Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) use of Saltonstall/Kennedy (S/K) fisheries development funds, focusing on the activities of the S/K Grants Program and the Fisheries Development Program.
GAO found that: (1) NMFS uses S/K funds to support fisheries development activities under both programs; (2) the S/K Grants Program funds fisheries development grant projects through development foundations, private industry, universities, and state and local governments, which address issues of immediate concern to the industry; (3) the Fisheries Development Program conducts fisheries research and development at NMFS in-house laboratories and focuses on long-term basic research. GAO also obtained information on the functions and costs of the fisheries development foundations which represent the fishing industry in seven geographic areas. NMFS officials stated that the research programs were complementary and provided useful results to the fishing industry, but industry representatives generally viewed grant projects as useful than the projects carried out at in-house laboratories. Analysis of questionnaire responses showed that the more familiar a respondent was with a program's projects, the more likely that respondent was to state that a program provided useful results.
