Equipment other than automotive, $66,200: Equipment is an essential component of every station, and hatchery production depends to an extensive degree upon the condition of the equipment being used. There are in use at hatcheries 3,603 items of equipment in 38 major classes with a March 1960 replacement value of $1,695,000. These items include fish-food grinders, mixers, hydrauslicers, power meat saws, mówing machines, power sprayer units, water pumps of all sizes, fish-distribution units for use on trucks, firefighting equipment, and power shop tools. An adequate replacement program based upon average life expectancy of the individual units in operation at all hatcheries requires 7.8 percent of the total value, or $132,200 annually.

Estimates for the past several years have included $66,000 for this program. This amount, together with the requested increase of $66,200, will provide the total amount required.

Plan of work. The $5,736,100 estimate is for salaries and other costs of operation and maintenance of hatcheries and distribution of fish produced. The Bureau works in cooperation with all States in the distribution of hatcheryreared fish to insure that stocking will conform with State management plans and to avoid duplication of effort. The total estimate is broken down, by station, as follows:

(b) Enforcement of black bass law

The estimate for this subactivity is $16,300, an increase of $200 which is needed for pay act costs.

Need for increase.-The increase is needed to carry on the program at the same level as 1961.

Plan of work. The estimate of $16,300 will be used for expenses of enforcement of the Black Bass Act of 1926, as amended (16 U.S.C. 851-856) which prohibits interstate traffic in black bass and all other fishes taken contrary to the laws of the State in which taken.

The estimate for this activity is $207,000, the same as for 1961.

Plan of work. The number of persons seeking recreation by fishing increased by 30 percent from 1950 to 1959 and was estimated at 25 million in 1959. While the water areas capable of supporting the Nation's fishery resources are also being increased through new impoundments, a principal key to providing more fishing is better management of fish and fish habitats, especially in Federal waters. Many of these cannot be served by State fish and game departments.

Federal areas make up more than one-fourth of the total land and water area of the United States and contain some of our finest fishing waters. Fishery management services are presently provided by the Bureau to some of these, particularly the national parks, Indian reservations, military areas, eastern national forests, and national wildlife refuges.

The primary authority for carrying on this activity in sport fisheries rests in the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661-666c). This authorizes the Secretary of the Interior “(1) to provide assistance to, and cooperate with, Federal, State, and public or private agencies or organizations in the development, protection, rearing, and stocking of all species of wildlife *** in providing public shooting and fishing areas including easements across public lands for access thereto * * *; (2) to make surveys and investigations of the wildlife of the public domain, including lands and waters or interests therein acquired and controlled by any agency of the United States ***." Wildlife is defined as including birds, fishes, mammals, and all other classes of wild animals and all other types and classes of aquatic vegetation upon which wildlife depend.

The act of July 12, 1960 (74 Stat. 469), recognizes the right of the Indian tribes to control entry upon Indian lands, including the granting of permission for fishing, hunting, and trapping. This act will assist in clarifying certain jurisdictional problems and has already stimulated the tribes to seek greater assistance in the management of their fishery resources.

The act of September 15, 1960 (74 Stat. 1052), provides for participation by the Department of the Interior in the planning, development, maintenance, and coordination of fish and wildlife resources on military reservations throughout the United States. Although the Bureau has participated in cooperative programs on the military areas, it will be called upon for considerably greater effort and a more active part in the formation of cooperative agreements and the execution of fishery programs.

The operation of the Bureau's more than 100 national fish hatcheries requires attention by experienced fishery biologists to insure that the fish produced will make the greatest possible contribution to sport fishing. Best use of these fish depends upon the completion of stream and lake surveys, furtherance of cooperative plans with the States, and the periodic evaluation of the undertaking in terms of man-days of fishing. Management services also include the provision of information on sport fishery subjects and the answering of thousands of inquiries received annually from the public.

The $207,000 estimate will be used for salaries and expenses of personnel engaged in providing assistance to cooperating State and Federal agencies in management of sport fishery resources; to answer public requests for information on sport fishery management through an extension-type program; and to further the most beneficial uses of fish produced at the national fish hatcheries, as follows:

The total estimate of $207,000 is broken down by States as follows:

(a) Fishery management asistance on Federal lands and waters The 1962 estimate for this function is $167,000. The decrease of $20,000 in this subactivity and the corresponding increase in the subactivity (c) Allocation of hatchery fish, represent an adjustment to achieve a better balanced program within the total estimate. Many of the Nation's finest fishing waters are contained on the approximately 700 million acres of Federal lands in the 50 States. Public dependence on Federal waters for recreation is increasing rapidly, bringing with it a need for better management of the important aquatic resources.

The Bureau's position as a consultant and adviser in fishery activities is recognized in agreements with the Department of Defense, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. Forest Service. In addition to these national agreements, there are numerous regional and local cooperative agreements for assistance in management of sport fisheries. For example, at least 12 separate agreements are held with Indian tribes specifying assistance to be given in planning and carrying out developments for the improvement of sport fishing. The success which has been achieved in a few reservations has led other tribal groups to seek similar management services. In most instances fishing waters on Indian lands are developed for public use and provide an economic asset to the tribes. The program is carried out with the full support of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Surveys of fishery resources, requirements for fish stocking, and the development of plans for the protection and restoration of native fish species have been requested by several of the national parks-Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee, Rocky Mountain in Colorado, Glacier in Montana, Mount Rainier in Washington, and Olympic in Washington, to mention some of the larger parks.