Marine Flora and Fauna of the Northeastern United States.

The major responsibilities of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are to monitor and assess the abundance and geographic distribution of fishery resources. to understand and predict fluctuations in the Quantity and distribution of these resources. and to establish levels for their optimum use. NMFS is also charged with the development and implementation of policies for managing national fishing grounds, development and enforcement of domestic fisheries regulations, surveillance of foreign fishing off United States coastal waters, and the development and enforcement of international fishery agreements and policies. NMFS also assists the fishing industry through marketing service and economic analysis programs, and mongage in-surance and vessel construction subsidies. It collects. analyzes. and publishes statistics on various phases of the industry. The NOAA Technical Repon NMFS series was established in 1983 to replace two subcategories of the Technical Repons series: "Special Scientific Repon-Fisheries " and "Circular. " The series contains the following types of repons: Scientific investigations that document long-term continuing programs of NMFS; intensive scientific repons on studies of restricted scope; papers on applied fishery problems; technical repons of general interest intended to aid conservation and management; repons that review in considerable detail and at a high technical level cenain broad areas of research; and technical papers originating in economics studies and from management investigations. Since this is a formal series, all submitted papers receive peer review and those accepted receive professional editing before publication. Copies of NOAA Technical Repons NMFS are available free in limited numbers to governmental agencies. both Federa