PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF MARINE AND COSTAL FISHERIES IN THE NATIONAL-PARK SYSTEM - A REVIEW OF RESEARCH PROGRAMS

The U.S. National Park Service administers a network of 368 park units scattered across the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and t he Virgin Islands. The 32 million ha in the park system represent abou t 12% of total federal landholdings. Fifty-one park units, or 14% of a ll parks, provide habitats for marine and coastal resources. Research activities in the coastal units of the National Park System were summa rized from investigators' annual reports. In 1991, 65 projects focusin g on coastal fisheries issues were conducted by 31 cooperating organiz ations. The National Park Service provided over $1.8 million of the $2 .7 million allocated for research projects in parks. This paper summar izes research activities conducted in these national parks. Such activ ities included general biological surveys and studies involving fisher ies, marine invertebrates, water quality, and marine algae and flora. Future research directions are discussed as a means of filling the inf ormation needs of coastal resource managers in the national park syste m.