such informa-
tion also increases. Statistics supply Federal and
State resource agencies with the information needed
to protect and develop the fishing industry without
depleting the resource.

The Fishery Market News Service, organized in
1937, operates as "the eyes and ears of the fishing
industry.'* It collects and circulates current informa-
tion from widely scattered fishery centers of the
United States on production, receipts, supply and de-
mand, market prices, cold storage holdings, and
imports and exports of fishery products. The informa-
tion is released in daily reports and monthly and
annual summaries from seven field offices located in
Boston, Mass., New York City, Hampton, Va., New
Orleans, La., San Pedro, Calif., Seattle, Wash., and
Chicago, 111.

Voluntary quality standards have been developed
for a number of fish and fishery products through the
combined efforts of the commercial fishing industry,
the U. S. Department of the Interior (through the
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries), and the U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture. The first standard to be

17

established covered frozen fried fish sticks » and
became effective in August 1956.

The fishery-product inspection program- -trans-
ferred from the Department of Agriculture to the De-
partment of the Interior on July 1, 1958--furnishes
continuous inspection services to fish-processing
plants that meet the specifications. Lot inspection
services are provided State , Federal, institutional, and
private purchasing agencies. Approximately 60 differ-
ent products are inspected on the basis of approved
product specifications. This program contributes
materially toward maintaining the quality of fishery
products and increasing their popularity.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is required by law
to promote the use of domestically produced fishery
products. To meet this responsibility the Bureau of
Commercial Fisheries conducts consumer-education
and market-development programs. Efforts to interest
the consumer in using United States produced fishery
products usually coincide with industry- sponsored
campaigns, such as the annual "Fish 'n* Seafood
Parade.'* Recorded radio "spot*' announcements and
television "drop cards" and slides promoting the
nutritional advantages of fishery products are prepared
under the supervision of Bureau specialists and are
given country-wide distribution. Recipe folders are
distributed through food stores and supermarkets, and
educational material and kitchen-tested fishery
recipes are sent to food editors, schools , institutions,
factory cafeterias, and restaurants.

Educational films on fishery subjects are distrib-
uted through 160 film libraries and Government
distribution channels.

To benefit United States fishermen, Bureau econo-
mists study the costs of fishing and production. These
studies have a special significance for many segments
of the fishing industry.

The transportation of fish and fishery products
is vital to the fishing industry and the Bureau is
conducting studies on the importance of exempt-
ing trucks carrying fishery products from inter-
state regulation. Special studies also are made on
the reaction or motivation in consumer buying
habits for fishery products to provide the industry
with information that it needs to satisfy the public
demand.

18

Developments in the fisheries of other countries
continue to affect the fishing industry of this country.
These conditions are carefully analyzed by Bureau
specialists and reports on trends and developments in
foreign fisheries are prepared for the information of
the Congress, other Government agencies, the trade,
and the general public.

An agreement recently signed by the Department
of the Interior with the Department of State will result
in better coverage of the foreign fisheries by expanding
the foreign reporting program. Under this agreement,
each Department assumes certain responsibilities in
the selection, assignment, and determination of the
duties of fishery attaches to be stationed in American
embassies in countries with important fisheries.
Attache's are now stationed in Mexico City and Tokyo.
This program, when fully implemented, will achieve
worldwide coverage of foreign fishery developments
of importance to the United States industry.

The Bureau is also responsible for the administra-
tion of the Fishery Cooperative Marketing Act of
June 2 5, 1934, and must maintain contacts with fishery
cooperatives to obtain detailed information about their
activities and to advise them.

Commercial Fisheries of Alaska

The old U. S. Fish Commission, and the succeeding
Bureau of Fisheries, had no administrative control of
the fisheries in any part of the country because these
functions were vested in the States within whose waters
the fisheries were located. By order of the Secretary
of Commerce on February 15, 1905, for the first time
the Bureau of Fisheries was charged with the admin-
istration of the salmon fisheries of the Territory of
Alaska. Subsequently, by law, this jurisdiction was
extended to include all of the fisheries of Alaska.
Since then, and until January 1, I960, when the new
State assumed this responsibility, the Fish and Wildlife
Service managed the fisheries of Alaska.

The management of the fisheries of Alaska along
10,000 miles of coastline, was a threefold task. It
included research on the fisheries, developing appro-
priate regulations annually for taking the fish, and
enforcing these regulations and other fishery laws.

19

Although nearly six decades of Federal management
of Alaska's commercial fisheries ended December 31,
1959, the Federal Government will still conduct
numerous activities in Alaska through its Bureau of
Commercial Fisheries. The Bureau will continue to
carry on a large-scale fishery research program,
enforce our obligations under the international con-
ventions for halibut and fur seals, and enforce the
Federal law that prohibits the netting of salmon outside
the territorial waters of Alaska.

Fur Seal Industry of Alaska

Other important responsibilities of the Bureau in
Alaska are administering the fur seal industry and
providing for the welfare of some 600 Aleut residents
of the Pribilof Islands, who are employed by the
Bureau in this industry.

The Alaska fur seal herd contains approximately
80 percent of the known fur seal population of the
world. The animals come ashore only on the Pribilof
Islands in Bering Sea, congregating there during the
period from May to October to breed and bear their
young.

The story of the Pribilof Islands fur seal herd is
one of the world's classic examples of wildlife
"conservation in action." From a decimated popula-
tion of about 150,000 seals in 1911, the herd has
increased to about 1,500,000 animals, protected by
treaties with Canada, Japan, and Russia. Since 1941,
about 65,000 skins have been taken annually- -the
sales of the United States' share bringing from $1
to $2 million per year in excess of operating
costs.

The research program on the Pribilof Islands
provides a constant check on the general welfare of
the fur seal herd and the effects of management
practices on the various population components and
total numerical strength of the herd. Also, fur seal
migrations and food habits at sea are being studied.
Under provisions of the Interim North Pacific Fur
Seal Convention of February 9, 1957, which became
effective on October 14, 1957, Canada, Japan, and
the Soviet Union also participate in this pelagic
research.

20

A group of fur seals on a Pribilof Island rookery.

When dams interfere with spawning runs, fishways are used to help the fish reach
their historical spawning grounds.

21

Saltonstall-Kennedy Program

An important piece of legislation which benefits
the commercial fisheries of the United States was
enacted as Public Law 466 by the 83d Congress, and
has come to be known as the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act.
This act, effective since July 1, 1954, provided that
an amount equal to 30 percent of the duties collected
on imports of fishery products under the customs laws
be transferred annually, for 3 years, from the Depart-
ment of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior,
(This provision has since been made permanent.)

The legislation had as its purpose 44to promote the
free flow of domestically produced fishery products in
commerce," and specified that expenditures in any one
year be limited to $3 million. The act authorized the
Fish and Wildlife Service to carry on research and
thereby lead the way for the practical application of
research findings. An important section of the Fish
and Wildlife Act of 1956 placed the S-K program on a
permanent basis, and removed the $3 million annual
limitation. As a result, the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act
has enabled the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries to
give better and more far-reaching aid and service to
the commercial fisheries than was previously possible.

Before passage of the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act,
annual Congressional appropriations were the only
source of Bureau funds', and research and service
activities of the Bureau fluctuated in an unpredictable
fashion. Although funds provided by the Saltonstall-
Kennedy Act are a small percentage of the funds
available to the Bureau, they serve a very useful
purpose. They are spent primarily on short-term or
emergency projects which previously could be under-
taken only by interrupting or abandoning continuing or
long-term projects.

In general, the Bureau expends Saltonstall-Kennedy
funds in a three-pronged program:

1. To provide new research and services to the
domestic commercial fishing industry not possible
earlier because of insufficient funds and manpower;

2. To contract with private research organiza-
tions and institutions adequately equipped and
staffed to perform studies and surveys needed; and

3. To augment research and services that the
fishing industry requests from the Bureau.

22

Columbia River Fisheries Program

The Columbia River Fisheries Program is a
cooperative venture in which the Federal Government
and the States of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho are
working together to achieve a common goal- -that of
perpetuating the salmon and steelhead runs despite
accelerated development of the waters of the Colum-
bia for power, navigation, flood control, and irri-
gation.

The Program, which started in 1949, is roughly-
divided into three parts:

1. Utilization of all possible natural spawning
grounds by stream development and construction
of fishways to permit salmon to run in side streams
not hitherto so used;

2. Construction and operation of hatcheries to
augment natural spawning; and

3. Installation of screens and other facilities to
prevent the loss of downstream migrants at irriga-
tion outlets or power intakes.

All construction costs are paid from Federal funds
and most of the operational costs will be paid from
Federal funds for the next few years.

Fishery Loan Fund

By establishing a loan fund to help fishermen, the
Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 met one of the most
urgent needs of the commercial fishing industry. The
broad objective of the loan fund is to give financial aid
to the industry to bring about a general upgrading of
both fishing boats and gear for more efficient and
profitable fishing operation.

The Act authorized $10 million to provide the
initial capital for a revolving fund from which the loans
would be made. The loans are granted for not more
than 10 years and are subject to a 5-percent interest
rate. In P. L. 85-888, the Congress increased the fund
to $20 million and $13 million have been appropriated
for fiscal year I960.

Loans are made for financing and refinancing oper-
ations, maintenance, replacement, repair, and equip-
ment of fishing gear and vessels, and for research
into the basic problems of the fisheries.

23

International Fishery Agreements

The United States is represented on eight inter-
national fishery commissions. They are the Inter-
national Pacific Salmon Commission (for Fraser
River sockeye and pink salmon), the International
Pacific Halibut Commission, the Inter -American
Tropical Tuna Commission, the International Com-
mission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisherie s, the Great
Lakes Fishery Commission, the International North
Pacific Fisheries Commission, the North Pacific Fur
Seal Commission, and the Commission for the Con-
servation of Shrimp in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
The United States is represented on these commissions
by officials of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

These international commissions are engaged in the
study or management of important marine and inland
fisheries that are of concern to the fishing industry
of the United States. The objective of each commission
is to provide a stable source of the raw materials- -
one of the primary ingredients of a profitable industry.

King crab from cold Alaskan offshore waters is another delicacy for the American

table.

FUNCTIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SPORT
FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE

The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, by law
and by the authority delegated to it, is the Federal
agency primarily responsible for ensuring, at the
Federal level, the conservation and management of
the Nation's wild birds, mammals, and sport fishes,
both for their recreational and their economic values.
Its principal objectives are to conserve these re-
newable resources for the continued enjoyment of
hunters, anglers, and nature enthusiasts, and to
manage them so that their abundance is most com-
patible with the economic, social, and aesthetic
interests of all Americans.

The Bureau has direct responsibility for migra-
tory birds, as the result of treaties with Canada
and Mexico, and indirect responsibility for resident
fish and other wildlife. The primary responsibility
for the management of resident wildlife species rests
with the States.

National Fish Hatcheries

In 1872, one year after the establishment of the
U. S. Fish Commission, the Congress appropriated
$15,000 to the Commission for the propagation offish
and thus laid the foundation of the national fish-
hatchery system.

At present 100 national fish hatcheries are located
throughout the country, three of which are in various
stages of construction. Many of those still in operation
were built before 1900.

The national fish-hatchery program is based on
a policy of supplying fish for stocking waters in areas
primarily under Federal control and of giving maxi-
mum assistance to States that are unable to meet their
stocking requirements.

This program also recognizes that stocking and
fish management in reservoirs created by Federal
water-development projects, streams affected by
the construction of dams by Federal agencies, and
farm ponds constructed under Federal programs of

25

Research over three quarters of a century helps make modern fish hatcheries like
this one efficient fish production units.

Research, like this stream study to determine the availability of trout food, is
necessary to avoid waste in stocking of waters.

26

soil conservation are, in part, the responsibility of
the Federal Government.

As the fishing pressures on fish populations of
inland waters continue to increase, many States are
unable to cope with the problem of replacing fishery
stocks and turn to the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and
Wildlife for help. Tremendous fishing and recreational
opportunities have developed below a number of major
dams as a result of changes in stream ecology, some
occurring in semiarid areas such as the Lower
Colorado River where the sport of fishing was at a
low level before the construction of the dams.

An important function of the national fish-hatchery
system is the propagation of species of fish that are
threatened with extinction, difficult to rear, or vital
to the success of interstate or international fishery
programs. Examples of such species are Atlantic
salmon, lake trout, grayling, and cutthroat trout.
Another contribution is that made to the spectacular
Pacific salmon fisheries. The output of national fish
hatcheries maintains salmon runs in the Columbia
River system, in Puget Sound, and in the Sacramento
River system in California- -benefiting both sport
and commercial fishermen.

The efficiency of the national hatcheries has
constantly improved through research on problems
of disease and nutrition, training programs for
hatchery employees, and an alert and progressive
attitude toward the development of new techniques
and equipment. Agreements governing the distribution
of fish from national hatcheries are in force with
every State. Today's modern fish planting programs
are based on actual knowledge of the waters to be
stocked. Hatcheries, and their output, now are con-
sidered a management tool and as such they can be
integrated into a productive and effective program
for the improvement of sport fishing throughout the
country.

Sport Fishery Research

Fishery managers are faced continually with the
problem of how to improve sport fishing. Since man-
agement is largely based on research, it becomes the
problem also of the fishery biologist. The biologist

27

directs his research toward increasing the number of
fish and the quality of the fish raised in the hatchery
with the final objective of the fisherman being able
to catch more fish in our natural and impounded
waters, and to do it regularly.

Of the many biological approaches to develop
better sport fishing, four are preeminent. They
include disease studies, nutritional research, edu-
cation of the public against excessive use of pesti-
cides, and study of stream stocking problems.

The disease research program includes not only
a study of plagues, which can ruin a year*s output
of a hatchery in a matter of hours, but also the
training of personnel in diagnoses of hatchery di-
seases and the providing of technical aid to State and
private hatcheries when an epidemic starts. Re-
search of this type is being carried on at the Eastern
Fish Disease Laboratory, Leetown, W. Va., and the
Western Fish Disease Laboratory, Seattle, Wash.

Nutrition studies at Cortland, N. Y., and Willard,
Wash., are resulting in more pounds of hatchery
fish for a given amount of food fed. These studies
also increase our fund of knowledge on the nutri-
tional requirements and biochemistry of wild popu-
lations of fish. Cutting down disease losses and
producing more pounds of fish per dollar are im-
portant items to sportsmen in all parts of the country.

But if the fish so saved and developed are to be
lost because they were planted at the wrong time,
in the wrong place, or under wrong conditions, then
the advances made in disease and nutrition are lost.
Hence, there is a continuing study on how to plant
fish to assure maximum survival. This research
naturally leads to another phase of research--how to
meet the problem of the misuse of pesticides. Studies
are underway to determine the kinds of pesticides
which will do the task the farmer needs done with
a minimum loss of fish and wildlife. Still more studies
are being carried on to ascertain the proper time
and the conditions for applying pesticides.

The Appalachian Sport Fishery Investigations at
Leetown, W. Va., and the Rocky Mountain Sport
Fishery Investigations in Logan, Utah, are working
on experimental management programs on trout
waters of National Parks. The California-Nevada
Sport Fishery Investigations at Reno, Nev., concen-

28

trates on comparing the survival of wild and hatchery -
reared trouts in controlled environments under vary-
ing conditions.

Fishery Management Services

Sport fishing continues to be the most popular
form of outdoor recreation in America. The Federal
areas, including more than one-fourth of the total
land and water areas of the country, hold a key spot
in providing such recreation. The excessively heavy
use made of our fishing waters has reduced our
natural fish populations; consequently, both the Bureau
of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and the States, wishing
to maintain the sport of fishing, try to restore fish
numbers in many fished-out waters. This is where
fishery management enters the picture. Management
involves the application of the knowledge gained from
fishery research to the fish and to their habitat or
environment so as to provide the optimum in fishing
and at the same time preserve an adequate brood
stock.

In the field of fishery management, the Bureau
provides services to improve sport fishing on its
own areas and on lands administered by other federal
agencies. Technical assistance is given the Depart-
ment of Defense, Veterans Administration, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, National Park Service, and the De-
partment of Agriculture on some National Forests
in cooperation with State fish and game departments.
When they request it Bureau biologists help these
agencies plan and carry out sport fishing projects.

In its fishery management program, the Bureau
sends trained and experienced biologists to make
stream and lake surveys. They determine the con-
dition of the fish populations such as, are the fish
healthy, of the right size range, are there too many
small fish, are there too many fish for the water
area; whether the waters need additional fish stocked;
what species, numbers, and sizes of fish should be
stocked; need for removing undesirable fishes; and
habitat improvements that should be made. Reports
on the findings of the surveys and recommendations
are then prepared for the agency and technical as-
sistance is provided in carrying out the recommenda-
tions.

29

Only a few States have maintained inventories on
their marine sport-fishery resources. It is evident
that a coordinated effort, assisted by a Federal agency,
is necessary to obtain the required information on
a national basis. In inland waters, an inventory should
include the larger publicly owned waters such as
reservoirs, lakes, and whenever possible, natural
streams that are accessible to the public. Some
States already have inventories covering parts of
this fishery resource. The Federal Government would
assist the States where the information is lacking to
establish programs for collecting data on their sport
fisheries.

National Wildlife Refuge System

The dual objective in establishing and maintaining
national wildlife refuges is to protect migratory birds
and indigenous and endangered wildlife and to safe-
guard adequate segments of habitat needed to per-
petuate them. While a great variety of wildlife is
found on our national refuges, most of the refuges
were established for a particular species or group,
as ducks and geese, bison, key deer, trumpeter swan,
and whooping crane.

The national wildlife refuge system began more
than 50 years ago with the establishment of the
Pelican Island Bird Refuge in 1903. This small 3-acre
island in the Indian River on Florida's east coast
was reserved by Executive order of President
Theodore Roosevelt to protect a colony of brown
pelicans.

By Executive order, other refuges also were
set aside for the protection of colonial nesting
birds and for migratory birds that used reclamation
reservoirs or drainage sumps. By 1908, 36 areas
were reserved. The Federal Government also had
acquired several big-game refuges during this period,
either through donation of land by conservation or-
ganizations or by special acts of Congress. By 1929,
there were 87 Federal refuges of all types, including
61 bird reservations.

In 1929, the Migratory Bird Conservation Act
was passed. This legislation outlined a definite
refuge program and was an added incentive to the

30

people who were helping in the struggle for restoration
of the wildlife resources. This Act authorized the
U. S. Biological Survey to purchase large tracts of
land for waterfowl preservation.

With the early thirties came the Depression.
This could have meant curtailment of the refuge
program had it not been for the enactment of the
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act in 1934 which
gave a boost to the lagging refuge program. This
act, generally called the **Duck Stamp Act,** required
all waterfowl hunters over 16 years of age to purchase
a hunting stamp for $1. These sales provided revenue
for the purchase, development, and maintenance of
refuges. The refuge program was further aided at that
time by special emergency funds which were allocated
from drought relief appropriations to purchase land
suitable for wildlife restoration within drought-
stricken areas.

The approximately 290 wildlife refuges contain
about 28-1/2 million acres. Areas primarily for
migratory waterfowl include about 2 million acres
in Alaska and 3-l/2 million acres in other States.
About 4 million acres have been designated for other
migratory birds and wildlife in general. There are
now 15 big-game refuges with about 14-1/2 million
acres, protecting bison, pronghorn antelope, elk,
bighorn sheep, Texas longhorn cattle, Arctic caribou,
Dall sheep, moose, and bear. Five game ranges
covering 4-1/2 million acres are administered jointly
by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and the
Bureau of Land Management.

Many national wildlife refuges are located along
the four flight lanes used by waterfowl and other
birds migrating between nesting grounds in the
north and wintering grounds in the south. On refuges
located within the breeding ranges of ducks and geese,

31

wildlife managers place especial emphasis on de-
veloping good nesting and feeding habitat by manip-
ulating the water levels in impounded areas. On
refuges managed primarily for great numbers of
transient waterfowl and shorebirds, producing suffi-
cient food and maintaining a suitable marsh habitat
to provide attractive resting areas for the birds on
their long migrations are important. On wintering
grounds, management practices center about pro-
tection so that the birds can return to their northern
breeding grounds in the following spring.

Other refuges are designed to protect endangered
species and the special habitat they require for
survival. A number of refuges protect animals that
could not survive without this assistance. At present,
additional lands are needed to safeguard such species
as the whooping crane, California condor, Everglade
kite, prairie chicken, and many other rare or vanish-
ing species.

In the broadest sense, the wildlife refuges make
their greatest contribution to Americans in the
recreational opportunities they afford. Because of
them, millions of hunters are assured the continu-
ance of their favorite sport of wildfowling. They
offer more tangible contributions to America's rec-
reation by providing opportunities for boating, fish-
ing, swimming, and observing and photographing
wildlife in its natural habitat. In 1959 nearly 10
million people visited the national wildlife refuges.
This recreational use has increased steadily since
1951 when 2>\ million persons were on the various
areas.

As you travel over the country, watch for the
flying goose signs- -they identify the national wildlife
refuges. Depending on the time of year, a visit to a
wildlife refuge can be a rewarding experience. In fall,
the southern migration along the Pacific Flyway is
spectacular. Peaks of several million ducks and
geese may be seen on the refuges in the Klamath
Basin of Oregon and northern California and on the
Sacramento Refuge farther south. In late August and
September migrant birds concentrate in great num-
bers on the Bear River Refuge in Utah. The spring
migrations of blue and snow geese in the Central
and Mississippi Flyways arouse great public interest.
Along the Atlantic coast, refuges often have large

32

\\i

\y» v *****

^ V

A scene on a lake in the Pacific Flyway, which can be duplicated in many parts
of the Nation, thanks to migratory bird management policies.

This little band, if recovered and returned to the Fish and Wildlife Service, can
give biologists important information.

33

flocks of whistling swans and some are guardians
of the Atlantic snow goose, protecting the total world
population of this species.

More and more people are visiting national wild-
life refuges to see the flocks of herons and shorebirds
and to watch the buffalo roundups on the big- game
refuges and the winter feeding of the elk herds that
move down from the mountains on to the National
Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Thousands of
visitors travel to the Aransas Refuge along the
coast of Texas to see the rare whooping cranes on
their wintering grounds and to the Red Rock Lakes
Refuge, 7,000 feet above sea level in the western
mountains, for their first glimpse in many cases of
the great trumpeter swan.

Wildlife Research

The study of the food habits of birds in relation
to farm crops and to the insects that destroy those
crops was the first wildlife research undertaken
by the Section of Ornithology (a predecessor of the
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife) after its
establishment in 1885 in the U. S. Department of
Agriculture.

It soon began biological surveys of the country
to map the natural life zones and crop zones, and
from this work acquired its name, the Biological
Survey. Knowledge of American wildlife was then
so meager that it was necessary to collect speci-
mens, determine animal ranges, and assemble data
on life histories, habits, economic status, and abun-
dance of the various wildlife species in order to answer
fundamental questions that arose concerning them.

The wildlife research program today of the Bureau
of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife is double-pronged: on
the one hand it studies measures to increase American
wildlife and on the other to control nuisance and
depredating wildlife that can cause great financial
losses in agricultural areas and create unsightly
and unsanitary conditions in urban areas. For in
addition to developing techniques that protect and
improve living conditions for valuable wildlife species,
the Bureau develops safe methods for controlling
pocket gophers, mice, and other animals that are

34

injurious to forests and range plants. The development
of chemical formulations for treating seeds has made
possible the reseeding of thousands of acres of cut-
over forest lands in the Northwest which otherwise
would have been difficult to revegetate because of
seed-eating rodents.

Through its studies of birds, mammals, and other
wild animals and their habitats, the Bureau seeks
out facts and develops techniques for improved
management of wildlife. (When wildlife workers speak
of "managing** wildlife they are referring to the
protection given a species and the preservation and
improvement of the environment in ,which it lives.)
One of its particular functions is investigating wild-
life problems in the National Forests, the National
Parks, and other public lands used so extensively
by persons seeking recreation.

The principal wildlife research stations are the
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center near Laurel, Mary-
land, and the Wildlife Research Center, at Denver,
Colorado. Numerous investigations are being under-
taken by cooperative wildlife research units located
in sixteen States, including Alaska. These units
make important contributions in the training of
professional wildlife managers and in conservation-
education work which leads to greater appreciation
and better use of our wildlife and other natural
resources. In addition, the Bureau working with
various State fish and game departments studies
the suitability of introducing certain game birds
and animals into areas of this country that are
deficient in game.

Wildlife research is not limited to migratory
species of birds or animals. Federal laws place
definite responsibility on the Bureau to conduct
investigations on resident big and small game ani-
mals, nongame birds, rodents, and other animals,
including the sea otter, walrus, and polar bear.

Law Enforcement and Game Management

One of the primary functions of the Bureau is
enforcement of the various Federal statutes and
regulations enacted for the protection and conserva-
tion of wild birds, mammals, and fish.

35

The most important Federal conservation laws
enforced by the present staff of 126 United States
game management agents, in cooperation with State
enforcement officers, are the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act, as amended, which gives effect to the treaties
with Great Britain (on behalf of Canada) and Mexico
for the protection of birds migrating between Canada,
the United States, and Mexico; the Migratory Bird
Hunting Stamp Act; and the L,acey Act, regulating
interstate and foreign shipments of game.

In addition, U. S. game management agents check
hunters* bags, make midwinter inventories of migra-
tory game birds, and nesting- ground surveys of
waterfowl, study nesting conditions on the northern
breeding grounds, band birds, assist in wildlife
extension programs, investigate damage to agricul-
tural crops by injurious waterfowl, demonstrate
depredation-control techniques, and otherwise assist
and advise farmers and agriculturists on problems
arising from depredations to agricultural crops. The
Federal agents maintain a close working relation
with the States, for the Bureau emphasizes a Federal-
State game enforcement program that involves en-
forcement of both Federal and State hunting regula-
tions.

An important management responsibility of the
Bureau for migratory game birds under the treaties
with Canada and Mexico is that of recommending to
the Secretary of the Interior the necessary amend-
ments to the annual regulations for the hunting of
migratory waterfowl. These amendments include
length of the season, bag and possession limits, and
shooting hours.

The basic data used to guide the Bureau's tech-
nical staff in making decisions on changes in the
hunting regulations come from migratory gamebird
surveys on the breeding grounds, midwinter inven-
tories and banding projects. These surveys are con-
ducted by Bureau biologists and game management
agents, technicians of State game departments, wildlife
experts of the Canadian Wildlife Service, the Provincial
Game Departments, and field personnel in Canada
of Ducks Unlimited and the Wildlife Management
Institute.

For management purposes, the waterfowl popula-
tions within the United States are divided into four

36

units, or flyways--the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central,
and Pacific Flyways. This concept of waterfowl man-
agement has been accepted since 1948.

A flyway is actually a vast biotic region that has
extensive breeding grounds and wintering areas con-
nected by a complicated system of migration routes.
These migration routes are not necessarily uniform
and may vary between species. The breeding grounds
that supply one flyway often overlap those supplying
another flyway; this is especially true in Canada.
Also, a considerable mixing of birds from two or
more flyways occurs on the wintering grounds, par-
ticularly along the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast
of Mexico. An important point to remember is that
during the fall migration period the flyway popula-
tions, for the most part, are distinct by the time the
birds produced in Canada reach the United States.

Breeding population and production surveys are
conducted annually on the waterfowl breeding grounds
to estimate changes in the relative size of the fall
flight from each of the breeding areas. Two surveys
are required. The first is made during May and June
to measure the distribution and relative size of the
various breeding populations. The second survey
is carried out during July for the purpose of forecast-
ing the relative number of young of each species
produced.

Extensive banding programs in Canada and the
United States clarify migration routes of these game
birds. Recoveries of bands from waterfowl taken
during the hunting season bring out facts not only
on the relative importance of specific waterfowl breed-
ing areas to the four flyways but also on hunting
pressures, mortality rates, and bird distributions.
This information guides waterfowl administrators in
their attempts to maintain a proper balance between
the waterfowl populations available to the hunters
and the estimated number of birds taken by the
hunte r s .

Each January the Bureau conducts an aerial
survey throughout the United States, Mexico, and the
West Indies to determine the status of the continental
waterfowl populations after the hunting season. More
than 1,000 wildlife technicians from the Canadian
Wildlife Service, Provincial game departments, and

37

State game departments cooperate with Bureau per-
sonnel in this annual operation.

Data from all of these activities are analyzed
and evaluated for presentation to members of the
Waterfowl Advisory Committee who meet with the
Director of the Bureau and his technical staff in
Washington early in August.

The Waterfowl Advisory Committee is composed
of representatives from each of the four Waterfowl
Councils1 and from various wildlife organizations. The
suggestions of the Committee and the recommenda-
tions of the Bureau for changes in the hunting rules
are considered in executive sessions. Following
these meetings, the Bureau makes its recommenda-
tions to the Secretary of the Interior relative to the
bag and possession limits, opening and closing dates,
and the number of days hunting is to be permitted.
After careful review of the proposed regulations, the
Secretary issues the formal regulations. They are
the framework for the next year's hunting season,
and the States select their individual seasons within
that framework.

Federal Aid to Fish and Wildlife Restoration

The Federal Government also promotes the con-
servation of the Nation's fish and wildlife by giving
Federal funds to the States to assist in paying for
their fishery and wildlife restoration projects.

Recognizing that much of the land of potential
wildlife value is under State or private ownership,
the Congress in 1937 enacted the Federal Aid to
Wildlife Restoration Act. Commonly called the
Pittman-Robertson Act after its Congressional spon-
sors, it provides for an 11-percent excise tax to
be levied against sporting arms and ammunition,
with the proceeds allocated among the various States
according to a specified formula. These funds are
used by the States to increase their wildlife popula-
tions by setting up management areas, improving
wildlife habitat, and carrying on research for new
and improved management techniques.

iSee Waterfowl Councils - A Conservation Partnership. 1959, U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Circular 78, 10 p.

38

Under this act a cooperating State selects the
work to be done and submits proposals to the Bureau
of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife for approval. All
project staffs are employed by the States. All equip-
ment and lands bought with the help of these funds
become the property of the State. Initial expenditures
are from State funds and periodic and final reim-
bursement claims are paid by the Federal Government
on the basis of not to exceed 75 percent of the costs.
The remaining 25 percent is paid by the State.

In 1950, the Congress passed the Dingell- Johnson
Act to give similar assistance to the States for de-
veloping and restoring their sport fisheries.

The Federal Aid programs have not only in-
creased the fishing and hunting opportunities in the
United States, but have broadened the base of scien-
tific research and contributed greatly to the number
and quality of scientific and technical personnel who
are now engaged in fish and wildlife work in all
sections of the country. The impact of the two pro-
grams on the overall approach to fish and game
restoration, and their contributions toward making
these resources available to greater sections of the
general public cannot be overemphasized.

Management of Predatory Animals and Rodents

The prevention of an overabundance of predatory
animals and injurious rodents is necessary to the
best interests of agriculture, forestry, beneficial
wildlife, and the public health. The objective of the
predatory and rodent control work of the Bureau is
to control the depredations and interference of the
species involved, not to exterminate it. The rodent
control programs are conducted by the Bureau on
public, State, and private lands under cooperative
agreements with Federal or State agencies or with
local organizations. The work usually is under the
guidance of representative State predator and rodent-
control advisory groups.

Federal control activities date back to 1915 when
aid was requested by several Western States faced
with large livestock losses and serious human hazards
from a widespread epidemic of rabies among coyotes
in the Great Basin. Under present-day intensive

39

land use, the work is still concerned primarily with
coyote, bobcat, wolf, and mountain lion predation in
the Western States, wolf predation in Alaska, epi-
demics of rabies among wildlife, and damage by field
rodents and common rats and mice throughout the
country.

The control methods used are based on careful
research and are designed to cause as little harm as
possible to other animals or to humans. A large
part of the program is carried out on public lands
in the Western States where the Federal Government is
responsible for land management practices on some
400 million acres along with more than 300 million
acres of adjoining lands under private ownership.
In other parts of the country, the program is directed
toward development and field testing of new or im-
proved control methods, demonstrations, and distribu-
tion of information on depredations control through
extension facilities of Federal, State, and local
agencies.

Livestock raisers in the West report that losses
by predators today, using modern methods of control,
generally remain below 2 percent a year. Tree farm-
ers throughout the Pacific Northwest are saving up
to $18 an acre in reforestation costs by using
direct seeding which was recently made possible by
Bureau control of seed-eating rodents, using chemi-
cally treated seeds--a method developed by the
Bureau's wildlife research laboratories. Southern
growers of truck crops, especially watermelon grow-
ers, have saved money and crops by using similar
methods.

River Basin Studies

The period following World War II was a time of
considerable development on the streams and rivers
of the United States. Harnessing our rivers for
domestic water supply, power, irrigation, flood con-
trol, navigation, and related purposes- -activities
that had been suspended during the war- -was pushed
with renewed vigor. Scarcely a major stream in the
country escaped the attention of various planning
agencies.

40

The effects of all these water developments on
wildlife and fish became of major concern to con-
servationists since there was public demand that fish
and wildlife values be preserved in industrial and
agricultural developments whenever and wherever
possible. The responsibility of the Federal Govern-
ment for preserving these resources was given the
Fish and Wildlife Service by the amended Coordination
Act of August 14, 1946.

Under this law the Service was charged with
investigating all Federal water-use projects and those
of public and private agencies under Federal permit
to determine the effects of the developments on
fish and wildlife resources and to recommend meas-
ures for the prevention of losses and damages to these
resources. To handle this work, a Branch of River
Basin Studies was established in April 1945 and
staffed with wildlife and fishery biologists, techni-
cians, and administrators.

It was recognized, after 10 years of operation,
that the Coordination Act needed strengthening to
include the conservation of fish and wildlife resources
among the primary purposes of water-development
projects, and to clearly authorize the enhancement
of these resources in connection with such projects.
Following a proposal made in September 1956 at the
annual meeting of the International Association of
Game, Fish, and Conservation Commissioners, the
Department of the Interior drafted amendments to
the act.

The amended Coordination Act, signed by the
President on August 12, 1958, is a milestone in
conservation legislation. It specifies that wildlife
and fishery conservation receive equal consideration
and be coordinated with other features of water-
resource development programs and that conserva-
tion measures be incorporated in the plans for
Federal water-development projects including those
that are not more than 60 percent completed.

The Bureau is also responsible for promoting the
conservation of wetlands, especially those vital to
waterfowl production. Its biologists investigate the
programs of Federal agencies and of other agencies
concerned with water and related land use and report
their findings to the Central Office in Washington for
further study. When a program is found to affect the

41

wetlands adversely, the Bureau makes every effort to
obtain the appropriate modifications needed to pre-
serve the wetlands and increase their value to water-
fowl.

Alaska' s Sport Fish and Game

As long as Alaska remained a Territory, the U. S.
Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of
Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, managed its sport-
fishery and wildlife resources. Before this respon-
sibility could be turned over to the State of Alaska,
provisions of the Statehood Act had to be met. The
act required certain actions by the Alaska Legis-
lature, followed by certification by the Secretary of
the Interior, that the resources will be protected in
the national interest. All of these actions have been
accomplished and, since January 1, I960, Alaska
has managed its own fish and wildlife like any other
State. To accomplish that, a Department of fish and
game was created for Alaska.

While the responsibilities of the Bureau of Sport
Fisheries and Wildlife in Alaska have been reduced,
they still are substantial. The nearly 19 million acres
in national wildlife refuges still require management
attention. Also, cooperation is given the State in the
problem of controlling predators of livestock and
wildlife. The Bureau will continues to assist the
State in enforcing Federal fish and wildlife laws,
including the protection of migratory birds, espe-
cially waterfowl. The Bureau will also continue its
Federal Aid programs for the restoration of sport
fishes and of wildlife.

42

A LOOK TO THE FUTURE

As we look into the future, there is little prospect
that the demands on our wildlife and fishery resources
for food, industrial products, and recreational use can
lessen. Instead, these demands are more likely to
increase. There is also every prospect that our
civilization which has been so destructive of these
resources in the past will be no less destructive in the
future unless a public conservation conscience can
be developed.

The challenges of the future are many. To meet
some of them, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is
increasing its efforts to plumb the ocean depths
as its part of an accelerated national oceanographic
program to acquire vital information for our Nation's
defense and economy. It is seeking solutions to
the problems arising from the increased demand for
more recreational facilities on the national wildlife
refuges. It is studying how to produce more fish to
meet the needs of fresh-water anglers. It is develop-
ing new legislation leading to comprehensive con-
tinuing studies of the migratory marine fishes of
interest to sport fishermen of the United States. It is
greatly concerned with the loss of valuable estuarine
areas to industrial and housing developments and with
the general loss of waterfowl habitat. It is seeking
ways to produce more game birds on continually
dwindling areas and to develop means for a selective
harvesting of those species that are abundant.

Vastly expanded programs of fishery and wildlife
research and management are necessary in the interest
of national welfare.

The population of our Nation is expanding explo-
sively—it is expected to reach 200 millions by 1970--
and at least 300 millions by 2000 A. D. In terms of
national recreation, more people means more demands
on our fish and wildlife resources. The national fish
and wildlife program of the future must continue to be
a full partnership effort with constant and close
cooperation between the U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, the State fish and game departments, and
private conservation organizations. Federal activities
must effectively supplement but not duplicate State

43

and local conservation efforts. In that way only will
the various conservation agencies be able to achieve
their joint objectives.

To sum it up, if we are to maintain our national
fish and wildlife resources satisfactorily, we must not
only continue but we must accelerate the vigilance
and aggressiveness of our conservation efforts. The
survival of fish and wildlife can never be taken for
granted.

GPO 904458

The Canada goose, a stately bird, which is holding up well under wise
conservation efforts.

MBL WHOI Library - Serials

5 WHSE 00208