SEFC Oceanic Pelagics Program, 1986

"The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Fisheries Center's Miami Laboratory has the responsibility of collecting and analyzing data on pelagic marine fishes1. This is part of a commitment by the United States to develop national programs for conserving and managing these species through Regional Fishery Management Councils and with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The ICCAT coordinates scientific investigations on stocks of tunas and tuna-like fishes, including billfishes, in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas and Gulf of Mexico. Data collected through NMFS programs are used in the assessments of the status of stocks of Atlantic billfishes and tunas, and these results are presented to the Regional Fishery Management Councils and to the international scientific community at ICCA"--Preface, paragraph 1