Contact: Scott Smullen FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gordon Helm 2/08/96
The Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service, the nation's oldest conservation organization, celebrates 125 years of federal marine fisheries research, conservation, and management on Feb. 9, 1996.
Founded as the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the agency was established to investigate and curb the decline of food- fish stocks following the collapse of the New England nearshore fishery the previous year.
At that time little was known about the biology and populations of marine fish, and the Fish Commission and its successor agencies studied the fish populations and assisted the fishing industries to develop new products and markets for commercial and recreational fishermen.
"Our achievements are worthy of pride -- NMFS is truly the 'little agency that could,' and can do the job. In 1871 fishery science was in its infancy and none of the nation's 231 living marine resource stocks had been studied; in 1994, 100 percent of the significant stocks and 70 percent of the overall stocks had been studied and assessed... The development of the commercial and recreational fisheries for the benefit of Americans has always been a major goal of the federal government; the lead taken in the conservation and management of fish and marine mammals, aquaculture, seafood product safety, and resource enhancement by the fisheries service and its predecessors has been hailed as exemplary," said Rolland Schmitten, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
"For instance, the National Marine Fisheries Service diverted the planned cruise of the NOAA research ship Albatross IV to sample Rhode Island water and marine life and assess marine resource injuries caused by a recent oil spill. NMFS is also ensuring safe and wholesome seafood products through emergency inspections of Rhode Island catch," Schmitten said.
NMFS, an agency of 2,300 people within the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is planning to celebrate its 125th anniversary with science forums and open houses at many of its 36 facilities in 26 coastal states.
Volunteers from NMFS have assisted in the development of two exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The OCEAN PLANET exhibit, currently on display, goes on a national tour in August, 1996, for five years. A new exhibit, SCIENCE AT SEA, describes the research voyages of the fishery research vessel ALBATROSS between 1882 and 1922, and the scientific discoveries from those voyages. The SCIENCE AT SEA exhibit opens on March 5, 1996.
NMFS volunteers have also developed school science teachers' resource kits related to marine fisheries and marine mammals. The agency expects to distribute some 5,000 of these teachers' kits nationwide, and will be providing special science programs for selected schools as well.
"The enthusiasm, pride, and hard work of the NMFS staff is contagious," said Schmitten. "These civil servants are dedicated to the study, conservation, and management of marine resources, and they want school children, and the public, to share their excitement and concerns about marine science and the environment."