Oo S| was A4YEIX Fishes COMMERCIAL BEUIELE FISHERIES iteee bee Ta JUNE 1955 FISH and WILDLIFE SERVICE United States Department of the Interior W ashington, D.C. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE DOUGLAS MCKAY, SECRETARY JOHN L. FARLEY, DIRECTOR COMMERCIAL FI A review of developments and news of the fishery industries prepared in the BRANCH OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES A. W. Anderson, Editor J. Pileggi and J. J. O'Brien, Assistant Editors Mailed free to members of the fishery and alliedindustries. Address correspondence and requests to the: Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, Washington 25, D. C. Publication of material from sources outside the Service is not an endorsement. The Service is not responsible for the accuracy of facts, views, or opinions contained in material from outside sources. Although the contents of this publication have not been copyrighted and may be reprinted freely, refer- ence to the source will be appreciated. The printing of this publicationhas been approved by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, Novem- ber 5, 1952. CONTENTS COVER: Sorting the catch from a deep-water trawl in March 1955 on the deck of the Service’s exploratory fishing vessel Oregon. The vessel has been doing explora- tory fishing for deep-water red shrimp and testing long-line fishing for tuna in the Gulf of Mexico (see pp. 45-46 of this issue). Page Experimental Farming of the Soft-Shell Clam, Mya Arenaria, in Massachusetts, 1949-1953, by Osgood R, Smith, JohnP» Baptist, and Edward\Chin ..... «hisses eee re oo yc ae Risieve 1 Gulf of Maine Bluefin-Tuna Exploration--1954, by a i IMITHENM. ooo oon00ndgs Ao bon DUO 0006 pasichiate 17 Page Page RESEARCH IN SERVICE LABORATORIES:..... 3 22 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS (Contd,): Development of Voluntary Federal Standards of Long Island Sound Oyster Investigations: Grade for Fresh and Frozen Fishery Products, Oyster Spawning and Setting Formulae ..... 46 by Arthur J, Nolte....... 0 22 Maine Herring Exploration and Gear Research: Literature Review of Factors that Ney Affect Theodore N. Gill Sails on Initial Cruise Ca Processed Feeds Quality, by Neva L, Karrick 25 ibyg Te RS cares OSI OOOO AU c 47 Federal Specifications for Fresh and Frozen Fish Michigan: TSsuedigysriencteterclicterencteh =eelameh=« Pe tiavace lhe 3 32 Great Lakes Commercial Fisheries Production, TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS: ..... pac000 33 1 O5Ameuceeh ence cieteWoneionatol es ekenekelell= so bo 00S 48 Additions to the U, S. Fleet of Fishing Vessels | 33 Montana: California: Direct-Current Fish-Shocking Technique De- Sardine Fishing Predicted Good for NextSeason 33 veloped .....c cere ecreereces won6 48 $1 Million Awarded for Marine Biological Re- New England Exploratory Fishery Program: search to Scripps Institution of Oceanography 34 Delaware Finds Shrimp in Gulf of Maine (Cruise Tuna Tagged by Commercial Clipper Ocean Ali etet eta Pei walietieNielioKelcuen eke eiciehetehelele 49 Pride (Cruise C-55-2) «.- ++ ee seer eres 34 Ohio: Spring Abundance of Sardines, Anchovies, and Lake Erie Commercial Fisheries, 1954 .... 50 Mackerel in California Waters Assessed by North Atlantic Fisheries Investigations: Yellowfin (Cruise 55-Y-2) ...--+-- 35 Various Mesh-Size Cod Ends Tested in Haddock Aerial Survey of Pacific Herring Spawning ie Fishing by Albatross U1 (Cruise 19) Sreenemenonte 50 tensity Continued (Aircraft Spotting ee Pacific Oceanic Fisheries Investigations: 55-6, 55-7, 55-8, and 55-9) .....-2+---- 36 Steel Tuna Long Lines Successfully Tested in Kelp Bass Studies by N. B. Scofield (Cruise Line Islands Waters by John R. Manning HS) oascoa008 3 36 (Gnuise}24) eee aeioriicteeicrciar ne 51 Canned Maine Sardine Stocks; ~ Apes iL, "1955 . 37 Skipjack Tuna Tagged iy ‘Hugh M M, Smith Cans--Shipments of Fishery Products, January- (Cruise 28) .. 222s eee eee rete tees 52 February 1955 ......--+-- Bien snesher stein 37 pyoscsedProgramiforiios5) e.g so seee 52 Clam Investigations: Saltonstall-Kennedy Act Fisheries Projects: Soft-Shell Clam Shortage in New England Due Fishery Statistical Office Opened in La Crosse, to Green Crab ....e.eeeeseeeereses 37 Wiss sdocoéuo0ed0o0006 goosoOSod 53 Federal Purchases of Fishery Products spsuemens 38 Service Opens F “ishery Statistical Office in Fishery Products Marketing Prospects, Spring Biloxi, Miss. .....-+-+--+> Epenenedenens 54 1955 . ne ee eH See icaeIGRD Pca. CeO 39 Progress on Branch of Commercial Fisheries Florida: Projects (May 1955) ....-..+2+e-+ee 54 Crab-Meat Packing Sanitation ...... co 39 Progress on Branch of Fishery Biology Project Fisheries Research, July-December 1954 . 41 (May 1955)... 22. +e eee eee eee acodee 58 Gulf Exploratory Fishery Program: U.S, Canned Fish and Byproducts--1954 oood 60 Good Long-Line Tuna ea Found in Carib- U. S, Fish-Stick Production, J: anuary-March 1955 61 bean by Oregon (Cruise 30) . Siaitetlats tate 45 Contents Continued Page 107 wy June 1955 Washington 25,D.C. Vol.17,No.6 EXPERIMENTAL FARMING OF THE SOFT-SHELL CLAM, MYA ARENARIA, IN MASSACHUSETTS, 1949-1953 By Osgood R. Smith,* John P. Baptist,* and Edward Chin** BACKGROUND The clam-farming experiments which this paper describes were carried out over the years 1949-1953 on the tidal flats of Plum Island Sound, Essex County, Mass., and where noted, in the Hampton River, N. H. The commercially-impor- tant clam, Mya arenaria, had been becoming progressively scarcer along the coasts @——@ Planted Clams O—O Native Clams é 8 8 ow °o Size in millimeters Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan.\Feb. Mar. Apr May June July Aug. Sept. 1949 1950 1951 Fig, 1 - Growth of planted and native clams under chicken wire in plot 24B, based on average length from square-foot sam- ples. Numbers of clams per square-foot sample are beside most datum points, Numbers beside points for September 1951 give numbers of clams in eight square feet. Datum point for planted clams in January is from plot 25, Points for native clams in March and April are from ‘‘open"’ flats around plot 24. of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and western Maine since about 1940, and it was generally believed that the scarcity was caused by overdigging. If overdigging was the principal cause, it was logical to assume from the work of Mead (1900-1904), Kellogg (1905), and Belding (1930) that clam farming would help to alleviate the shortage. Small clams could be taken from areas closed due to pollutionand grown to market size inclean areas. Kellogg and Belding (op. cit.) had demonstrated that clams could be transplanted and that they would survive and grow well enough to produce an increase in volume, so our experiments were designed to learn more about methods and to find out if farming, either by towns or by individuals, would be feasible under present conditions, TRANSPLANTING METHODS On May 26 and June 2, 1949, 16 bushels of clams averaging 39 mm, in epi! were transplanted in Plum Island Sound at low tide (1) by broadcasting, (2) by plant- * Fishery ResearchBiologists, Clam Investigations, Branchof Fishery Biology, U.S, Fish and WildlifeService, Newburyport, Mass. *** Fishery Aid, present address U, S, Fish and Wildlife Service, Seattle, Wash. 1/ Shell lengths were measured with vernier calipers to the nearest millimeter, and tabulated in two-millimeter groups, the odd number being combined with the next highest even number (Felin and Phillips 1948). 2 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 ing them in plowed furrows, (3) by broadcasting them on roughened ground at high tide, (4) by broadcasting from a boat. All these methods were commonly used by Massachusetts towns in 1949. The clams were planted in concentrations of about 20 and 38 per square foot. w J ® = ® E E c o iN wn Bq YS 2a SO ISS 25 (0) Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar.Apr. May June July 1951 1952 Fig, 2 - Solid points show average growth of planted clams in plots 45B and 60. Open circles above and below averages show one standard deviation. Numbers below datum points are numbers of clams in two square-foot samples from the two plots. The X at lower left is from a volumetric sample of clams just before they were planted. Two quite different types of clam flats were tested: Hales Cove, a relatively soft flat, is composed of fine sand and silt, and Horseshoe Flat, a hard sandy flat with many shell fragments. Examination and counts of clam holes in the various plots the day after trans- planting indicated that broadcasting at low tide is fully as effective as any of the more laborious methods, This is in agreement with Belding (1930). Broadcasting froma boat may be even more effective for large areas, but in testing this method we were unable to keep the clams within the staked areas so we could not compare the results with other plots. Within a week after the above plots had been set out, the horseshoe crab (Limu- lus polyphemus) had concentrated on them and dug up most of the clams. On June7, 31 horseshoe crabs were found in three 10 x 20-foot plots on Horseshoe Flat, and the entire planted area was covered with depressions, On the softer soil of Hales Cove, the entire surface of the plots had been lowered enough to form square pools Table 1 - Recoveries of Medium-Size Clams Transplanted August 17,1949, — | at Average Size of 33 mm. from Fenced Plot (#13) Clams Date Sampled Recovered Avg. Growth July 5, 1950 1 1 ke @ 61 27 July 10, 1950 16 62 3.9 58 26 Aug. 30, 1950 16 92 5.8 63 32 Sept. 7, 1950 32 97 3.0 = = 6.3 Oct. 20, 1950 3 UY) 62 26 Summary of all 1950 samples: 68 271 4.0 (Survival--about 12.5%) June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 3 of water at low tide. When the Hales Cove plots were dug in November 1949, 92 percent of the clams had disappeared. Field observations and occasional trial digs indicated that most of the loss was caused by horseshoe crabs within a week after the clams were transplanted. Green crabs (Carcinides maenas) probably dug some of the clams also, but we did not suspect their importance at that time. The principal result of this first series of transplanting experiments was to prove that natural predation was a ma- jor problem which would have to be met if clam farming was to be successful, EXPERIMENTS ON METHODS OF COMBATTING NATURAL PREDATION After the first transplanting experiments had been eliminated by predators, more plots were set out to test methods of keeping predators away from the clams by the use of fences and screens, Table 2 - Recoveries of Large Clams Transplanted November 16, 1949, at Average Size of 46 mm. from Fenced and Unprotected Plots Recoveries Estimated Avg. Size of Date No, Planted Per Sq No, from| No, Per Avg. Size Location No. Sq. Ft. inmm, anne 1950 8 July 18 Hales Cove } 52 40 July 25 Horseshoe Flat } al Fe { July 21 Summary: (co (se 28,1 (Gurvival 95% Unprotected Plots 50 July 18 Hales Cove ; 41 July 25 Horseshoe Flat } The first fenced plot (no. 13) was set out in August of 1949, following the then unpublished work of Turner (1949). This fence, and others built later, was made of 3-foot-wide poultry wire of 2-inch mesh, The lower edge was buried 6 inches, making a fence 23-feet high. This fence kept out horseshoe crabs, so in November of 1949 two more series of plantings were set out on Horseshoe Flat and Hales Cove, arranged so that fences could be built around some of them the following spring. The clams were of 2 size groups--(1) the larger, dug commercially in Quincy, Mass., averaged 46,2 mm, in length, and (2) the smaller from Scarborough, Me., averaged 16,1 mm. When these plots were set out, the horseshoe crabs had left the flats for the winter. Most of the green crabs had left and those that remained were nearly dor- mant, The only predators that seemed likely to attack the clams during the winter were ducks and gulls, because both of these had been seen ''puddling" the flats with their feet to wash out small clams, as described by Medcof (1949). Therefore parts of several plots of small clams were covered with one-inch mesh chicken wire staked down flat on the soil soon after the clams had dug in. Only one small piece of wire about 6 x 6 feet on plot no. 24B remained through the winter, but this one plot, as we shall see later, showed what clams may dowhere they are well protected. Examination of tables 1, 2, and 3 will show the results from fenced and unpro- tected plots of large and small clams, and from a plot of small clams protected by chicken wire staked down over them, The effect of covering planted clams with 4 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 chicken wire is further demonstrated by table 4,which shows results of transplanting experiments in 1951 and 1952. These will be discussed in detail later, Table 3 - Recoveries of Small Clams Transplanted November 18, 1949, at Average Size of 16.1 mm. from Protected and Unprotected Plots Average Length td of Annulus Date Plot No Formed at Time Sampled of Planting i 7 Hales Cove 1 4 foct. 9, 1950 Plot 14B zaG - uf 5 9 57 24 7 22 58 22 Nov. 15, 1950 Summa seen RN 5 na nn © | RS | PCS Lars ved viek 1 == 55 2) em | Protected with Fenc 1 45 18 Hales Cove 108 1 2 50 20 Oct. 9, 1950 Plot 15B 1 1 57 23 16 11 54 21 Nov. 15, 1950 Summa aR |S pe | nn aa | NNLO 1G F|(Sarviiiv.eal == 9 77) a | Unprotected Oct. 9, 1950 Nov. 15, 1950 Hales Cove Plot 17B Oct. 9, 1950 Nov. 15, 1950 May 11, 1950 June 22, 1950 Aug. 9, 1950 Nov. 1, 1950 Hales Cove Plot 23 May 11, 1950 June 22, 1950 Aug. 9, 1950 Sept. 20, 1950 Nov. 1, 1950 Hales Cove Plot 24A | a sce" | | - May 11, 1950 - June 22, 1950 - Aug. 9, 1950 = Sept. 20, 1950 = Nov. 1, 1950 - Apr. 12, 1951 - May 28, 1951 - July 26, 1951 = Sept. 11, 1951 Hales Cove Plot 24B a0 Survival 12%--Sept. 11, 1951 Protected by Wire Part in Plot ; 26 Jan, 11, 1950 Hales Cove 108 1 30 May 19, 1950 Plot 25 3 ) 4 9 (Sept. 18, 1950 3 5 Protected by Wire Part of Winter Horseshoe Tia 108 i) 20 20.0 24,7 16.4 May 19, 1950 Plot 26B 1 1 1.0 37.0 19.0 July 5, 1950 L Unprotected Horseshoe Flat 108 } 1 28.1 17.8 May 19, 1950 Plot 26A } 1 - - July 5, 1950 Unprotected Horseshoe Flat 108 } | 1 15 15.0 16,2 May 19, 1950 Plot 27 } 1 0 ) = July 5, 1950 June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 5 It should be explained that the fences kept out horseshoe crabs but not green crabs. By the summer of 1950 we had learned that green crabs, not birds, were o © o IE E = ® uN wo 63) 39) 51 20 10) Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.Oct.Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July 1951 1952 Fig. 3 - Solid points show average growth of planted clams in plot 46. Open circles above and below averages show one standard deviation. Numbers below datum points are numbers of clams in single square-foot samples. The X at lower left is from a volumetric sample of clams just before they were planted, digging up planted clams inside the fences. During the summer months we had watched the crabs going through and over the fences at high tide, and one crab was caught in the act of devouring a 50 mm, clam, Table 4 - Recoveries from Protected and Unprotected Plots of Clams in Various Types of Soil Planted April 17-19, 1951, at Average Length of 19 mm, | Number of Planted Clams Recovered in One-Square-Foot samples 1951 fee eS ee ee ee Est. No. res May | June July | Aug. | Sept. | oct. Nov. |March May |June |June |July Per Sq, Ft Ft ) | 10-11 | 12-13] 16-17 | 22-27 20 22 23 3 1 3 25 30 Planted Protection Hales Cove--Mod. Soft Fine Sand and Silt 0 0 0 4 None 51 16 48 54 33 13 51 57 38 Chicken wire 162 71 65 71 35 62 64 96 25 Chick, wire on frame 149 i) 0 0 0 None “ey 52 2 0 1 Wire carried away in August) Chicken wire a] Ordway's--Firm Fine Sand and Silt 60A 51 15x15 42 1 1 0 0 0 None a 60B 51 15x15 46 25 37 8 83 38 15 28 ll 25 13 ll 9 Chicken wire Rowley ''Finger Flat''--Loose Rippled Sand, Low 0 Tee] 12] | TT 49B 51 15x15 ) Wire carried away early June Chicken wire Thorofare--Hard Rippled Sand, High 1A 51 15x15 None 51B 51 15x15 Chicken wire OSA 104 10x10 None 3B 104 10x10 __| Chicken wire Dole's Island Bar--Rippled Sand, Low 4 [ 51 | isxi5] - | (Clams washed away when planted) I f None Dole's Island Pond--Soft Silt and Detritus, High 51 15x15 = = 0 1 ee Se ee Se] Pee ae None Jones Grant, Hampton River, N. H.--Mod, Soft Fine Sand and Silt on 25 15x30 = - 2 = None 25 15x30 = - 13 = Chicken wire a pee a = iz Wire removed and most of clams dug up by clammers, i a ee mine 25 15x30 - - 0 - None 25 15x30 - - |(holes - Chicken wire 1 see! Survival of the planted clams depended on both the size at planting and the de- gree of protection, Inside a fence, where green crabs could go but horseshoe crabs could not, about 95 percent of the large clams survived for 8 months, With no pro- tection, only about 50 percent of the large clams survived for 8 months (table 2). There was little or no loss of large clams during the winter, but they became thin- ned out rapidly as soon as the horseshoe and green crabs became active inthe spring. 6 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Violen NO-me No further work was done with large clams because those available were near- ly market size (2 inches) when transplanted, and unless such clams were obtained by cheap mechanical means there would not be any profit in transplanting them. The small (16 mm.) clams apparently were thinned out soon after planting, but thereafter survived the winter fairly well in all plots (table 3). Screened samples were not taken regularly enough to demonstrate this, but plot no. 25 was sampled in January and most of the other plots were examined in March and April 1950. The 1950 eS ee eee Jan.1/] May |June|Aug. |Sept.] Nov. | Apr. | May 11 11 22 9 20 1 12 28 26 allt 2 Number of Clams Recovered in Square-Foot Samples APIennrawe NownNeePI Fe i] ot i] 2 4 1 3 2 5 = 3 2 4 1 4 6 3 2 6 5 2 8 = 3 8 8 1 2 4 8 2 - 13 7 4 = 8 5 9 2 7 5 B) 1 3 1 = 8 = 1 - - U 3 1 = 2 10 a - - 1 7 1 1 - 8 - 1 1 10 - 1 6 iL - it - 1 2 2 = 5 = = - 5 = 3 6 = 1 2 1/ Sample from plot 25, adjacent to plot 24B which was not sampled at this time. habit which small clams have of coming up out of the soil and moving about (Smith 1953) may account for some of the initial loss. Birds probably were responsible for some of the thinning, but the horseshoe crabs and green crabs were the preda- tors that did the real damage. In March and April clams were still abundant enough in all sampled plots to produce good digging, but they were completely eliminated in most unprotected areas within a few weeks after the horseshoe and green crabs be- came active in the spring (see the May, June, and July samples in table 3). A few June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW ql clams (0.7-1.5 percent) survived inside fences where they could be reached by green crabs but not by horseshoe crabs. So with small clams, the two predators under discussion are about equally bad; if one doesn't eat the clams the other will. Here again the effect of size may be seen, The survivors had annuli, formed at the time of planting, which indicate they were larger than the average for the lot when they were planted (see table 3). An intermediate situation in both size and percent- age survival is shown by fenced plot no, 13 (table 1). The one plot (no, 25) in which a few unprotected clams did survive was onfirm- ly-packed fine sand and silt, near the bank of Plum Island. Unfortunately, clam- mers dug through this plot sometime during the first winter so we were unable to secure a reliable series of samples from it. Number of Clams Recovered in Square-Foot Samples of 1951 1952 Planting | May | June Aug.| Sept.| Oct. | Nov.| March |March] May | June Stock 10 12 16 22 20 22 23 3 31 1 3 ( N 785 51 48 54 33 13 51 x 19.45 |21 41.4 |42.7 | 46.9 {51.4 | 42.7 Sx 5,37 : 6,09| 7,88] 8,57{ 8,4 8.28 Expense seems to be the major obstacle to raising clams by protecting them with wire over the flats. These experiments were not on a large enough scale to give adequate production cost figures, but if we assume 1, 200 legal clams per bush- el (Turner 1950) and 20 clams per square foot, then 60 square feet of flat could pro- duce a bushel, Wire to cover that area would cost around $1.60, and it probably would have to be replaced once, bringing the cost for wire alone to around $3 to $4 a bushel, me WCOJ— HRI 1 POWNUWOMDWNHH/ He Ft ttt t WNNWRENHPN I ee 3 2 1 2 1 1 oe ttt We wiaoND oe md [— (ort NVNwWwwohowo iti eerR tI NP POM POA 1 Kw Piet tee tone ee Experiments in progress indicate that a small vertical fence with a flange on top may be a satisfactory means of protecting clams from horseshoe crabs and green crabs, According to Dr. P. Korringa of Holland,2/ the French oyster growers use a fence only 10 inches high (25 to 30 cm.) with a flange on top to protect oyster spat from green crabs. A barrier similar to this was tried in Plum Island Sound in the summer of 1952, This fence acted as a partial barrier, but it was too small and 2/ Unpublished letter from Dr, P. Korringa of the Ruksinstituut voor Visscherijonderzoek Bergen op Zoom, Holland, to John Glude, Chief, Clam Investigations, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Boothbay Harbor, Me. 8 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol, 17, No. 6 was eroded badly, so results were not conclusive, A much larger and stronger fence was built in 1953, This fence was built in the shape of a circle, to enclose the largest possible area per unit length and avoid eddy-producing corners, Itwas 300 feet in circumference, 18 inches high, and the flange was made of 1- by 6-inch boards, each 10 feet long, The boards were lapped instead of butted to simplify construction, The stakes were 2 by 2 inches; a 4-foot stake was driven in the mud at each overlap of the boards and a 3-foot stake driven in between. One-inch mesh chicken wire, 2 feet wide, was stapled on the inside of this wooden structure, and the bottom edge buried about 6 inches, The actual construction took about 15 man- hours, or 3 men one tide and 2 men the next, The fence proved to be very rigid, and probably stronger than necessary. [Length ar MOU CaO SAR 2: eae | in mm, | Planting} May Oct.| Nov.| March| March | May June| June | July 22 23 3 31 1 3 25 30 0 - = = = Pet wolrinPNK NOM 1 tp bt ttl) bt bb tb bon yg Co;yrr ti tt R PONV NDOUFONMORN API tie tt ttt tte fi Oreo tril ere VnNnwPwily i MwNWwriet tit . rr) core Keio Fl HL rr tlt wor Wt ANI IDmoOwWNoOngeNI Fe I During the summer of 1953 this fence effectively protected clams from the horseshoe and green crabs, their two worst enemies, Figure 5 shows the flat out- side the fence has been completely dug up while the surface inside is still smooth. A baited green-crab trap set inside the fence caught 24 crabs in 24 hours, but only 3 of these were too large to have gone through the meshes of the chicken wire fence. A similar trap outside the fence caught 111 green crabs, and, as is usual in trap samples, very few of the crabs were small. The effectiveness of the fence was al- so observed by swimming around it with an ''Aqualung" at high tide, when the water was about 7 feet deep. Large and medium green crabs were clustered against the fence all around its circumference, averaging about 1 every 2 feet of fence. Some were at the base, some were clinging to the wire, but fully half were clinging tothe wire up under the flange. Several small crabs and one large one were found inside. The small ones could have gone through the meshes, or they might have swum over the fence because one was seen in the act of swimming over it. While observing these crabs, it became quite obvious that little ones swim much more than big ones. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 9 No horseshoe crabs were ever found inside the fence. Those seen around the fence usually went off in some other direction after bumping into the wire, apparently no effort being made to get over or under the fence. Apparently the small crabs that went through and over the fence were not num- erous or large enough to do serious damage to the clam crop. ae 8 - Leng umber 0: ams Recovered in Square-Foot Samples [Length a 12 aT 27 20_ 23 26_ Te 1 ia es 11 9 45.5 |50.6 |60.5 | 63.7 5,75| 4.91] 7.95] 6.15 The fence was not standing long enough to tell just what effect it would have on the native clams, but it protected a small plot of transplanted clams. On July 28, 1953, about a bushel of clams averaging 17 mm. in length were planted, some in- side and some outside the fence, Those outside never had a chance, With a face plate we could see green crabs grabbing many of them, and apparently none of them survived more than a few days. Inside the fence the clams dug in well, and a small plot within the fence was well peppered with their holes all summer. A square-foot sample on October 14 had 53 per square feet averaging 24 mm, Frequencies of Clams Transplanted April 19, 1951, from Plot 60B [al Uk Te th Pet Dei mR I NN POAT PRR Mw tt tt Pieter iene > ee OO PP CoP Pp tO Beith Permit ew nr te tlt tet bo a = el ell el el room Eee Hoof (Newer tet We planned to maintain this fence at least one more summer, to learn more a- bout what could be produced by protecting a natural set, but clam diggers dug over the area early in 1954 so that particular fenced plot was abandoned. Instead of rebuilding the fence, we worked with the towns of Ipswich, Mass., and Hampton, N. H., in helping them build fences similar to ours, Both towns pur- chased materials and supplied much of the labor. Unfortunately, neither of these fences was successful, The one at Ipswich clogged badly with seaweeds and colonial hydroids and could not be maintained. The one at Hampton stayed up well but it did not save either native or transplanted clams inside. Crab traps set inside and out- side the Hampton fence indicated the damage was done by large numbers of crabs just small enough to go through the one-inch mesh, Crab traps fished 24 hours in- 10 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 side the fence on July 29, 30, and August 12, took 203, 89, and 93 crabs, respec- tively. The average widths were 40, 40, and 41 mm. Ninety-one percent of these were under 45 mm. wide, and therefore small enoughto get through the meshes of the chicken wire. Control samples outside collected 266, 128, and 176, and the aver- age widths were 47, 48, and 49 mm. In view of these experiences, further fencing experiments will be done withfiner- mesh wire. This should be effective if it can be maintained without clogging or wash- ing too badly. ATTEMPTS TO PLANT CLAMS SO AS TO AVOID PREDATORS In April of 1951 another series of plots was set out in Plum Island Sound andin the Hampton River, N. H., to test survival on various types of flats and to getmore reliable growth and survival data, Legend: (0) © 1949-year class (1950/51 data, Plot 24B) @—-—-6© 1950-year class (1951/52 data, Plots 45B, 46, & 60B) @——® 1952-year class (1953/54 data) a L o coe o iE {= c o a w” Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Fig. 4 - Comparative growth of native clams of 1949, 1950, and 1952 year-classes, Data for 1949 and 1950 are from pro- tected plots, there being almost no survival elsewhere, Data for 1952 year-class are from unprotected areas, where clams survived and produced commercial digging, possibly because of more rapid growth, This plan was adopted because the uneven distribution of native clams in Plum Island Sound, and the results from plot no. 25 mentioned above led us to believe that some areas might be more free of predators than others, Catches of green crabs in traps also indicated that high sandy flats had fewer crabs on them than muddy flats. The results from these plots of transplanted clams are summarizedin Table 4. It may be seen that the results at Hales Cove and Ordways confirmed the results of plot no. 24B (table 3) in showing that clams in those flats survived only where protected. On the more sandy flats results were confused by the fact that the covering wire was carried away, undermined at the edges, or buried by 3 to 6 inches of shifting sand. Judging by the May samples, many of the clams washed away before they could establish themselves. On one high sandy bar, ''Thorofare,'' the clams that did get established survived longer than in the muddy flats, but survival was not high enough in any unprotected plot to give profitable results. SURVIVAL OF PROTECTED PLANTED CLAMS In protected plot 24B, we established the planting density at 108 clams per square foot, and the recovery 2 years later, on a basis of 8 square feet, was 13 clams per square foot or about 12 percent. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 11 In the protected plots 45B, 46, and 60B, survival was estimated from the aver- age of the last four samples and the known concentration when planted, Plots 45B and 60B were each planted with 50 clams per square foot, and the average survival for the two plots combined (i.e., 8 square-foot samples) was 43 percent. Plot 46 planted with 100 per square foot apparently had a 69-percent survival, but the sam- Table 9 - Length Frequencies of Native Clams from Plot 24B, Chicken Wire-Protected from November 18, 1949 (History of 1949 Year-Class Shown by Figures below the Heavy Lines) Number of Clams Recovered in Square-Foot Samples Clams from— 8 Sq. Ft. 22 1 12 1951 a : ae 457 i 215 26 94 24 30 7 : 20 9 7 14 5 29 - 23 34 17 12 terol) PeawNa 1 — AMDDMHAHeH AD! 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 tem | e&owg PRR PRR TOT PNMOONMDI ORY 1 I fT lle the eit 1) rete yom i Pr rye Vwrorrepr AR ee se, ie! ie RRR RRP ee ee Fil IN WOrRFNANNALOUMW OC 148 304 438 611 32 130 nN _ iS) Following data from clams below solid line only (growing part of 1949 year-class): 148 159 175 126 127 42 19 6 = 212 8.48 | 20.77) 28.08 | 31.98 31,04 42,04 50,6 59.33 = 53.51 3.70 4.60 9.26 4.95 4, 80 8.48 11.47 | 10,39 = 9,64 1/Thirty-two mesh sampler used, | '3/This is only one of eight square-foot samples taken with fine-mesh screen, ‘2/Sample probably partly in area previously dug, 4/Large clams only, including those in previous column, ples from that plot were quite variable. In any case, the clams were extremely crowded over the entire plot, probably too crowded for good growth, so we know sur- vival was relatively high. Plot 46 not only was planted more densely than the others but it also was much better protected. It was covered by chicken wire ona frame, supported 1 inch above the surface of the soil by boards set edgewise in the mud. A few Polinices heros were found under this wire, but it kept green crabs and horse- shoe crabs out better than wire that was just staked down. Crabs were sometimes found under the edges of the wire that was staked down. 12 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 We do not know what happened to most of the clams that did not survive. Empty shells were found, but not enough to account for all the loss, Survival was high enough in all protected plots to produce good commercial clam digging. Plot 24B produced about 25 legal clams per square foot, including natives; plot 45B produced about 16; plot 46, 23; plot 60B, about 9. Legal-size na- tive clams were practically absent from the last 3 plots. These figures include on- ly clams over 50 mm., and it may be seen by tables 5 to 10 that many smallerclams were ''coming along," so final production would be somewhat greater. GROWTH OF PLANTED AND NATIVE CLAMS Transplanted clams usually were distinguishable from natives because their shells were characteristic of the region from which they had come. The clams from Scarborough, Maine, had rather chalky-appearing shells and they tended to be more round than Plum Island Sound clams. The ones from Quincy, Mass., usu- Table 10 - Combined Length Heequencies of Native Clams from Three Plots (45B, 46, and 60B), Protected gures Below the Solid Lines Number 0 ams Recovered in Three Square-Foot samp es qune Aug. | Sept. Oct. | Nov. March May June uly a0 1b: 17 22-27 oe ree 23 23° 26 33 a8 i = 26 A A 14 8 1 2 3 1pepetoererterepeetpepetpt tt tt te eat nanowoannil peoppepeptett bt bt tt eR BPE NEP NAIHDWNe INO rroopstr ttt bt tt te MPD) Ort RP ewe I rere te eet tt int PON EPNPEWNH I Re] COP CP ee fe 0 | bpp pte ttt tt towon rN PN If eyed NenNo pepereetetpppprworpretr mt tenet tht tet NOOrFOe Pbpb ete NP eI wt tee tee RF iE i DORWY PO RBtriRPRePeNI NIP PNP R IT eI EP PRP RP OPONWN WHE UOMY I rprrptr rt PRR PONDER RPR Te Pet bb tft tet Peprett tt PP VN WONMRFPWOMDPWWN I HE] IRR Following data from clams below solid line— 1/ only \erowing: part of 1950 year-class): 30 27 18 34 13 15 38 7 20.4 | 23.3 33.4 32.6 36.8 | 43.1 aT. 4 | 38.1 45.1 3.24] 6,14 7.95 8.20 9.66] 7.00 5eutO)| 66.50 5.02 1/The sample taken in May was not used for average size of the growing group because of the rather extreme dominance of 4 and 6 mm. clams which do not appear to grow. ally had thick and deformed shells. The shells of native Plum Island Sound clams were generally smooth, slightly glossy, and more pointed posteriorly than either Scarborough or Quincy shells. The new shell, put on as the clams grew after trans- planting, was typical of Plum Island Sound shells, and therefore the size at planting or the "planting annulus" could be identified and measured. A few individual clams were difficult to identify, but with these we consulted each other and arrived ata consensus, Annular rings, which form on clam shells much as they do on fishscales, June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 13 were not as distinct as the rings formed when the clams were transplanted. Growth was determined from average sizes (lengths) of clams sampled at various times. In plot 24B clams planted at 16 mm. in November 1949 reached an average size of 57 mm, at the end of the two following summers (fig. 1). In plots 45B, 46, and 60B clams planted in April 1951 at 19 mm. grew to aver- ages of 54, 57, and 63 mm., respectively, intwosummers,. Datafrom plots 45Band able 11 - Length Frequencies of Native Clams from Hales Cove (History of the 1952 Year-Class is Shown by Figures Below the Solid Lines) Number of Clams Recovered from Samples SS SS 1954 1 peal wack, 29 26 8 of) |a2201 (at ae ere ere al 5-62] 2-202 ee Ss EEE EES Se ; B 3 |297 = 3 | 26 24 | 305 275 |306 |444 | 124 30 34 |14 |706 17 = |e 3 10 10 2 10 - 17 28 3 94 16 = || 5 = - 1 - - - 7 33 - 18 7 ale = : = = - : 1 18 = 6 4 Swill) 5 = = 2 = = = 1 11 1 3 4 > |< = = = - - - 1 13 1 5 4 ale = - - 2 = = = 5 2 1 = = | = = = = = = = = 15 3 = = = |) os = - - - = = = 3 4 2 = = z = = = = = = = 1 3 = = || 6 - - - = - = 2 - 4 - 2 =) = < = = = = = = = 6 = = = = = = = = = = ‘= = 9 = = = = = = = = 3 = = = 1 = = = = a =, = = 5 = a = 1 = = = = = = = = = = ms = 1 1 = ie - - - = - = = - - 2 4 all <3 - - - = - 2 = = = 7 3 a Z E é & é 5 = = = 5 8 att ee = = = a : E eS = = 16 16 Spline 5 = ‘ z 2 = : : : 6 15 Sp Manes é s 2 g E E Z 7 : 13 22 Ales 5 = = s “ z = : = 10 28 Pearl b bes 4 2 z 2 = z = = = 6 28 Salis x g = z 2 g 2 = 2 3 20 ee = z z E 2 - 2 = = 5 22 hl ie = =, = s Z z = 2 - 1 14 =| - - - = - - = - - 1 5 Bhar = zs x % a 3 2 = : 1 6 = |)s = = = = = = = = E 1 3 = = = = = = = = = = = = 1 e5 = = = = a = a = = s = 2 = ms = = = = = = = = = + 2 - - - - - = - a, = - = io. 1 - =- =- > - - = - - - - - 1 Following data from clams below solid line only (growing part of 1952 year-class): 4 | 31 32 495 349 394 608 162 63 163 36 78 201 3.5 3.8 3,87 3.31 3.7 3.57 3.85 3.53] 5.1 9.3 |23.8 | 49,4 . 4,99 1.39 1.01 1,04 0.9 0.8 0.93 0.8 7,90} 4.74) 3.99] 6.33 7.15 1/ Six square feet sampled, fine mesh (16) used on only 5 square feet. '2/ Two square feet screened with 12-mesh screens. Clams over 24 mm, dug from about 20 square feet. a i) o 60B have beencombinedto lessen variability because both were planted at a density of about 50 per square foot and subsequent treatment was the same, Plot 46 was planted with 100 clams per square foot and, as mentioned above, it was better pro- tected (figs. 2 and 3). It may be seen that all growth curves for planted clams show rapid growth in the spring and early summer, and little or no growth in fall and winter, There ap- pears to be a shrinkage of the shell during the winter, This may actually occur, due to erosion or chipping of the edge of the shell, as suggested by Swan (1952). However, we have found that sizes of clams are inversely correlated with the 14 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Viole iin NOwNG number of clams per sample and it also happens that most of the points showing de- partures from a smooth growth curve are similarly associated with either unusually large or unusually small samples (see figs. 1, 2, and 3). The effect of varying degrees of crowding within one small plot was shown by the 8 separate square-foot samples from plot 24B taken September 11, 1951, as well as by the departures from a smooth growth curve. Clams in the more crowded parts of the plot were distinctly smaller in average size. A correlation between average size and total number of native and planted clams gave a correlation coefficient of -0.8. The differences in size appear to be due to some sort of space relationship rather than lack of food; inasmuch as the square-foot samples adjoined, the entire plot was only 6 x 6 feet, and there were almost no clams in the surrounding flat to remove food from the water flowing over them. The above mentioned samples were as follows: Number of Clams per square foot-18 22 23 25 26 32 72 #£«100 Average size of Clams in mm, = (0) BS Of 53 CGO BO 80 51 The chicken wire put down to protect transplanted clams naturally gave some protection to natives. Small clams were sampled by screening the top 3 or 4inch- es through 16 x 14 per-inch-mesh screening and the lower soil through 4-per-inch- mesh screening, The largest clams were usually picked by hand. eager onesie — = os The growth of native clams was determined by comparing aver- age lengths of the growing portion of a year class in successive sam- ples. The small clams appearing in the May and June samples were considered to be from the previous summer's spawning because very few clams spawn earlier than May or June (Coe & Turner 1938), and also because the size frequencies of small clams sampled in late fall, winter, and early spring indicate that the May and June crop could S belong to the year-class that had : been spawned the previous summer, By Mav these clams are noticeably Fig. 5 - Fence built in Plum Island Sound, Newbury, Mass., June 3, larger than they were in January, 1953, to protect clams from horseshoe and green crabs, The photo- and by June most of the size fre- graph was taken about three weeks after the fence was built, Note f AG AS 2 that entire flat outside fence is covered with excavations of preda~ Quencies are distinctly bi-modal, tors, while the soil inside is still smooth, Of the two groups, the one contain- ing the larger clams is what we have called the ''growing portion, '' because its growth can be traced over at least two years, while the group of smaller clams does not seem to grow. Actually, the ap- parent lack of growth could be due to movement of the byssus-bearing clams, re- cruitment, or some change in the predator-prey relationships. Horseshoe crabs and green crabs, becoming active in the spring, might tend to concentrate on clams around 10 to 14 mm, which, if true, could cause the ''trough" in the length-frequen- cy curve, During the summer of 1950 the natives in the only covered plot, no. 24B (table 9 and fig. 1), survived and grew so well that by September of 1951 there was an average of about 16 legal-size natives per square foot, These were clams of the 1949 year-class, Thus, the growth from plankton stage to market size took only three summers, or perhaps a little over two years. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 15 In the three successful plots set out in the spring of 1951, small native clams were present at all times, but comparatively few survived and grew. We do not know why identical treatment produced a good crop one year and very little the next, when there were as many or more young clams, However, by adding the size-fre- quency data for native clams from these three plots, as intable 10, a growth curve may be derived for the protected natives of the 1950 year-class, Their growth is simi- lar to that of the 1949 year-class (see fig. 4). In the unprotected plots and the surrounding natural tidal flats, there was prac- tically no survival from the 1949 or 1950 year-class. No data were secured for growth of the 1951 year-class, because no screens were down to protect it, and as with the 1949 and 1950 year-classes, there was practically no survival in the natu- ral flats. There was practically no digging in the area, and none in our plots, so the failure of these crops was not caused by overdigging. In marked contrast with the foregoing classes, the 1952 year-class survived well enough, even without protection, to produce some reasonably good commercial digging in upper Plum Island Sound, This year-class was not sampled as often nor as thoroughly as the others, but no sampling was needed to recognize its success during the summer of 1953, For the first time in four years the flats became pitted with clam holes, and from 8 to 15 diggers have been working on the Newbury flats almost every day from the fall of 1953 to the fall of 1954, The concentrations varied from 3 or 4 legal-size clams per square foot to about 20 from midsummer on, The success of the 1952-class seems to have been due to rapid growth. See tables 9, 10, and 11, and figure 4 for a comparison of the 1952 year-class with the 1949 and 1950 year-classes, The larger size of this year-class of clams enabled them to dig deeper and thus be less accessible to predators. The small byssus clams, 12-15 mm, and under, were not unusually abundant during the winter of 1952/53, and as far as we could determine, predators were as abundant as ever, Therefore, we have no evidence that the success of the 1952 clams was due to any changes in the numerical relationships between predators and prey. CONCLUSIONS Natural predation on clams up to at least 50 mm, long is a serious problem which will have to be met if clam farming or transplanting is to be economically feasible. Horseshoe crabs and green crabs are the two most serious predators in New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts. Clams can be protected from these predators by covering flats with one-inch mesh chicken wire, In this way both na- tive and transplanted clams can be grown from around 10 or 20 mm, to the market size of 2 inches, or about 50 mm, intwo summers. Native clams under about 10 mm, long may or may not survive and grow under the chicken wire, The principal disadvantage of putting chicken wire over the clams is the expense of the wire, which might come to $3 or $4 per bushel of clams, Fences only 10-12 inches high with a flange on top may afford adequate protection and be cheaper per acre, but further experiments are required to demonstrate their successful practical appli- cation, Growth of native clams in areas studied is rapid, from plankton stage to mar- ket size generally taking only three summers or perhaps a little over two years. One year-class (1952) grew even faster, producing a commercially-diggable crop in two summers, or a little over one year, This was the first year-class inatleast 4 years to survive well enough, without protection, to produce good commercial dig- ging. The success of this year-class and the failure of others, that were just as abundant up through the byssus stage, indicates that fluctuations in clam populations are largely natural in origin and may result from things other than fluctuations in the numbers of juvenile or byssus-stage clams, 16 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Wolls Ut; IOs G LITERATURE CITED Belding, David L. 1930. The Soft-Shelled Clam Fishery of Massachusetts, Comm, of Mass. Div, Fisheries and Game, Marine Fisheries Series--no, 1, pp. 1-65. Coe, Wesley Roswell and Harry J. Turner, Jr. 1938, Development of the Gonads and Gametes in the Soft-Shell Clam (Mya arenaria). J. Morph, 62(1):91-111, Felin, Frances E, and Julius B, Phillips 1948. Age and Length Composition of the Sardine Catch off the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada, 1941-1942 through 1946-1947, Calif. Div. Fish & Game, Fish, Bull, no, 69, pp. 1-122. Kellogg, James L, 1905. Conditions Governing Existence and Growth of the Soft Clam (Mya arenaria). U, S. Comm, of Fish and Fisheries, Rept, of the Commissioner for Year Ending June 30, 1903, Part XXIX, pp, 195-224, Mead, A, D, 1900-1904, Five papers. Observations on the Soft-Shell Clam. Ann, Repts. Comm, Inland Fisheries Rhode Island. Medcof, J. C. 1949, ‘*Puddling’’--A Method of Feeding by Herring Gulls, THE AUK, 66:204-205, Smith, Osgood R, 1952, The Wanderings of Small Clams, Natl, Shellfish. Assn. ann, mtg, Aug, 14, 1952, mimeographed. Turner, Harry J., Jr. 1949, Report on Investigations of Methods of Improving the Shellfish Resources of Massachusetts. Woods Hole Oceano- graphic Inst., Contribution no, 510, pp. 3-22. SPARE COPIES OF 1940 FISHERY MARKET NEWS AVAILABLE The Service has available for distribution a limited number of spare copies of 1940 issues (volume 2) of Fishery Market News (the forerunner of Commercial Fisheries Review). Listed below is one of the articles appearing in each issue, in addition toa review of conditions and trends of the commercial fisheries. JAN. 1940 "SOME ASPECTS OF FISH BEA MANUFACTURE AND, \DISTRIBUT I ON" FEB. 1940 A THE SALT SABLEFISH OR "BLACK cop! FISHERY” MAR. 1940 REFRIGERATED LOCKERS APR. 1940 "MARKETS FOR FRESH-WATER TURTLES" MAY 1940 FUR SEALS JUNE 1940 "TRENDS AND CONDITIONS OF ,U. S. FISHERIES IN GREAT LAKES » AND INTERNATIONAL LAKES JULY 1940 JACKSONVILLE MARKET NEWS OFFICE COVERS EXTENSIVE FISH PRODUCING AREA AUG, 1940 SOME NOTES ON THE SHRIMP PACKING INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTH » ATLANTIC AND GULF STATES SEPT. 1940 THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES” OcT. 1940 RELAT}VE SEASONAL SUPPLIES OF FISHERY PRODUCTS AT CHICAGO, 1939 NOV, 1940 - "FEDERAL AGENGY ACTS AS A CLEARING HOUSE FOR FISHERY n_|NFORMAT | ON DEC. 1940 - ECONOMICS OF THE. CARP INDUSTRY - For these spare copies write the Branch of Commercial Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington 25, D.C. Requests will be filled as re- ceived until supplies are exhausted. Single copies or a complete set of Nos. 1 through 12 may be requested. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 17 GULF OF MAINE BLUEFIN-TUNA EXPLORATION--1954 By J.J. Murray* SUMMARY The California purse seiner Western Pride operated in the New England blue- fin tuna fishery from July 28 to September 9, 1954, in a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mechanical difficulties, encountered while prepar - ing the seiner for the trip from California to New England, forced postpone - ment of the original de- parture date andresulted in curtailment of effective fishing time. Fishing activities were conducted in the Cape Cod- South Channel area between 41° 38'-42 008! north lati- tude and 68 30'-70 00! west longitude. Best fish- ing areas were found 40 Fig, 1 - Western Pride leaving Gloucester, Mass,, for fishing grounds, nautical miles east south- August 1954, east of Buoy "'R6"' of Chatham, Mass., and 10 nautical miles northeast of Race Point, Mass. A total of 10 purse-seine sets was completed with a catch of 48 tons of bluefin tuna averaging between 30 and 40 pounds a fish. Best fishing occurred on August 21 and 22 when 4 sets in the South Channel netted 32 tons of fish. Tuna schools were sighted on 13 of the 26 days spent at sea. Sizes of schools observed were estimated from 2 to 200 tons with the majority of schools in the 10- to 20-tonclass. It was conservatively estimated that over 1,000 tons of tuna were sighted. Weather conditions prior to hurricane ''Carol" on August 31 were generally favorable (with the exception of a few days) for purse-seine fishing, with adverse weather prevailing during the period from September 8 to 18, immediately preced- ing and following hurricane ''Edna'' on September 11. Surface water temperatures recorded during August in the vicinity of the fishing grounds ranged from 59 to (}5) 1s Considering the short period of fishing time and the unusual weather, the catch of nearly 50 tons of tuna, plus the large number of tuna schools which were seen, is encouraging for commercial utilization of New England tuna, especially if market- ing conditions improve for the fishermen. BACKGROUND Exploratory fishing for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in the Gulf of Maine and adjacent waters has been conducted since 1951 by the Exploratory Fishing and Gear * Fishery Methods and Equipment Specialist, Exploratory Fishing and Gear Development Section, Branch of Commercial Fisheries, U, S, Fish and Wildlife Service, East Boston, Mass. 18 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 Development Section of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Major objective of the program has been to evaluate the potentiality of this resource and determine the possibility of developing a commercial tuna fishery and canning industry in the re- gion. The tuna purse seiner Western Explorer, chartered for the initial work during 1951, completed 8 trips with a total catch of 90 tons of tuna (Murray 1952). Opera- tions were continued in 1952 and 1953 using Japanese-style tuna long-line gear as LEGEND: X Approximate location of purse-seine sets Fr Best fishing areas shaded | -“@BORG@ES BANK Se a> 30° 70° 30° 69° 30° 68° 30° 67° Fig, 2 - Area of bluefin-tuna exploratory fishing operation by M/V Western Pride, 1954, the principalfishing method. While total production resulting from long-line fishing was low, valuable information relative to locations of tuna schools, extent of range, and oceanographic and meteorological conditions affecting the general availability of the tunas was gathered (Murray 1953 and 1954). In a cooperative agreement with the owners of the California tuna purse seiner M/V Western Pride, the Service continued to promote commercial development of this fishery during the 1954 season. Tuna-fishing equipment of the Service, con- sisting of a tuna purse seine, seine skiff, and accessory gear was made available to the vessel operators, who in return supplied the fully-equipped and manned purse seiner and were responsible for all operating costs. The author served as advisor and observer aboard the Western Pride from July 28 to September 9, 1954, and participated in the scouting and fishing activities for bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Maine and adjacent waters. VESSEL AND FISHING EQUIPMENT The M/V Western Pride, a Pacific Coast tuna purse seiner active for many years in the California tuna and pilchard fisheries, departed from San Pedro, Calif., late in June 1954, and stopped at Pascagoula, Miss., where a tuna Seine, seine skiff, and accessory gear were taken on board before continuing on to New England waters, arriving off Cape Cod on August 1. Registered measurements of the vessel were: length 71.8 ft.; beam 20.4 ft.; depth 10.6 ft.; tonnage 118 grosstons. The vessel June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 19 was powered by a 200-horsepower Diesel engine equipped with a power take-off unit for operation of the purse-seine winch located on deck aft of the deckhouse. Natural ice was carried for preserving the fish catch, with an auxiliary refrigeration unit to maintain fish-hold temperatures at approximately 25 F. Fish-hold capacity was rated at 95 tons. Ss A standard Pacific Coast-type tuna purse ee seine, measuring 377 fathoms in length and — 32 fathoms in depth, stretched-mesh measure, was employed. The body of the seine con- sisted of five horizontal strips of linen web- bing (numbers 36 and 40/16), 4z-inches stretched mesh, each strip approximately 377 fathoms in length and 100 meshes deep. A cork-line strip, 8 meshes deep, of No. 60- thread medium-laid cotton seine twine was laced tothe top strip of webbing. The lead-line strip, laced to the bottom webbing strip, was of No. 65/12 linen thread, 50 meshes deep, and 8-inches stretched mesh. A heavy, flat-bottom seine skiff, meas- uring 26 feet in length and 15 feet in width, equipped with a 100-horsepower gasoline engine was used to assist in fishing opera- tions. oe SCOUTING AND FISHING RESULTS Fig. 3 - Seine skiff and cork line during set, TRIP NO. 1(July 28-August 12, 1954): The Western Pride departed from Cape May, N. J., en route from California, on July 28 and arrived off Chatham, Mass., on August . Fishing boats operating in this area had reported the presence of tuna schools during the preceding week. Scouting operations Position ee of Set of School 15 Miles Southeast Fish sounded out of seine during’ pursing operation. ao -7 ing of cork line during set. chool surrounded and pursing Nauset Light, Cape Cod 40 Miles East Southeast 15 Chatham Light, Cape Cod completed when heavy seas ripped net and caused loss of 45 Miles East Southeast Chatham Light, Cape Cod fish. ' i o 0 Cod Light, Cape Cod Viles Southeast Cape 65 Perfect set captured sma school. Miles Southeast Cape Cod Light, Cape Cod Miles Southeast Cape 10 10 Cod Light, Cape Cod oO ‘ i) iS) Cod Light, Cape Cod Main body of school sounded Miles Northeast Cape 15 Cod Light, Cape Cod 2 before pursing completed. Miles Northeast Cape Cod Light, Cape Cod 9-7 40 Miles East Southeast 05 mall school wild anderratic, Chatham Light, Cape Cod : main body of schoolescaped. 20 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 during the next four days disclosed many small schools of tuna extending from Pol- lock Rip Lightship north to Cape cod Rigttaae distance of 28 nautical miles. Be- cause of the wild and erra- tic actions of the schools it was not possible to make any purse-seine sets during this period. On August 7a school of tuna, estimated to contain 5 tons of fish, was sighted 15 miles southeast of Nauset Light. The seiner | went into the set, encircled the school perfectly, but lost it when the fish sounded and escaped from the seine be- fore pursing could be com- pleted. The following day the vessel proceeded off- shore ina southeasterly direction where, just before sundown, large schools of tuna were sighted approxi- Fig, 4 - Drying up tuna seines preparatory to brailing, mately 40 to 50 nautical miles southeast of Cape Cod. The second set, on August 9, was unsuccessful, when a 15-ton school escaped from the seine when the cork line became fouled, causing an excessive delay in closing the purse line. Large schools of tuna were sighted in the South Channel region on the afternoon of August 10. At one time 5 schools estimated to contain from 20 to 50 tons each were surfaced within a radius of 2 miles of the vessel. Weather conditions were poor with heavy seas and winds of 25 knots. Shortly before sundown when the winds and seas moderated, a set was completed and the purse rings were brought on deck with an estimated catch of 80 tons of tuna in the seine. Soon after pursing the winds increased to near-gale force accompanied by heavy seas. Attempts to split the seine and divide the school into two sections fail- ed due to the excessive rolling of the ship and resulted in tearing the webbing along the cork-line strip, allowing most of the tuna to escape. The seine was finally re- trieved 15 hours after setting with a catch of 3 tons of fish that were gilled in the webbing. Extensive damage to the seine and deck gear necessitated a return to port and a loss of eight days' fishing time while the equipment was repaired. TRIPNO.2 (August 20-26, 1954): The Western Pride sailed from Gloucester on August 20, compicted 5 successful sets in the South Channel fishing grounds, approximately 40 nautical miles southeast of Cape Cod Light, and returned to port on August 26 with a catch of 44.5 tons of bluefin tuna. Large schools of tuna were sighted within 80 nautical miles of Gloucester . Many of the schools were estimated to contain from 100 to 200 tons of fish, much too large for impounding with the purse seine and equipment available on the West- ern Pride. Small scattered schools were also found and the first set of the trip on August 21 produced a catch of 2 tons, averaging from 40to45 pounds in weight. A second set made later the same day on a schoolestimatedtocontain 15 tons of tuna proved unsuccessful. Shortly after sunrise on the following day tuna schools were again Sighted and an early morning set caught 10 tons. A few hours before sunset the second successful set of the day was made on a "breezing" school of about 20 tons. After eight hours of work the seine was back on the turntable and the 20 tons of fish had been brailed into the ship's hold. Scouting operations on August 23 did not start until noon, when tuna schools estimated to contain an aggregate of 1,000 tons of tuna were sighted. Attempts to divide the fish into smaller groups by June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 21 steaming through the middle of the schools were unsuccessful. Small groups of fish would separate briefly and then rejoin the main school. For three hours the seiner remained in contact with the schools, until they disappear - ed at dusk, without being able to make a set. High winds and rough seas prevented fishing on the following day, although tuna schools were still observed surfacing over a wide area. On August 25 activities were transferred to the inshore waters between Nauset and Cape Cod Light. Behavior of the schools ob- served there differed marked- ly from those further offshore. Inshore fish were generally found in small schools mill- ing and moving erratically Fig, 5 - Deckload of New England bluefin tuna, and presenting difficult tar - gets for purse seining. Two sets were completed in the area netting a total catch of 12.5 tons of tuna. Average weight of the fish caught in this area was 25 pounds. The trip was unloaded at Glou- cester on August 27 and 28. TRIP NO. 3 (August 29-September 9, 1954): During this period one severe hurricane and the advent of another drastically curtailed fishing and resulted in the loss of the seine skiff and brought a halt to the seining program. On August 30 the Western Pride scouted the inshore Cape Cod waters and found small bunches of tuna. The fish were extremely wild and no sets were possible. Anchorage in Prov- incetown Harbor was made late that evening. Hurricane '"'Carol' struck on the morning of August 31 and efforts to keep the vessel from being driven aground were finally rewarded when the storm abated late in the day. Loss of the seine skiff, which foundered during the gale, delayed resumption of fishing while search was made for the missing skiff. The search proved fruitless and loan of a menhaden seine skiff was effected on September 6 and the vessel proceeded offshore to the South Channel. A sharp drop in surface-water temperatures was noted following the hurricane and no large schools of tuna were found in this previously productive area. Behavior of the smaller-size schools observed resembled actions of the schools in the vicinity of Cape Cod that were sighted on the preceding trip. A set on September 7 caught 24 fish with a total weight of 1,000 pounds. Evi- dently the main body of fish had moved further offshore as trawlers fishing on the Northern Edge of Georges Bank, about 40 miles northeast of the South Channel posi- tion of the seiner, reported sighting huge schools of tuna in the area. Efforts to reach this position were abandoned when hurricane ''Edna'' moved up the Atlantic Coast. On September 9 the Western Pride docked at Gloucester completing the final trip of the 1954 season. LITERATURE CITED Murray, J. J. ; : : 1952. Reporton 1951 Exploratory Bluefin Tuna Fishing in 1954, Gulf of Maine Bluefin Tuna Exploration--1953, the Gulf of Maine. Commercial Fisheries Review, Commercial Fisheries Review, vol. 16, no. 7 vol, 14, no. 3(Mar. 1952)--alsoSeparate 309, Guly 1953)--also Separate 374. 1953, Gulf of Maine Bluefin Tuna Exploration--1952. Com- mercial Fisheries Review, vol. 15, no, 7(July 1953)-- also Separate 353. 22 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 YIN SERVICE LABORATORIES “Nf ‘ Ween eee _ oii DEVELOPMENT OF VOLUNTARY FEDERAL STANDARDS OF GRADE FOR FRESH AND FROZEN FISHERY PRODUCTS Voluntary United States Standards are yardsticks with which the quality of a product is measured. They are developed by the Federal Government in coopera- tion with the producers, processors, distributors, and consumers, and are recom- mended officially for optional use. More than 126 United States Standards for processed and fresh food commodities are in effect, and the quantities of foods officially graded amount to billions of pounds. Fresh and frozen fishery products are exceptional in that they do not have voluntary United States Standards of quality as aids to efficient buying and selling. The grading and inspection programs of the Federal Government have been beneficial to industry and consumers in reducing confusion, waste, and fraud. They have been aids to warehousing, financing, and marketing of foods, and have helped producers and distributors in the development of more and bigger markets; i.e., the uniform improvement of quality of poultry,brought about larze- ly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture poultry inspection and grading service, has resulted in a rapid increase of do- mestic consumption of broilers andfarm chickens from 0.7 pillion pounds pro- duced in 1939 to 13 billion pounds raised in 1952. At a meeting of the National Fisher - ies Institute in the spring of 1954, the major producers and distributors of fish sticks requested the U.S. Fish and Wild- life Service to conduct research to de- velop voluntary standards for fish sticks. The Saltonstall-Kennedy Act (PL- Loading a refrigerated truck with outgoing shipment of fish in A y % Chicago’s Fulton Market. 466) provided funds for a substantial expansion in this project to develop voluntary Federal standards of grade and con- dition for fresh and frozen fishery products. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 23 The development of background information on the cooked fish sticks has been carried out at the Service's technological laboratories in Boston and in Seattle. Ex- tensive investigations of commercial fish sticks and of experimentally-prepared sticks have been made, including studies of frozen storage of samples. Factors af- fecting the consumer acceptability of fish sticks have been evaluated and standard descriptive procedures for the grading of the sticks were prepared. Close coopera- tion with the National Fisheries Institute Fish Stick Committee has been maintained in all of the research conducted. A contract was signed during September 1954 with the National Fisheries Institute to establish industry liaison for Federal-industry joint development and application of the standards. The Fish Stick Subcommittee has participated with the Service's Technological Section in a joint development of a draft of Proposed Voluntary Standards of Frozen Fried Fish Sticks. The samples of fish sticks collected for the N.F I. convention product-evaluation session have been graded by technical representatives of industry and Fish and Wildlife Service fishery technological personnel in the East Boston Laboratory, according to the proposed voluntary standards procedures. The pro- posed voluntary Federal standards have been sent to interested persons of the fish- stick industry for their written comments and suggestions. Meanwhile, staffs of the Boston and Seattle fishery technological laboratories are continuing to accumulate data and information needed for application of the pro- posed standards for frozen-prefried breaded fish sticks. They are testing in prac- tice the grading procedures for assessing the quality of the fish sticks. Investiga- tions are also under way to develop objective tests of quality which will supplement the subjective tests in the standard, The staff of the College Park Laboratory will conduct bacteriological studies and biochemical tests of factors which effect quality of fishery products. It is also coordinating all of the standardization activities of the Service's laboratories and industry, and will maintain liaison with other governmental agencies which have food standardization, inspection, and grading services. The Service has awarded two research contracts which will be applicable to our standards program. The University of Washington will evaluate the principal tests for freshness in fishery products, The investigation will determine the value of such tests as volatile acids, volatile-reducing substances, trimethylamine, and hydrogen sulfide as indexes of quality. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will en- deavor to develop new objective tests for freshness of fish. Standardization results from the desire and need of the industry for uniform measures of important variations in quality. The producer desires to get the price that the quality of his product and the condition of the market entitle him. The proc- essor and distributor need the quality grades to facilitate buying and selling. Since the first objective is widest possible uniformity in standardization work, the lead must be taken by the Federal Government. Industry can cooperate by supplying the Federal Government with all the facts concerning the varied condition and practices throughout the producing areas and in the trade in order that they may be evaluated and considered in the development of realistic and practical voluntary standards. The Government standardization agency seeks the advice of producers, processors, distributors, and consumers. It obtains their suggestions and comments in order to reach a complete understanding between the persons involved. While there are no voluntary Government standards for fishery products, the procedures for the issuance of standards and regulations governing the grading and inspection of them, and the services rendered, are generally those presently in ef- fect for the various commodities, such as poultry. The procedures contemplated are as follows: 24 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vole ie e Noms The industry shows interest and makes inquiries, and demands voluntary stand- ards. Informal meetings and discussions of views are held, to obtain the over-all picture. Such meetings have been conducted by the Fish Stick Committee of the National Fisheries Institute. The Federal Government then drafts the proposed standard or regulation, and publishes it, in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, in the Federal Register, under the title of ''Notice of Proposed Rule Making." A mailing list of interested persons is prepared and letters are sent out request- ing written views and arguments regarding the proposed voluntary standard. Industry may present suggestions for changes in the proposed rules, if it wishes. The suggestions and views are considered by the Administrator and experts of his staff, and certain revisions may be made. Then a final rule is issued, and the proposed voluntary standards are promulgated in the Federal Register, and become official. Once the standards are put into effect, any interested person can benefit from their use. Fishermen can use the standards. The quality-conscious packer or processor demands fresh fish of high quality and is willing to pay more for them. A better return for a lesser amount of high-quality fresh fish may be received than for a bigger amount of low-quality fish. Processors may use the voluntary standards as a basis for contracting with buyers and as a guide to improve packing operations. They may be an aid in fi- nancing their operations, and in meeting the ever-increasing demand for foods packed according to definite grade standards. Distributors can use grade standards to select, for their trade, the grade and factors desired in the contract of purchase. They can maintain uniformity of quality under their brands. Grade information may be carried on their labels for the benefit of consumers, if continuous in-plant inspection has been made by Federal inspectors applying the appropriate grade standards. Institutional buyers may use the grade standards to fit their purchases to the use for which intended. They may find the standards very useful in drafting specifications to meet their needs, or use the standards as buying specifications. There are three types of grading and inspection services available: 1. Grading of fresh or chilled fishery products at terminal markets and other points; 2. Grading of processed and manufactured fishery products in official plants, at terminal markets, and other receiving points; 3. Inspection of fishery products in official plants for processing. Grading service shall be for class, quality, quantity, or condition, and shall be on the basis of United States voluntary standards and grades. However, grading service may be rendered with respect to products bought and sold on the basis of contract specifications. Grading may be ona continuous basis or a Seasonal basis. Inspection service shall be for the determination of the condition, wholesome- ness, and fitness for human food of fishery products. Grading and inspection certificates will be issued covering products graded and inspected and such certificates shall show the class or classes of fishery products, June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 25 the quantity contained in the respective lot, and all pertinent information concerning quality, quantity, or condition of the products. There are two types of grade and inspection marks used to label products. One carries the legend of the U.S. grade of the product and the other contains a state- ment ''Processed and packed under continuous inspection of the Department," in ad- dition to the U.S. grade mark. The grade labeling must be checked and approved by the Government grading agency, to be sure that there is no misrepresentation as to the contents of the label- ed product. Inspection and grading certificates are documentary evidence of quality and condition to accompany warehouse receipts in financing operations; as proof of quality and condition to accompany sales offers, invoices, and shipping documents; to substantiate quality and condition of deliveries; and as a basis for labeling re- tail containers. The final certificates areadmissible in all courts of the United States as prima facie evidence of the truth of the statements they contain. Applicants who may request inspections are food processors, bankers, brokers, wholesale dis- tributors, retail grocers, warehousing concerns, railroad agencies, ‘and Federal, State, and city purchasing agencies. Continuous inspection regulations require that a Government inspector be sta- tioned continuously at the processing plant to observe the product from its raw state through every step in the entire process, and to make an inspection of the finished product for quality and condition. The inspector makes certain that the products are prepared and packed under strict standards of cleanliness. All of the types of inspection and grading services are ona fee basis sufficient only to cover the cost of the services, and are paid to the Government. --Arthur J. Nolte, Fishery Products Technologist, Fishery Technological Laboratory, Branch of Commercial Fisheries, U.S.Fish & Wildlife Service, College Park, Md. a LITERATURE REVIEW OF FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT PROCESSED FEEDS QUALITY A literature review of the factors that may affect the quality of processed feeds is now being compiled at the Service's Seattle Fishery Technological Laboratory. This review was undertaken to obtain information that will aid in the development of methods of chemical analysis that will indicate the nutritive value of fish meal. Based on the present knowledge, none of the component substances in fish meal can be used as a criterion of the nutritive value. It is also not possible to state what effect the various processes used in fish-meal production will have on either the component substances or the over-all nutritive value of the meal. Thus, before laboratory tests can be developed, information must be obtained as to (1) which of the constituent substances contribute most to the nutritive value of the meal, (2) what is the relationship among them, (3) what effect a change in any one constituent will have on the over-all nutritive value, and (4) what causes these changes in the constituents. 26 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 Many workers have studied various aspects of this problem. Consequently, information from these studies is being accumulated, evaluated, and systematized so that the information relative to the various aspects of the problem will be easily available. Furthermore, since the problem is not unique to the fishing industry but exists for the producers of all types of processed feeds, pertinent information con- cerning other protein feeds is also being included. Abstract journals being used in the compilation of the review include Chemical Abstracts, starting with volume 21 (1927); Biological Abstracts, starting with vol- ume 1 (1926); Commercial Fisheries Abstracts, starting with volume 1 (1948); and and Food Science Abstracts, starting with volume 22 (1950). In addition, a number of periodicals are being thoroughly covered that were not included by the abstract journals or that were used most often for the publication of articles applying to the various phases of the problem. The review is divided into 13 parts, and each one of these is further divided into a first section called ''Summary,'' a second section called ''Fishery Products," and a third section called ''Nonfishery Products." In each part the summary section gives a general discussion of the abstracts appearing in that part, points out any contradictions among the abstracts, and brief- ly states some of the problems remaining to be solved. The topics covered in the review are as follows: I. Factors that affect the over-all nutritive value of the product Il. Factors that affect the digestibility of the product Ill. Effect of raw material on the quality of the product IV. Protein and its relation to the quality of the product V. Amino acids and their relation to the biological and nutritive value of the product VI. Fats, fatty acids, and their relation to the quality of the product VII. Effect of processing methods on the quality of the product VIII. Effect of storage on the quality of the product IX. Keeping quality of the product X. Biological methods for determining nutritive value and quality of the product XI. Other analytical determinations XII. Review articles applying to the problem XII. Correlation of methods for determining nutritive value or quality of a product Resumes of approximately 300 articles have already been prepared; and about 100 more will be abstracted later. Parts I through IV and Parts VI and VII have been prepared and duplicated. Any articles among those yet to abstracted that are applicable to these parts will be add- ed later. The remaining parts are being compiled at the rate of about one part per week. The following are the summaries for the parts that have now been completed: June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 27 PART I - FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE OVER-ALL NUTRITIVE VALUE OF A PRODUCT A section on the nutritive value of processed materials is almost redundant. Nearly all of the papers on protein, amino acids, fat, raw material, processing, and storage are applicable in a section dealing with nutritive value. Obviously, it is both undesirable and unnecessary to repeat all of these abstracts in this section. Thus, in most instances, the articles included in Part I deal with generalities or give the results of determinations of the nutritive value of various products. The vitamin content of a product has an important bearing on its nutritive value. For this reason the effects of processing conditions on the vitamin content of meal and solubles are also included in this section. Riboflavin and vitamin B, are often used to check the vitamin content or a change in the vitamin content due 40 some variation in the treatment or source of a product. The vitamin B,, content of fish- ery products changes during spoilage. A relationship has been shown between the loss of these vitamins and pH, time, and temperature during processing. Folic-acid deficiency has been shown to result in poor growth, poor feathering, and a high incidence of perosis in chicks. Inositol plus vitamin E have prevented hock disorder. The problems of variations in and measurement of nutritive value of a product are not unique to fishery products. Producers of all types of processed feeds are interested in finding ways to make a standard product and laboratory methods to measure the value of a product. PART Il - FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE DIGESTIBILIT Y OF THE PRODUCT The digestibility of a product can be affected by both physical and chemical factors. Thus, Part II, on the whole, includes generalized articles that mention the various points that may affect digestibility. The measurement of digestibility is a problem. The animal used will affect the results and standardizing conditions are often difficult. The digestibility of various feeds have been measured by both in vivo and in vitro methods. Unfortu- nately, complex animal organisms react differently than enzymatic systems and the in vivo methods do not give the same results as in vitro methods. This indicates that digestability and nutritive value of a feed are not directly related to chemical composition. PART ill - EFFECT OF RAW MATERIAL ON THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT Almost no information is available to determine the effect of raw material on the quality of a meal. There are reports in the literature that compare meals made from different fish, but the meals have not been processed under definite enough conditions to provide definite proof that meals from different species are different. At this stage of our knowledge such facts as whether part or all of the fish is used, the condition of the fish, and the processing are probably more important than the species of the fish. The condition of the fish may influence both the amino acid and vitamin content of both the meal and stickwater. It has been stated that spoilage of the raw material is accompanied by a change and general decrease in the amino acid content. A few studies have been done on the effect of storage and preservation of the raw material on the final product. Two groups of workers have stated that storage 28 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVEIW Vol. 17, No. 6 of raw fish did not affect the nutritive value of the meal. However, the yield decreased rapidly. The oil content of the fish did not change, but the free fatty acid and color of the oil increased, and the meal contained increasing amounts of oil, thus reducing the free oil recovered. The yield of condensed fish solubles increased, but the nu- tritive quality deteriorated. For fish stored from 4 to 10 days at 45 E, there were rapid increases in free fatty acids, volatile nitrogen, and loss of protein in the stick- water. The Norwegians tested the effect of preservatives on the raw fish to be used to make meal and stickwater. They advised that volatile preservatives are advanta- geous to avoid high concentrations in the stickwater or meal. Nitrite brine and formalin brine were effective. In some experiments the formalin brine was better, but, if open containers were used, the nitrite brine was better. Formalin appeared to be more effective in preventing the decomposition of fat, and nitrite in preventing the decomposition of protein. The Norwegians have also reported that the stomach contents of summer her- ring affected the cooking and pressing, and lowered the nutritive quality of the meal. The actual effect on the nutritive value of the finished meal of the feed the fish have been consuming is difficult to check and certainly is a phase that can be postponed until more basic work is done. However, the effect of the general condition of the fish or waste material is basic and can be determined. The principal difficulty involved in this is that dif- ferent types of spoilage may have different effects on the finished meal. Thus the conditions of spoilage must be carefully controlled to limit the number of unknown variables to a minimum. PART IV - PROTEIN AND ITS RELATION TO THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT Protein is among the most important constituents of fish meal, not only from a nutritive standpoint, but also because the cost of a fish meal is based on its pro- tein content. As a result, quite often when experimental work has been started on the nutritional value of fish meal, the protein is the part that has been studied. How- ever, measurement of the nutritional value of protein is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, whether it be in fish meal, cereals, or a pure protein. At present, the most reliable methods are biological assays using chicks or rats. A number of chemical laboratory methods have been attempted, but none of them has been very successful in getting the same results as that obtained by biological methods. One of the earlier chemical methods developed was that known as the protein- quality index. This method was developed with the recognition that total protein values alone do not give an accurate indication of the value of protein. To measure the protein- quality index the following protein fractions are determined: copper- precipitated protein, which is intact protein and which decreases as decomposition increases; phosphotungstic acid precipitated protein, which consists of peptones, peptides, and amino acids not precipitated by copper; the crude protein not digested by pepsin, which consists of keratins, denatured proteins, and certain insoluble nitro- gen compounds; hot-water-soluble protein, which consists mainly of gelatin. The protein-quality index is the sum of copper-precipitated protein minus the undigest- ible protein minus 0.6 times the hot-water-soluble protein plus 0.4 times the phos- photungstic-acid precipitate times 100 divided by the total crude protein. This meth- od of protein-quality index was used in one instance to explain why dogfish meals prepared by a wet process had a higher nutritional value than those prepared by a dry process. The dry-process meal contained 8.9 percent more total protein than the wet-process meal. However, the nutritive value of the meal was lower because more decomposition occurred in the dry-process meal and much of the protein went to the amino acid stage or further. A number of analyses of fish meals for protein- June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 29 quality index have been reported, although the determination is time-consuming and its correlation with biological value is still in doubt. Among other laboratory methods used to estimate the value of various protein feeds are the use of enzymatic digestion and acid hydrolysis followed by amino-acid analysis; the rate of liberation of amino acids from the protein by enzymes; the use of dyes to measure quantitatively the acidic and basic groups of protein molecules; microbiological determinations using Tetrahymena geleii W. At present these meth- ods do not give enough information so that they can be substituted for biological meth- ods to determine the nutritional value of protein. One of the most important phases of the problem of the nutritive value of protein is the effect of processing procedures. There are many reports in the literature on the stages of processing and their effects on fish meal and on other protein feeds. Much of the early work on processing was done when there was very limited knowl- edge about vitamins and must be evaluated with this fact in mind. Some of this work on the effect of processing on the nutritive value of fish meals indicated that high temperatures decreased digestibility, biological value, amino- acid content, protein efficiency, and riboflavin. However, it is still difficult to de- termine whether other factors involved have as much or more effect than the tem- perature. Probably the feed material that has had the most study on methods of proper processing is soy protein. Studies of soybean meal have shown that for different reasons both underheating and overheating will affect the nutritive value of the meal. If the meal is underheated, a trypsin inhibitor is not destroyed and the result is poor utilization of the protein. Thisfactorisof no importance in fish-meal production. If the soybean meal is overheated, digestibility and nutritive value decrease. One of the important factors in heat damage to protein is the Maillard reaction in which the aldehyde group of carbohydrates apparently reacts with amino groups in the protein or amino acid. Although fish meal contains almost no carbohydrate, there is still a possibility that this type of reaction may occur with other aldehydes during processing. Among processing factors that may affect the nutritive value of the product are: whether the meal is wet-rendered or dry-rendered, the press, the condition of the raw material during drying, and how long the meal may be subjected to a high heat when the drying is almost completed. The effects of storage and the importance of the conditions of storage on the nutritive value of the protein are other factors that may play a part in determining the over-all nutritive value of the meal. Many of the factors that determine the nutritive value of protein and the im- portance of various interrelationships are still among the problems to be solved. However, knowledge is increasing, particularly about the amino acids. Enough work has been done on amino acids that is relative to the problem of the quality of fish = they will be discussed as a separate subject in Part V (to be released later). PART VI - FATS, FATTY ACIDS, AND THEIR RELATION TO THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT Many fish meals are prepared from raw materials with a high oil content and a high degree of unsaturation in the oil. Although most of the oil is often removed be- fore the meals are processed, that still present will change during both processing and storage of the meal. 30 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 Numerous short-term investigations have been carried out looking into the effect of the condition of oil present in mixed feeds either as the natural oil occurring in fish meal or as added oil. No really comprehensive investigations have been made. Results of what work has been done are often conflicting so that no firm conclusions can be drawn. Following are some of the principal results reported in the literature. It has been demonstrated that the composition of oil was altered during manu- facture of fish meal. The amount of total fatty acids in cold-pressed menhaden oil was much higher than in oil extracted from menhaden meal. In addition there was a lower percentage of saturated fatty acids and a higher iodine number for the un- saturated acids present in the cold-pressed oil. Some work on Norwegian herring was reported in which the fat in the press cake had a higher free fatty-acid content than the pressed oil. Fat in the press cake was clear and easier to extract than the dark fat extracted from the fish meal. In one instance it was suggested that an indication of quality might be obtained from the free fatty-acid content, which is normally about 5 percent of the fat but has been as high as 40 percent in samples with much decomposition. However, whether free fatty-acid content can be used as a criterion of nutritive value is still unknown, although several workers have indi- cated that the fatty acids may be one of the factors involved. The reasons for losses of nutritive value for chicks and rats during processing of fish meal have been investigated in experiments where the meals were prepared under controlled conditigns. Canadian workers have heated extracted and nonextract- ed herring meals at 300 F. for 0, 60, 120, and 180 minutes. When these meals were fed to chicks, both of the meals heated for 180 minutes and the unextracted meals heated for 120 minutes caused lowered growth. When the oil was extracted and added to the heated extracted meals that had not lowered growth, the nutritive value for chick growth was decreased. Fresh herring oil did not have this effect. In the period immediately after the fish meal leaves the drier, the meal begins to heat spontaneously. The temperature of the meal has been shown to increase as much as 125 Fahrenheit degrees in the first 10 to 20 hours after drying. Factors that affect the time and duration of the heating period include the type of meal, fat content, amount of unsaturation of the fat, and moisture content. Peroxide values of extracted fat increased very rapidly during the first 24 hours after processing. The ether-soluble fractions decrease during storage and one worker has re- ported that the largest decrease in herring meals was in those that had become most rancid during the drying process. Japanese workers also have reported this decrease in the ether-soluble fraction during storage. The iodine and bromine values decreased and there was little increase in the free fatty acids. None of these results were com- pared with the results of animal-feeding tests, so that the actual effect on nutritive value is unknown. In much of the work that has been done on the effect of fat on the nutritive value of products other than fish meals, rats have been the test animals. However, when animal protein concentrates were tested using chicks, it was reported that a high free fatty acid content of the fat was not an indication of the nutritive worth of such products in well-balanced rations for poultry feeding. High rancidity of the fat in the concentrates did not greatly effect the nutritive value when the concentrates were used at 10- to 15-percent levels in the feeds. Other reports have indicated that ran- cid or oxidized fat fed to rats had lowered nutritive value. Grains change during storage periods. Free fatty acids and peroxide values increase, the nitrogen soluble in 3 percent sodium chloride decreases, but again the importance of the changes in nutritive values were not checked by animal tests. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 31 It is obvious that the effects of fat, its kind, degree of unsaturation, extent of rancidity, and other changes that may take place in the fat are factors that require additional study to determine their importance in affecting nutritive value and quality of the product. Such knowledge would also help to determine the processing steps necessary to avoid deleterious changes. Particularly needed are more systematic investigations into the nature of the changes which take place in the oils in fish meals during the heating which occurs immediately after manufacture. This heating probably results in the formation of oxidative oil compounds. There is some evi- dence that these compounds may have a toxic effect. The oils may also combine in some manner with amino acids or proteins, making them less digestible or unavail- able to animals; or alternatively, the heating of the oils in the fish meal during cur- ing or storage may, through production of high temperatures, cause alteration or breakdown of amino acids and proteins. While there are hints in the literature that such reactions may take place, no comprehensive investigation to determine just what takes place during this stage of oxidation of fish oils in meals has been made. Such investigations would do much to clarify the nutritional role of fat in fish meal and might result in revealing one of the principal causes of the wide variability in the nutritive value of different fish meals. PART VIL - EFFECT OF PROCESSING METHODS ON THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT In general, research on the effect of processing methods on the quality and nutri- tive value of fish meal has not been directed to find the basic reason for variations that appear. A survey of the literature shows lack of agreement about the effects of processing methods and the reasons for these effects. Many of the studies that have been reported were done when methods were ‘not available to analyze and when there was little or no knowledge of vitamins, particularly of members of the vitamin B complex. Thus, it is necessary to examine the results of various feeding tests with the thought in mind that when one product was said to be inferior to another, the cause might have been a vitamin or amino-acid deficiency. Considerable stress should be given this factor in the use of the abstracts summarized in this report. Experiments have usually been conducted on the biological value or digestibility of the meal, and the results are conflicting. Undoubtedly one reason for this is given in a Norwegian paper that states the effect of a drying method can only be de- termined if meal from the same raw material is prepared simultaneously in differ - ent driers. Results at this laboratory are among those that have indicated that there was no great damage to the protein caused by unfavorable drying conditions. How- ever, other reports state that direct heat-dried meals are inferior to vacuum-dried or steam-dried meals. It has also been reported that a greater difference in nutritive value exists between meals from the same species prepared by a different process than between meals from different species prepared by the same process. Recently two laboratories have reported the effects of processing methods on fish oils. Decreased growth of both chicks and rats resulted when fish oil was heated at 300 F. for 2 hours or was polymerized at 275 C. Attempts have also been made to check the effect of processing on individual amino acids in fish meals. Problems of processing protein meals are not peculiar to fishery byproducts. Heat has been shown to damage protein under a variety of conditions, sometimes at temperatures lower than is required for destruction of amino acids. Dry heat, wet heat, the presence of reducing sugars, length oftime of processing, temperature of processing, and method of drying are among the factors in processing that have been shown to affect the quality of a product. Soybean meal must be heated at an optimum temperature. If the meal is underheated, a trypsin inhibitor is not destroyed; if the meal is overheated, damage to the protein results. In either case the nutritive value of the meal is decreased. 32 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 Experiments on cereal products have sometimes indicated that dry heat is less damaging than wet heat, but in other instances the reverse has been recommended. The factors that change digestibility or availability of amino acids in a product are often the factors that must be determined. On the protein quality of cottonseed meal recent workers found that a low process- ing temperature did not always produce high-quality meals. Others have reported that protein efficiency varied with the amount of heat treatment. It has been recom- mended that cottonseed meal be cooked at alow temperature for a longer time rather than at a higher temperature for a shorter time. So many factors can cause variations in the nutritive value of a product that one must eliminate as many variables as possible to determine both what factors cause damage and what kind of damageis the most harmful to the quality of the meal. Much of the experimental work has been of the type that has determined the biological value of a particular meal, but has contributed nothing to the reason for this effect, even though at least part of the history of the meal was known. Experiments to determine the fundamental effect of processing still remain to be carried out and this basic work can best be done by working with one variable at a time. Whenit is known what factors influence quality and how these factors are affected by the stages of processing, then additive results of the damage can be determined. At present, it is still almost im- possible to make a meal of good or poor quality at will except for scorching the pro- tein which always reduced its nutritive quality. When variations can be made within reasonable levels basic causes for an inferior meal will have been found and the an- swers toprocessing problems will no longer be elusive. Parts VI and VIII thru XIII of this literature review will be summarized ina subsequent report. --Neva L. Karrick, Chemist Fishery Technological Laboratory Branch of Commercial Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Seattle, Wash. Sjoe FEDERAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR FRESH AND FROZEN FISH ISSUED Federal specifications for fresh and frozen fish, PP-F-38ld (September 3, 1954), was recently issued by the General Services Administration. This supersedes Interim Federal Specification PP-F-00381c and Federal Specification PP-F-38lc. Special commodity clauses for waterfoods, clams, and shrimp, covering Defense Department purchases, were also issued recently by the Army Quartermaster Mar- ket Center System. The above specifications and special clauses are effective May 20, 1955, and copies may be obtained without charge from the General Services Administration Regional Offices in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City (Mo.), Dallas, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. We June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 33 pre —————— = be ES =] REN DS > : = ede DEVELOPMENTS Additions to the U. S. Fleet of Fishing Vessels A total of 31 vessels of 5 net tons and over were assigned first documents as fishing craft during March 1955, according to the U. S. Bureau of Customs, This was 37 vessels less than during the same month of last year--a decrease of 54 percent. U. S. Vessels Assigned First Documents as Fishing Craft, March 1955 : [March | Jan, -March | Section rags] asa] 198s | 19sa] Total 1954 4 0 oO) Oe DeOMNbalerA GG 6 SG 6 os In the Gulf section only 11 vessels were documented for the first time as fishing craft in Chesapeake Bay. Marchascomparedwith J|South Atlantic . 4iduringthesamemonth |Gulf ...... INew England ... Middle Atlantic .. ayearearlier, The Pa- |Pacific cific section also had1l /Great Lakes. additions, the South At- lantic section 3, the Mid- [Hawaii dle Atlantic and Great Lakes sections each 2, and the New England and Alaska sections each l, TrRNOrRrre WI Nee Puerto Rico. . Winknowle 6 6 = = = = 1 Total iss. fee ie (Oke (RIE SI ak Note: Vessels have been assigned to the various sections on the basis of their home port, I ! I ! i) During the first quar- ter of 1955 only 73 vessels were documented for the first time as fishing craft as compared with 189 vessels for the corresponding period in 1954--a decrease of 61 percent, uN California SARDINE FISHING PREDICTED GOOD FOR NEXT SEASON: The southernCali- fornia sardine industry can expect a good fishery this fall if the same relation be- tween the amount of spawning in the spring and the availability of sardines in the fall continues as during the past three seasons, Considerable numbers of sardines spawned this spring in the southern Califor- nia center, reports the Service's South Pacific Fishery Investigations. In March sardine spawning extended as far north as San Pedro and was widespread off San Diego and Ensenada, A relation seems to exist between the amount of spawning in the southern Cali- fornia center in the spring and the availability of sardines to the southern Califor- nia fishery in the fall, In 1952 and 1953, when few fish spawned in this center, the fishery took only about 5,000 tons; in 1954 the fishery took over 65,000 tons. 34 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vole sii NosaG A marked increase in sardine spawning off southern California and adjacent Baja California in the spring of 1954 preceded the encouraging recovery of the south- ern California sardine fishery in the fall of 1954. The southern California-northern Baja California spawning area and the one off central Baja California are the current major spawning centers. In recent years, particularly in 1952 and 1953, the south- ern California center decreased markedly in importance; the spawning in this area in 1954 was about 30 times greater than it was in 1953, These studies are part of a cooperative research effort of the South Pacific Fish- ery Investigations, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the California Depart- ment of Fish and Game, Hopkins Marine Station, and California Academy ofSciences. The California Marine Research Committee directs this joint program, which is known as the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations, % OK OK OK $1 MILLION AWARDED FOR MARINE BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH TO SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY: The Rockefeller Foundation has given the Uni- versity of California $1 million for the support of research in marine biology at the University's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. The grant will be expended over an eight-year period. It willbe used to strength- en present research projects and initiate new ones, A visiting professorship and four resident professorships will be established in addition to several graduate fel- lowships and post-doctoral fellowships. Plans also include improvements in labo- ratory equipment and facilities, and greater use of the University's fleet of five ves- sels for experimental work on marine plants and animals in the open sea. % OK OK OK TUNA TAGGED BY COMMERCIAL eo CLIPPER "OCEAN PRIDE” (Cruise C-55-2): A total of 1,088 yellowfin, skipjack, and big-eyed tuna were tagged by the chartered commercial tuna clip- per Ocean Pride on a two-month's cruise completed at San Diego on April 19 (see table). All fish were tagged with type "G" plastic tubing tags. Sea-surface temperature observa- tions were made during the entire cruise, The highest water temperature record- ed was 85 F,, 40 miles SW. of Cape Blanco, Costa Rica. The lowest water | temperature recorded was 57 F, at 100° 30° 20° 70> Coronado Islands off Mexico. The fish caught at the Galapagos Islands were taken in surface water temperatures ranging from UGS ID x0) HO? 13. , while at Cocos Island and off Costa Rica the surface water temperatures were higher, ranging from 84° F.to 85 F. Cruise 55-C-2, Feb. 15-Apr. 19, 1955, of the M/V Ocean Pride, Area Yellowfin (Number of Fish). ..... June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 35 A fish tagged aboard the Ocean Pride was recovered by the same vessel after being at liberty for five days. It was recovered in the same area as released. OK KK OK SPRING ABUNDANCE OF SARDINES, ANCHOVIES, AND MACKEREL IN CAL- IFORNIA WATERS ASSESSED BY "“YELLOWFIN”™ (Cruise 55-Y-2): The first of two 1955 cruises to assess the abundance of sardines, anchovies, and mackerel in Cal- ifornia waters during the spring months was completed at Los Angeles on March 21 by the California Department of Fish and Game's researchves- | 9)... wis oncro pay sel Yellowfin. On the first half a - of the cruise (which began March 7 i 7) preliminary experiments were | |} Purisia run on electrofishing with the Piney eeeeL tS hope of ultimately obtaining ade- ; == Santa Barbara ae vice which will be of value incol- Hoyt lecting fish samples at sea, Al- - though far from conclusive, the * an preliminary work appeared en- STA. ROSA 1. Ym \SANTA MONICA BAY couraging. i ye START OF CRUISE r . SAN MIGUEL |.‘ Following experimental work on in Los Angeles Harbor, 49 light STA. CATALINA EY stations were occupied between SAN NICOLAS 1, fears San Luis Obispo Bay andSan Di- ego. Hauls with the blanket net SAN GUESS Uc resulted in 14 samples of north- ogatq ues BIUIOFITeED MARK REPRESENTS ONE SAMPLE. ern anchovy, 1 sample of sar- @ ADULT SARDINES dines, and1 sample of Pacific A PACIFIC MACKEREL mackerel, The anchovies were ® ANCHOVY = CRUISE ROUTE taken over the entire range of the cruise, Sardines were tak- Cruise 55-Y-2, Mar, 6-21, 1955, of the M/V Yellowfin, en in the San Diego area and Pa- cific mackerel in the Los Angeles Harbor area. In addition to these, the blanket net captured sauries (7 stations), jack smelt (9 stations), top smelt (4 stations), and grunion (7 stations). A total of 590 miles were traveled scouting for fish and a total of 141 schools were seen either visually or with the aid of the ''Sea Scanar.'' Of the schools sight- ed 84 were estimated to be anchovy, 28 saury, and8 squid. The remaining 21 schools were unidentified though many of these were probably anchovy. The heaviest con- centrations of schools were encountered between Port Hueneme and Santa Barbara inthe north and between Oceanside and Dana Point in the south, Although no scouting nights were lost, operations throughout the cruise were hampered somewhat by rather heavy swells and during the early part of the cruise by several hours of bright moonlight each night, Surface temperatures, bathythermograph casts, and reversing thermometer casts were taken at each light station regardless of whether fish were observed or collected in the net. Surface temperatures engountered gn the cruise ranged from 12. ae: (53.8° F.) at Santa Rosa Island to 15.75 C. (60.4 F.) in Santa Monica Bay. Anchovies were taken at both these temperature gxtremes, The single sardine sample was taken at a temperature of 14,9° C. (58.8 ~ F.) and the single sample of Pacific mackerel at a temperature of 15.3° C. (59,5° F.). % OK OK OK 36 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Wools 5 ING © AERIAL SURVEY OF Eee HEREING SEWING: INTENSITY CONTINUED Legend: pind Activity Areas; trations of birds feeding on the eggs of the Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi), aerial flights were made along the shore lines of San Fran- cisco, San Pablo, and Tomales Bays by California Department of Fish and Game planes between March 5 and 31, After location of major concentrations of feeding shore birds, the information as to 4 location and extent of spawn was ~| relayed to ground personnel, who then made a spawning intensity check of the area, Flight 55-6 (March 5): Light concentrations of bird activity were observed in the Richmond-San Pab- lo area. No activity was observed in the Sausalito or Tomales Bay areas, Flight 55-7 (March 11): Shore- birds were located west of Golden Gate Bridge approach, also on Bel- vedere, Bluff Pt. and Angel Is. Flight 55-8 (March 17): Heavy concentrations of working birds were seen in the Golden Gate Bridge approach, Sausalito, Tiburon, and Angelis. areas. No activity was observed in Tomales Bay or the San Pablo-Richmond areas, Flight 55-9 (March 31): No bird activity was sighted. Se a a KELP BASS STUDIES BY "N, B. SCOFIELD" (Cruise 55-S-2): In spite of poor weather conditions that severely hampered fishing and diving work, 154 specimens of kelp bass were secured by the California Department of Fish and Game's research vessel N. B. Scofield and an additional 166 bass were measured and released. How- ever, the weather prevented the collection of barred perch, corbina, and yellowfin and spotfin croakers on the nine-day cruise completed at Los Angeles on April 20. The cruise covered the area off the islands of San Clemente, Santa Catalina, and Santa Cruz, near Santa Barbara and Point Dume, Part of the bass collection featured the smallest visible sizes which have been unobtainable previously, Diving work revealed that the very small bass were abun- dant in two locations but could not be netted or taken by size 16 salmon-egg hooks, These small fish would take the hook but the hook could not be set for some reason, The collection was finally affected by a large trap with very small mesh webbing completely covering the wire framework. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 37 Canned Maine Sardine Stocks, April 1, 1955 Distributors' stocks of Maine sardines in the United States are estimated at 331,000 actual cases as of April 1, 1955, according to a recent Bureau of Census survey. Canners!' stocks were reported by the Maine sardine industry at 715, 000 cases (100 No. ¢ cans) on the same date, states a Bureau of Census release of April 29, The data on distributors! stocks are based on a probability sample of all whole- salers and warehouses of retail multiunit organizations handling canned foods, Canners' stocks are provided by the Maine Sardine Industry, a canners' association, Cans--Shipments for Fishery Products, January-February 1955 February 1955 amounted to 9, 353 short tons of steel (based on the a- mount of steel consumed in the manufacture of cans), comparedto 8,434 short tons in the same period a year earlier. Note: Statistics cover all commercial and captive plants known to be producing metal cans, Reported in base boxes of steel consumed in the manufacture of cans, the data for fishery products are converted to tons of steel by using the factor: 23.0 base boxes of steel equal one short ton of steel, oN Total shipments of metal cans for fish and sea food during January- Pr = ES oe Clam Investigations SOFT-SHELL CLAM SHORTAGE IN NEW ENGLAND DUE TO GREEN CRAB: Work of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Clam Investigations began during 1948, when soft-shell clams became scarce in New England, supposedly from overdig- - ging. The word "investigation'' implies fact-finding, so the research program was designed to provide the facts regarding the clam shortage, Catch statistics indicated depletion of soft-shell clams in Massachusetts, Pro- duction had dropped from 8.4 million pounds of meats in 1940 to 0.6 million pounds in 1948, The number of diggers in Ipswich had dropped 90 percent. A census show- ed few clams remaining in the flats, What caused this shortage? Overdigging was blamed. Yet, after 5 years dur- ing which only a negligible amount of digging occurred, the clams were still scarce, Seed clams which were planted disappeared in 3 weeks, Yet, if the plots were cov- ered with 1-inch mesh chicken wire, the clams survived and grew well. Therefore, some natural enemy must have eaten the clams, Further research disclosed three important predators: Polinices, the boring snail; Limulus, the horseshoe crab; and Carcinides, the green crab, The most se- rious predator north of Cape Cod proved to be the green crab, which is now tremen- dously abundant, Laboratory experiments showed that each green crab could devour 15 small clams in a day, which explained the failure of unprotected clam farms. Why should green crabs suddenly become a serious enemy of the soft clams? Records made before 1900 stated that green crabs occurred only south of Cape Cod. From 1905 to 1915 green crabs appeared in Casco Bay, Me. From 1948 to 1953 they were present all along the coast of Maine and even in Canada, From all areas diggers report that these crabs are now more plentiful than ever before in history. 33 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol, 17, No. 6 The spread and increase of green crabs may be correlated with warm tempera- ture trends. Average air temperature for the coldest month of winter has increased from 23.6 F, inthe 1821-40 period to 28.4 F. in 1941-52 period. This long- term increase in temperature may be responsible for the northward extension of the range of the green crab, Short-term warm cycles such as those from 1923-1933 and 1943-1953 are believed responsible for increased abundance of green crabs and the resulting scarcity of clams. Gulf of Maine water temperatures for the coldest month of the winter averaged 31.9° F, in 1943 but rose to 37.1° F. in 1952. How can predators be controlled? Green crabs can be trapped easily, but they are so numerous that this method has not yet proved practicable. In one 12-acre cove more than 30,000 crabs were trapped in a month, catching more on the last day than on the first. Low screen fences with a horizontal strip of sheet metal at the top partly protected one clam farm. Chicken wire laid directly over the flats pro- tected the clams but cost $2.75 for each bushel of clams produced, Controlby poi- soning and by finding enemies of the predators is being investigated, but so far the best bet seems to be a series of cold winters, --John B. Glude, Fishery Research Biologist, Clam Investigation, Branch of Fishery Biology, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Boothbay Harbor, Me. Federal Purchases of Fishery Products FRESH AND FROZEN FISHERY PRODUCTS PURCHASED BY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, MARCH, 1955: Fresh and frozen fishery products purchases for the military feeding of the U. S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force by the Ar- my Quartermaster Corps in March 1955 amounted to 2.6 million pounds, valued at $1.4 million (table 1). This was an increase of 48,2 percent in quantity and 52.8 percent in value as compared with Febru- ary purchases, and higher Purchases of Fresh and Frozen Fishery Products by Department of Defense (March and the First Three Months of 1955 and 1954) QUANTITY ee: March Jan. -Mar. 1955 | 1954 1955 1954 © 19 : PaREES of Pounds). . . . (Millions of Dollars Le (Le 16.4 | 0 | 22) 6 i 8.8 | 28 nos, Army Quartermaster Corps purchases of fresh and frozen fish during the first three months in 1955 totaled 6.4 million pounds (valued at $2.8 million), higher by 25.8 percent in quantity and 23.0 percent in value as compared with the similar pe- riod a year earlier. Prices paid for fresh and frozen fishery products by the Department of Defense in March 1955 averaged 44,2 cents per pound as compared with 42.8 cents in Feb- ruary and 46.5 cents in March 1954, In addition to the purchases of fresh and frozen fishery products indicated above, the Armed Forces generally make some local purchases which are not included in the above figures, Therefore, actual purchases are somewhat higher than indicated, but it is not possible to obtain data on the local purchases made by military installa- tions throughout the country, June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 39 Fishery Products Marketing Prospects, Spring 1955 CONSUMPTION AND RETAIL PRICES: Total supplies of fishery products in the first half of 1955 are likely to be larger than in the same period of 1954, and retail prices a little lower. Civilian per-capita consumption of these products may run a bit higher than in the spring and summer of 1954, Total supplies of fresh and processed fishery products this spring were expect- ed to continue larger than a year earlier, with the biggest increase in the process- ed commodities, Retail prices for the fishery products, judging from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wholesale prices in primary markets, were expected to average a little lower than last spring. FRESH AND FROZEN FISH: More fresh fishery products were expected to be available as landings by commercial fishermen increase seasonally. More of the frozen products--especially haddock and halibut--were expected to be available this spring than last. Cold-storage holdings on April 1 were up 15 percent, and commer- cial freezings were expected to be expanding seasonally during the next few months, In addition, imports of frozen fish--particularly fillets and blocks--were expected to be at least as large this year as last. CANNED FISH: Supplies of canned fishery products were larger this spring be- cause of heavier stocks of canned tuna, Maine sardines, and Pacific sardines car- ried over from last year's packs, as well as the continued heavy imports of canned tuna and frozen tuna for canning, Although very little canned salmon is available at the packers! level, there appears to be a sufficient volume in the other channels of distribution to maintain civilian consumption of this product at about the same per- capita rate as a year ago, at least until the 1955 packs start moving to market in volume after midyear, Production of canned salmon in 1954 was moderately larger than in 1953, but civilian consumption of this product thus far during the 1954/55 marketing season has been at a slightly higher rate than a year earlier, This analysis appeared in a report prepared by the Agricultural Marketing Serv- ice, U. S. Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the U. S. Fish and Wild- life Service, and published in the former agency's May 2 release of The National Food Situation (NFS-70). Ca Florida CRAB-MEAT PACKING SANITATION: The sanitary conditions in fresh crab- meat packing plants is an immediate and pressing problem for the blue-crab indus- try, according to the January Commercial Fisheries Newsletter #1 of the Marine Laboratory of the University of Miami, This problem of sanitation in crab-meat plants became of particular urgency in the summer of 1953 when several cases of food poisoning, presumably due to crab meat, were reported along the Atlantic Coast. The markets most affected were Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. The U. S. Food and Drug Administration at the request of New York City au- thorities sent technicians and inspectors to find the source of the trouble and to es- tablish means of correcting it. As a result of this some shipments of Florida fresh crab meat were embargoed by the Federal Government and a large percentage of meat was condemned. This caused an immediate income loss to the industry, and a far greater loss was represented in the decreasing market for crab meat, Some producers of crab meat are unfamiliar with procedures used by Federal inspectors, and with the terms used in describing the bacteria and quality standards, 40 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 The Federal Government analyzes a small sample of fresh crab meat for the presence of the bacteria Escherichia coli. If these bacteria--usually referred to simply as E. coli--are present, the entire shipment of crab meat is condemned, The crab meat is not condemned solely because of the presence of E. coli itself, but because of what the presence of this organism represents. E. coliis usedas an indicator of pollution, since it is an inhabitant of the intestinal tract of man and other animals. When E, coli is found in a food product, including crab meat, it in- dicates that other filth organisms, for example the typhoid germ, Salmonella typhi, may also be present and may be transmitted to a food product by a person who fails to observe the simple rules of cleanliness, On July 12, 1954, the New York City Board of Health adopted a resolution which was to take effect January 1, 1955, toamend the Crab Meat Regulation of their health code. Before crab meat is acceptable in New York City, under the new resolution, it must fall in to one of two groups. The first group is crab meat which has been packed in a hermetically-sealed container and then sterilized; the second, crabmeat which has been prepared, processed, and packed ina plant under permit of a Fed- eral or state inspection service approved by New York City's Department of Health. Regardless of whether a plant may pass inspection, the Health Department of New York City is empowered to exclude any packer from shipping crab meat tothat city if the meat is suspected of containing bacteria inexcess of the following standards: More than 100 hemolytic (Staphylococcus aureus) per gram of meat, or More than 100 coliform organisms per gram of meat, or More than 1,000 enterococcus organisms per gram of meat, or More than 100,000 colonies (groups of bacteria) per gram in the total plate count. In order to reach a full understanding of these standards it is necessary to know what the terms mean. A gram is a unit of weight; there are approximately 454 grams in a pound or about 28 grams in an ounce. When the numbers of bacteria are reported in terms of numbers of organisms per gram, that number represents i of the theoretical total number of organisms in the pound of meat, Enterococcus is a group of bacteria, Like E. coli it indicates human or animal contamination when present in food. Enterococci bacteria are easily recognized, and their presence is more reliable as indicators of animal pollution since they are not as abundant as E, coli, Hemolytic Staphylococcus aureus is another kind of bacteria. These bacteria are known as pathogens or disease producers, They secrete a poisonous material which produces an acute stomach and intestinal inflamation, This poisonous sub stance is not destroyed by heat, and pasteurization at temperatures less than170 F. probably have no effect on it. Staphylococcus aureus is found on the skin and mucous membranes of the animal and human body, especially of the nose and mouth, where they often occur in large numbers under normal conditions. It is also the cause of boils, carbuncles, andin- ternal abscesses in man and of mastitis in cows. Hence crab meat can become in- fected with this organism if handled by careless persons. The total bacteria plate count merely expresses the total number of organisms in a one-gram sample, without attempting to distinguish one type of bacteria from another, This type of examination indicates the general sanitary conditions under which the meat was packed. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 41 As a result of the efforts of the Federal Government, the City of New York,and the health departments of the states concerned, the industry has become conscious of quality. One of the most direct methods of contamination of crab meat is from the hands of the pickers or other crab-plant employees. If the hands of the pickers are kept constantly clean this major source of contamination will be removed, Clean- liness in this respect does not mean the mere washing of the hands, it means that the hands and fingernails must be scrupulously clean at all times. Contamination also occurs if flies, rodents, or roaches come into contact with the crab meat or with utensils used in the processing of the meat, Since these pests frequent the sources of contamination, they must be kept under control if cleancrab meat is to be produced. The above does not attempt to give details on complete sanitation control ina crab plant, but merely to emphasize basic rules of cleanliness that are apt to be forgotten in a daily routine. The dealer must realize that the problem of running a sanitary plant is his responsibility and that it is not a part-time, but rather a full-time job, and will require his complete attention. 7K KK OK FISHERIES RESEARCH, JULY-DECEMBER 1954: Marketing (Mainly Mullet): A survey of the existing literature of the problems of marketing of fresh fishery prod- ucts of Florida origin was made in the third quarter of 1954 by the University of Mi- ami Marine Laboratory, To obtain first-hand information as to what the present problems are, two extensive field trips were made, one along each coastline of Flor- ida, Fifty-three of the larger wholesale dealers were interviewed and some of the larger retail dealers and fishermen were queried. Informa- tion was obtained about the status of each fisher- man as to production, the problems he faced, the supply and demand, of the desirability of his produce to the public, price fluctuations and their causes, quality of production,and methods of handling. Opinions were asked as to what each fisherman thought were the determining factors in upsetting the fresh-fish market and suggestions were recorded as to what could be done, in the opinion of the fisherman, about improving the situation and rehabil- itating the fresh-fish market. Particular references were made to mullet but infor- mation on other food fishes was recorded. Mullet Opinions on the establishment of procéssing plants in Florida to compete with northern fishery products which have apparently pushed Florida fish off the market were gathered from all of the major dealers with special reference given to the geo- graphic, financial, and economic problems involved in such a proposal, Frozen fil- lets, canned and smoked fish, and fish sticks were discussed as a new market for fresh fish, and dealers were asked if they would be able to financially support the undertaking of a processing plant, sell to a processing plant, or would show no in- terest in a processing plant, With a basic general knowledge of the marketing and production problems con- fronting the Florida fresh-fish industry, the next step was to get actual statistics on the past and present fluctuations in the market for fresh fish. Particular refer- ence is being paid to mullet due to its preponderance in the Florida catch. Inasmuch 42 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 as 90 percent of the mullet produced in Florida is sold out of the state, the prob- lem will be to find out where these are sold, how many, and how this distribution has fluctuated in space and time. Attitudes of wholesale buyers to mullet will be obtained, and chief competitors of mullet will be studied. Research is being undertaken to compile a list of alternate names for mulletin view of the unpleasant connotations of this fish on local markets, These names will be reviewed and an alternate name will be submitted to the U. S. Food and Drug Ad- ministration for use as a substitute name to acquire northern markets and regain many lost southern markets. The preliminary phases of the marketing study were completed in the final quarter of 1954, These included a canvas of the wholesale fish dealers of the state to obtain their opinions concerning the feasibility of increased production of process- ed fish in Florida, methods of improving quality, the price structure, improved pro- duction methods, and publicity methods, The valuable information thus gained is being organized and reduced to usable form. The other major field activity in this investigation during the October-Decem- ber 1954 period was a trip to the major markets for Florida fish, chiefly mullet, outside the state, The investigator interviewed 31 wholesale and distributing deal- ers in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It was found that the largest market for Florida mullet appears to be in Georgia, particularly in south Georgia. Most of the mullet is bought in Florida but some comes from Ala- bama, During certain seasons the Carolinas produce smaller fish but despite their size they appear to compete successfully with Florida mullet because of their fre- quently better quality. This southeastern region seems to be definitely a fresh-fish consuming area, and attempts to introduce a market for processed mullet might be unsuccessful. The per-capita consumption appears to be quite high. The market for processed fish seems to increase toward the periphery of this region, such as Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Charleston, S. C, Perhaps canned mullet could be successfully intro- duced into these areas. Frozen round mullet, while acceptable, is considerably less desirable to these areas and is bought only when fresh mullet are unobtainable during the closed season, One of the biggest promoters of fresh mullet is the roe obtained during the fall of the year, Many people buy the mullet for the roe alone, Preliminary observations seem to indicate that the market for mullet has fallen off only at the outer fringe of the southeastern area, However, this area is being rapidly invaded by less expensive, and sometimes fresher, northern fish such as fresh and frozen scup or porgy (Stenotomus), croaker, and whiting. These species appear to offer serious competition, mainly on the basis of the low price (one-half to one-third the cost of mullet). Since this area can be considered rather typical of the lower-income bracket, a low-price fish in fairly fresh condition seems to be the biggest seller in this region. These fish may in time push the sales area of mullet further south so that the market may dwindle further. Frozen fish, either domestic or foreign, does not appear to offer any consider- able competition with fresh fish from Florida. Many of the chain stores are freez- ing mullet in the round and wrapping them in cellophane. These are somewhat pre- ferred to frozen fish sticks and fillets such as ocean perch, whiting, and haddock. The over-all picture seems to be that the southeastern area is very satisfied with the taste and quality of mullet, but that this region, at present the market for about 90 percent of Florida mullet, may futher dwindle due to lower-price freshfish from New York and Virginia, Due to an extremely bad crop year, the economic sit- uation is poor and people are interested in low-priced products, The low cost of meat and poultry at certain seasons has resultedina loss of amarket for a considerable June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 43 amount of fresh fish from all areas, Even if it is possible to produce mullet ata lower cost, it does not appear that it will result in any considerable regaining of these lost markets, While people will of course like a low-priced fish, these areas appear satisfied with the price in accordance with the quality and the extra roe, A shipment of mullet was sent to a smoker in Baltimore to determine the reac- tion of markets in this area to smoked mullet. If results are favorable, further shipments to this and other areas will be made to attempt to create new markets for the Florida production of mullet and other species. A new canned fish product, canned Florida mullet, has been developed by the Food Technology Department of the University of Miami, Canned mullet has a good texture and a pleasant flavor, very similar to canned salmon, The product was first prepared as a student laboratory exercise, but it has undergone four years of storage tests, and further research on methods of commercial production and han- dling are under way. By providing a low-priced product, canned Florida mullet may be a means of increasing the utilization of this fish, Shrimp Explorations: In June 1954 the Diesel Engine Sales Company of St. Au- gustine loaned the new trawler Goodwill to the Tampa Shrimp Producer's Associa- tion for exploratory shrimp fishing. At the request of the Association a scientist from the University of Miami Marine Laboratory accompanied the vessel on several cruises to assist in the planning of the operation and to make observations. These trips extended over about 2} months. The first cruises were in the area between Tampa and Cape San Blas and Tam- pa and Anclote Light. Thirty-five drags were made with try nets, in water 10 to60 fathoms deep. No commercial concentrations of shrimp were found and the bottom was made hazardous for trawling by the presence of sponge and coral, At 29°05' N, latitude and 85°25' W, longitude an interesting discovery was made of a scallop bed about 6 miles long, The scallops caught were of commercial variety, 12-3 inches long. The bed is large enough to be of commercial importance, 9 im early July a small bed of shrimp was found off Tarpon Springs (at 28°07! N., 83 10' W.). The catch rate was 275 pounds of heads-on shrimp per hour witha 375-mesh flat trawl. Seventeen boxes were caught in two nights of fishing. Tests were made with the 'Shrimplupe," an electronic detection device, It was useful in locating obstructions but it could not be said to have detected shrimp. In August 1954 the Goodwill operated between Tampa and the Middle Ground area, No large concentrations of shrimp were found, The few shrimp caught were large in size, 10-20 count per pound (heads on), Fourth quarter 1954 exploratory shrimp fishing was done in the Gulf of Gua- canaybo on the south coast of Cuba. Results were not encouraging. Shrimp caught (Penaeus schmitti, a white shrimp, and P, duorarum, the pink-grooved shrimp) were small and catches were poor, Indications were that only about one box (100 pounds) of headless 30-count shrimp could be caught per night in this area, Blue Crabs: Encouraging progress in the blue-crab investigations was report- ed by the University of Miami Marine Laboratory. In August 1954 the operation of the Chesapeake Bay crab scrape at Punta Gorda was not successful, due perhaps to the high water temperatures prevailing. In September, however, the scrape caught considerable quantities of ''prepeelers.'' These were put in floats built for the pur- pose, anda small but steady production of soft-shell crabs has resulted. A profit is being shown by the operator engaging in this experimental project. Expansionis 44 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 planned, and other areas will now be tested to study the feasibility of establishing soft-shell crab operations in other parts of Florida. Marketshave already been es- tablished for the product. Advice and encouragement has also been given to crab dealers who wish to at- tempt canned ''pasteurized" crab meat. This product is not fully sterilized and is not comparable to a fully heat-processed canned product, but will keep longer than the meat marketed fresh, Several dealers are trying this method with apparent success, Trials were initiated with a fyke net to determine whether crabs could be caught in this gear, Results were expected in January 1955. Considerable work was done to discover if the method of processing crab meat by pasteurization could be adopted to the Florida industry, This method was devel- oped by a Maryland crab producer in conjunction with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Taste panel tests showed that properly pasteurized crab meat compares favorably with the fresh product and some companies are in production while others are showing interest in the method, Advice and assistance was given to established and new crab processors in the problems of sanitation and quality control. This problem has been made particular- ly serious by much stricter quality rules set up by some important northern markets. Most Florida plants are now meeting the new requirements or are making the neces- sary changes to meet them in the near future, Scallops: No commercial scallop fishery operated in the summer of 1954 in Lee County, Florida. The scallops were presumably killed by a ''red tide" out- break, Investigations of the grounds showed that one to three bushels of scallops could be caught per day in either of two small areas, but no other area of the Sound yielded any catch, Small samples were available for study. The Lee County scallop fishery research was completed in the final quarter of 1954 and a final report was in preparation, No attempt is made here to summarize the whole report, but one interesting aspect of local scallop life history concerning spawning and growth is presented in brief. It has been found that spawning occurs during all four seasons of the year; how- ever, for any one group of scallops the time of spawning appears to be of shorter duration. Asa result, scallops of various sizes may be found on the grounds through- out the year, The proportion of each size group changes throughout the year due to the varying spawning times, and differential growth and mortality rates. The biggest group may come from a late spring and early summer spawning, This group attains a size of approximately 14 inches by the winter when growth is slower, and then grows rapidly in size until the following winter, Mortalities re- move most of this group before their second summer, A minor group may appear during the late summer, fall, and winter and grow to a size of less than one inch prior to the early spring season when growth becomes rapid, This group survives the next winter at a size larger than two inches, These may remain in the fishery until they are about two years of age when most or alldis- appear. The largest scallops found in this area had a shell length measurement of slight- ly over 3 inches; however, this size is rarely attained. From 1950 to 1953 over 70 percent of the Florida scallop landings have come during June, July, and August. There was essentially no production in this area June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 45 during 1954 due to the heavy mortalities suffered that year, The situation will be watched carefully to see if the fishery is able to re-establish itself during the next few years. Electrical Fishing: The analysis of the results of the shrimp electrical experi- ment was completed, In the course of this investigation, it was shown that pulsed direct current could be successfully used to cause pink-grooved shrimp, Penaeus duorarum, to swim tail first to the positive pole. The optimum electrical condi- tions that caused this forced movement were determined, Using this basic information, calculations were made of the power requirements necessary to electrify a conventional shrimp trawl. These calculations show that the use of electrical current as a commercial fishing aid is impractical at this time, Both the cost and size of the electrical generator would prevent its use. There are further indications from the data of this experiment that electrical fishing might be possible if suitable electronic equipment could be developed which would employ electrical impulses of high intensity and short impulse duration, Con- denser and battery discharge are systems which lend themselves to this application with resultant lowering of power requirements. 7 ab Gulf Exploratory Fishery Program GOOD LONG-LINE TUNA FISHING FOUND IN CARIBBEAN BY "OREGON" (Cruise 30): Good long-line tuna fishing was found east of Jamaica and in the Wind- ward Passage area by the Service's exploratory fishing vessel Oregon, During the four-week cruise (April 6-May 2) eleven 42-basket long-line sets were made in the northwestern Caribbean and three sets were made in the central Gulf of Mex- ico, Yellowfin tuna were caught at 6 of the 7 stations east and north of Jamaica and in the Wind- ward Passage at rates of 1 to2.6 yellowfin per 100 hooks, Ateach of these 6 stations from one to six 50- to 60- pound albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) were al- so caught, Considerable diffi- culty was encountered during two sets at the head of the Wind- ward Passage due to large num- bers of giant bluefin tuna in that area. At each of these stations Location of long-line sets(x) during Oregon’s Cruise 30, 4/6-5/2/55. 8 bluefin tuna were landed weigh- ing from 400-600 pounds each. Judging by broken gear, at least that many more were caught and lost. Puerto Rico Mexico The four sets made between the Yucatan Channel and the western tip of Jamaica caught no yellowfin or albacore tuna, One large bluefin was caught north of Grand Cayman and another was caught on a set east of Cozumel Island, Three sets were made in the Gulf of Mexico, A single yellowfin was caught on the last set of the trip (May 1) 180 miles south of Mobile. This fish weighed 190 pounds and is the largest yellowfin that has been caught in the Gulf to date, At the 46 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 same station a 14-foot false killer whale became entangled in the long-line gear and was landed. In cooperation with a staff member of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- tution, 18 of the marlin taken on the long lines were tagged and released. Two big-eyed tunas weighing 175 pounds each were taken on a set made near the southwest tip of Hispaniola. Plankton collections and night-light collections were made by the Fishery Biologist assigned to the cruise from the Service's station at Galveston. To further explore potential red shrimp beds with commercial-scale trawls, the Oregon was scheduled to leave Pascagoula on May 17 (Cruise 31). Additional trawling exploration was to be carried out on extensive areas of ap- parently good trawling bottom in the red-shrimp depth ranges in the Florida Straits area and southeast of Cay Sal Bank. In April 1954 a series of shrimp- trawl drags south of Dry Tortugas in depths of 170-250 fathoms yielded promis- ing catches of deep-water red shrimp (Hymenapenaeus robustus). Due to damage sustained when a trawling obstacle was encountered, drags with larger commer- cial-type trawls were not made at that time. Tuna long-line sets were to be made between Cuba and the Bahama Bank as a further check on the seasonal range of commercially-valuable tunas inthe Gulf and Caribbean area. The Oregon was scheduled to return to Pascagoula on June 14. Long Island Sound Oyster Investigations OYSTER SPAWNING AND SETTING FORMULAE: About 25 years ago knowl- edge of the reproduction of oysters in Long Island Sound was rather limited and many of its aspects were covered by a veil of mystery. We do not know all the answers now, but we have learned so much since that time that it is amusing to recall certain ideas expressed by some of the old-timers. The industry has always been interested in the time when the oysters be- gin to spawn and the time when "'setting'' occurs. The oysters ''set'' when the larvae descend to the bottom and become small oysters. This change, or me- tamorphosis, from the swimming to the sedentary stage is known as setting. Each of the old-timers had his own unshakable opinion about the behavior of oysters, and it was unusual if two oystermen agreed on any subject. For example, some insisted that setting occurred only in August, others thought that it took place only during the third week of September, and still others-- and this is a fact--maintained that some oysters spawn and set even in winter. Further, some oystermen said that all oysters of a new generation set on the same day all over the Sound, while other oystermen believed that there were 2 or 3 distinct sets--perhaps 6 weeks apart. Many other opinions were also supported vigorously. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 47 To sum up, nobody knew much about the subject. Yet, the dates of the begin- ning of spawning and especially of setting were--and still are--of great practical importance to the industry, for by the latter date the oystermen should have the grounds fully prepared to receive the new generation of oysters. This preparation consists of cleaning the oyster beds and planting clean oyster shells (the cultch) to provide attachment for the descending oyster larvae. Some of the largest oyster companies of Long Island Sound plant as many as a million bushels of shells every year, and that quantity indicates that the planting is a rather extensive and expen- sive undertaking, Obviously, planting shells at the proper time is essential. If they are planted too late, they will miss the set. If they are planted too early, they may become fouled and become unsuitable for attachment of the larvae, Systematic and persistent research of biologists eventually helped to clear up many mysteries. Several years ago the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service was able to offer the industry the following formulae: In Long Island Sound the beginning of spawning should be expected on June 30 + 4 days, and the beginning of setting should be expected on July Wort 4 days. These formulae have held up rather well thus far, and now the industry fully de- pends on them, Many other data, such as the extent of the setting period, intensity of setting in relation to time and depth, and growth and survival of young oysters under dif- ferent conditions, have given the oystermen much needed practical information since the Service's studies began. --Victor J. Loosanoff, Research Biologist, Long Island Sound Oyster Investigation, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Branch of Fishery Biology, Milford, Conn, Maine Herring Exploration and Gear Research "THEODORE N, GILL" SAILS ON INITIAL CRUISE (Cruise 1): The first of a series of exploratory herring fishing cruises in the Gulf of Maine and adjacent wa- ters was commenced on April 19 when the Service's research vessel Theodore N, Gill departed Boothbay Harbor, Me, These explorations will be made in an attempt to locate herring schools and to follow them on their migrations inshore as the season progresses, On this cruise it is plannedto cover the entire Gulf from Cape Cod to Cape Sable in two weeks by running parallel transects at : : adi 8 * — “ 10-mile intervals from the coast «qyaqh So FON FuEODORE N-O1 line to 170 miles offshore. These courses will be run while sound- ing for herring with a vertical echo sounder, and a ''Sea Scanar which sounds to the sides and a- Service's research vessel Theodore N, Gill. " 43 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Wollg ws IN@s 3 head of the vessel as well as below it. Lift nets will be operated to sample the schools encountered. Plankton tows will be made and continuous water-tempera- ture records kept during the cruise, The northeastern part of the Gulf east of 67°30! W. longitude will be covered by the Canadian research vessel Harengus, sounding with the same type of gear dur- ing the same period of time, Results of the two cruises will be integrated to give an indication of distribution of herring schools and the size of the fish that com- prise them, Any schools located will be followed during successive cruises to be made by the two vessels as the season progresses, S Michigan fishermen took 27 million pounds of fish from Michigan's Great Lakes waters dur- ing 1954, one million pounds above the average annual catch, a recent bulletinfrom the Michigan Department of Conservation reports. Herring provided 8.5 million pounds and smelt ran second with an all-time re- cord of 4.9 million pounds, Chubs, carp, lake trout, and yellow perch combined made up another 9 million pounds, and 16 other types of fish comprised the remain- des Only 85 pounds of lake trout were taken in Lake Michigan and none was caught in either Lake Huron or Lake Erie during the year, Until the sea lamprey depre- dations of recent years, lake trout from these lakes provided the bulk of a $2 mil- lion industry. Now, lake trout come mostly from Lake Superior where the sealam- prey is still found only in small numbers. In 1954, 1.6 million pounds were pro- duced from Superior. Lake Michigan produced 14.2 million pounds of the total catch, Lake Superior 5.8 million pounds, Lake Huron 5.4 million pounds, and Lake Erie about 1.8 mil- lion pounds, Montana DIRECT-CURRENT FISH-SHOCKING TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED: The develop- ment of a direct-current fish-shocking technique using two negative electrodes and one floating positive electrode was reported by fishery biologists assigned to a''test stream" study conducted in Flint Creek near Philipsburg, Mont., by the Montana Fish and Game Department, The technique is described as follows: "Fish are 'repelled' from the two negative electrodes near the stream banks and ‘attracted! to the floating positive electrode near the center of the stream chan- nel, This system is particularly advantageous in Flint Creek where dense willows along the banks would make netting of shocked fish extremely difficult if it were not possible to 'attract' the fish into the open channel, Fish attracted to the positive electrode in water ranging from 1,4 to 3.5 feet per second line up at the surface of the water along the downstream edge of the triangular wooden electrode frame and are easily captured ina dip net. In water of lower velocities, it is necessary tomove the positive electrode in such a way that 'attracted' fish will swim along at the trail- June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 49 ing edge until netted. In water of higher velocity than 3.5 feet per second, the shocked fish are simply swept downstream by the water current and are captured later in a more favorable spot, "The floating wooden triangle of the positive electrode is attachedto its handle by a strap hinge which gives the desired flexibility as well as sufficient control over movement in the horizontal direction, Thin-wall conduit (either ¢ inch or 1 inchin size) provides light yet sturdy handles and frames for dip nets andelectrodes, Com- mon copper screen (16 mesh per inch) is usedfor the electrode surface of the posi- tive electrode, and copper tubing (4 inch) is used for the grids on the negative elec- trodes," KS New England Exploratory Fishery Program "DELAWARE" FINDS SHRIMP IN GULF OF MAINE (Cruise 4): Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) were not taken in commercial quantities in any of the tows made by the Service's exploratory fishing vessel Delaware in the Gulf of Maine on an 11-day cruise completed at East BostononApril 28. As was the case inCruise © Natinicus Rock * at ) _ Cashes Ledg 9 3 | | 5I Two specimens of Atlantic Coast northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis), Characteristics of this species are; (1) a tubercle or small spine on the dorsal surface of the rear half of the third abdom- inal segment; (2) a bifid rostrum, with the lower tip projecting beyond the upper tip. Note the eggs on the larger specimen. (Large specimen does M/V Delaware--Exploratory Fishing Trip No, 4--April 18-21, 1955 not have legs in normal position.) 3, the greatest catches of shrimp were made in the vicinity of Wood Island, Me.; an area that produced shrimp in commercial quantities in the late 1940's. This was the fourth cruise of a series to determine the present abundance of northern shrimp in waters which formerly supported a commercial fishery in the winter months, A total of 32 tows was made (see chart), most of them with a small-meshed No. 36 net, The female northern shrimp, virtually all of which were egg-bearing in Feb- ruary, had mostly shed their eggs by the time of this cruise. 50 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 Nets were torn on several of the tows along the Maine Coast, and two fishing days were lost due to stormy weather. The Delaware was scheduled to depart May 9 on Cruise 5. This 12-day cruise will be the third of a series to explore the commercial potential of groundfish on the edge of the continental shelf, in water deeper than is ordinarily fished commer - cially. we Ohio Ohio's Lake Erie Commercial Fisheries Production, LAKE ERIE COMMER - 1954 with Comparisons | cA ESHER ae 1954 1953 1952 HEue® Blain Dy Chloe comn- mercial fisheries of Lake Erie amounted to 23.4 mil- lion pounds in1954, a 2-per- cent increase over the 23.0 million pounds landed in 1953, reports a recent bul- Goldfish : : oie 39 98 100 126 letin from the Ohio Depart- Mooneye ; a ; : 6 12 14 94| ment of Natural Resources Bhmeaee 4) ag a 6 : 76 189 203 388 (see table). The increase Saeeusael ss 5 4 5 | G91 | 1,098 | a S05 4- &, Bos] VES Che vO Leger cauclnes Sturgeon ..... 2 1 6 10 of carp, catfish, white bass, Saar Leen 587 517 and yellow perch. Landings Wine DABS ob anc 765 944 of blue pike and yellow pick- Winie@igih ~ . 4 5p 213 375 erel were lighter in 1954. Mellow sperchiarn rm, 1,556 Za OS) The leading species on Yellow pickerel . 4, 840 5, 418] the basis of quantity landed Burfalonishwawese: e by Ohio's Lake Erie com- Miscellaneous .. mercial fishermen was yel- INOW 4 5 oa 6 low pickerel, which com- prised 21 percent of the total; followed by blue pike, 20 percent; yellow perch, 17 percent; white bass, 12 per- cent; andcarp, 11 percent. In 1953 blue pike accounted for 30 percent of the total caich; followed by yellow pickerel, 25 percent; and yellow perch, 14 percent. YaONG (eo5)- North Atlantic Fisheries Investigations TROSS III'"' (Cruise 59): A six-day fishing cruise to determine the selectivity of sizes of haddock caught with cod ends 5 of 7-, 74-, and 8-inch meshes (be - ee eee, tween centers) was completed at = Woods Hole, Mass., onApril 12 by Inches the Service's research vessel Alba- 8 tross III. 73 7 1/Inside measurements. Favorable quantities of fish were found south of La Have Bank when 34 tows were made. Upto4,000 pounds were taken. Selectioncurves for the three codends were established (see table). June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 51 Four sets were made SE. of ''The Leg" on Georges Bank. Good quantities of scrod haddock were obtained and 125 live haddock were returned to the Woods Hole laboratory for tagging and growth studies. Otoliths, cleithra, scales, length, and maturity information were collected from haddock caught on La Have and Georges banks. —a_e == Pacific Oceanic Fisheries Investigations STEEL TUNA LONG LINES SUCCESSFULLY TESTED IN LINE ISLANDS WA- TERS BY TJOHN FE Re . MANNING" (Cruise 24): The new steel "D™ ring long-line tuna gear was found easier to handle than the standard cotton line on a three-week tuna- fishing cruise by the Service's research vessel John R. Manning in the rich yellow- fin tuna grounds near the equator south of Hawaii. The cruise was completed at Honolulu on April 15, The steel gear developed only few bad tangles even with the abundance of sharks in the area and the frequent catch of large marlin. Thirty bas- kets of steel long-line gear were fished together each day. The addition of swivel- ing ''D'' rings to the steel gear and the use of nylon droppers reduced considerably the loss of fish and dropper lines previously experienced with the steel gear. In setting the steel gear a new device was used for automatically attaching the dropper lines. The underlying purpose of these attempts to mechanize the long-line method of fishing for tuna, heretofore used on a large scale only by the Japanese, is to cut down the amount of manpower required and thus make it economically feasible for American fishermen to exploit the resources of deep-swimming tuna that only the long line can reach, The newly-developed fishing gear features a steel main line which is set and hauled with reels powered by a small winch. At appropriate inter- vals along this cable D-shaped rings are fitted for the attachment of the branchlines, which bear the hooks. A device has been developed to snap the branch lines onthese rings automatically as the gear is payed out, a task which must be done by hand on the traditional type of long line. Ten days fishing with 60 baskets of gear set each day produced a total of 128 yellowfin tuna, 4 big-eyed tuna, 2 skipjack tuna, 9 marlin, and 133 sharks, The yellowfin catch totaled about 6 tons. The best day's catch (42 yellowfin) was made off Christmas Island; the second best catch (21 yellowfin) was made at Washington Island. The open ocean catches were generally poor. An interesting incident of the cruise was the landing of a huge white marlin, es- timated to have weighed around 1,500 pounds, which had in its stomach a freshly killed yellowfin tuna 5 feet in length and weighing 157 pounds. Some light was thrown on the question, often debated by fishermen, of the use that marlin make of their bills in capturing their prey--the tuna had been speared clean through its body twice before being swallowed, On 6 fishing days on which the John R. Manning and the Charles H. Gilbert set long-lines in close proximity, the daily catches of the 2 vessels were almost iden- tical. Quantitative pelagic trawl collections were obtained at 13 stations and will pro- vide material for examining variations in abundance of forage organisms in the open ocean and along the Line Island chain, Eleven yellowfin and 3 big-eyed tuna, all over 150 pounds in weight, were butch- ered into loins and labeled, wrapped, and dry frozen for subsequent experiments in canning by the Pauley Process. 52 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol, 17, No. 6 During the long-line fishing, 47 yellowfintuna were brought aboard alive, tagged, and released, A record was kept of tuna schools, bird flocks, and aquatic mam- mals sighted. Surface trolling was conducted during daylight hours on the runs to and from the fishing grounds, % OK OK OK SKIPJACK TUNA TAGGED BY "HUGH M, SMITH" (Cruise 28): A total of 107 skipjack tuna were tagged by the Service's research vessel Hugh M, Smith on a one- month cruise in the area around the Hawaiian Islands, completed at Honoluluon A- pril 8. The California-type plastic tube tag was used and the fish were released in apparently viable condition. The fish were all small (3- to 7-pound size) and caused no difficulty in tagging. One slow biting school was fished and tagged with considerable ease and effec- tiveness as 62 of the 70 skipjack caught were marked and released. These fish were tagged in 17 days of scouting and fishing prior to the onset of the summer fishing sea- son with hopes of obtaining some recoveries during the season to check for injuries and survival caused by tagging. ie = na ore —— eae \ Skipjack Tuna This makes a total of 285 fish marked since the tagging work was initiated last summer, The recapture of any of these tagged tuna would give invaluable informa- tion, not only about their migratory movements, but also about their age and rate of growth, matters which otherwise can only be deduced by indirect methods, All commercial and sport fishermen are therefore urged to report without fail the re- capture of any tagged skipjack with the fullest possible information on the time and place of capture, This cruise was the latest in a continuing series planned to survey the seasonal changes in the abundance of this small striped tuna species, which in the summer is the basis of the largest fishery and the only fish-canning industry in the Hawaiian Islands, but which becomes very scarce in local waters in the winter. By scouting for skipjack schools at all seasons of the year, and by tagging and releasing cap- tured fish, the Service hopes to obtain information on the movements of the fish that may enable fishermen to enlarge their fishing grounds over greater areas and to extend their season of highly productive fishing over a greater part of the year, A total of 35 bird-flock-attended schools were sighted--6 were identified as skipjack; 1 a mixed school of skipjack, yellowfin, and mahimahi (dolphin); and 28 unidentified. Most of the promising fish schools were seen beyond 35 miles from land especially in areas south of Oahu, Molokai, and Lanai, while in the vicinity of Kauai they were sighted within 20 miles of land. Schools encountered at this time, however, were generally fast or erratic in their movements and proved trouble- some infishing, Live-bait fishing was attempted on 15 schools but fish were caught from only 3 of these schools. Other work carried out on the cruise included: (1) recording thermograph was operated continuously out at sea; (2) whenever possible, BT observations were made at three-hour intervals on all scouting runs and also immediately after fishing; (3) some good traces of skipjack schools were obtained on the Bendix, % OK OK OK PROPOSED PROGRAM FOR 1955: At a meeting between Service representa- tives and the POFI Tuna Industry Advisory Committee on April 4-5 at Terminal Is- land, Calif.; the following program was proposed for the Service's 1955 Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigations: June 1955 Equatorial Tuna: (1) Helpinsure suc- cessful commercial fishing of yellowfin tuna in equatorial waters by ascertain- ing the effect of changes in weather and currents of the quantities and sizes of yellowfin. (2) Continue improving the steel and fiber gear used in the long-line method of fishing, (3) Estimate the contribution of the countercurrent and upwelling in the east- ern Pacific to tuna production in the cen- tral equatorial Pacific by joint operations with West Coast agencies, (4) If it is found within the legal re- sponsibility of POFI, developa program of investigation of the tuna stocks in South- east Polynesia, Hawaiian Skipjack Tuna: (1) Learn more of the off-season distribution of skipjack tuna by sight scouting and echo ranging. (2) Use new electronic scanning de- vice to study the behavior and movement of skipjack schools; and experiment with tagging asameans of learning skipjack migrations in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands. (3) Complete the analysis of conven- tional oceanographic surveys of the wa- ters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands and continue specialized observations on the eddy system in conjunction with (1) and (2). Tuna Bait Studies: (1) Continue de- veloping, with sea tests, motile lures which combine movement with appear- COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 53 ance, taste, and smell this to be aug- mented with studies of the structure and use of the tuna eye to learn more about the ways in whichtunas can be attracted to catching devices. (2) Continue studies of electro-fishing on tuna in ponds in order to design an electrical unit for sea tests. (3) Continue observations of occur- rence of live bait as opportunity affords in (a) Leeward Islands; (b) Around equa- torial islands; and (c) Investigate open- ocean saury baiting in northern waters. Albacore Tuna: (1) Continue studies of the winter distribution of albacore tuna andthe related oceanographic conditions in the North Pacific. (2) Cooperate with West Coast agen- cies in locating small albacore inadvance of the Pacific Coast season and in inves- tigating the causes of shiftsintime of ap- pearance of albacore, as wellas the mark- ed change in amount taken by the Pacific Coast fishery from year to year. (3) Study the summer vertical and hor- izontal distribution of egg, larvae,and adult albacore northof Hawaii. Cooper- ate with oceanographic groups inthe Unit- ed States, Canada, and Japan in a com- prehensive North Pacific oceanographic and plankton survey. (4) Try to catch albacore on the high seas by live bait, deepand surface troll- ing, and long lines. (5) Develop a Pacific-wide albacore core tagging program, “Ss Saltonstall-Kennedy Act Fisheries Projects FISHERY STATISTICAL OFFICE OPENED IN LA CROSSE, WIS.: A statistical office for the collection of fishery data was opened recently at LaCrosse, Wis., by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Branch of Commercial Fisheries, Activities of the La Crosse office will include obtaining detailed data on employment in the fisheries, the number of craft and quantity of gear operated, and the catch of fish- ery products in the upper Mississippi River area, ice's Fish-Cultural Station at La Crosse. The office is located in the Serv- The address is Post Office Box 862, Ke- vin J, Allen, who was formerly engaged in the seafood business in the New Bedford, Mass., area is in charge of the office. This project is being financed by funds provided by the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act (68 Stat. 376). 3K OK OK Ok 54 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 SERVICE OPENS FISHERY STATISTICAL OFFICE IN BILOXI, MISS.: A sta- tistical office for the collection of fishery data was opened recently at Biloxi, Miss., by the Service's Branch of Commercial Fisheries. Activities of the Biloxi office will include obtaining detailed data on employment in the fisheries, number of craft and quantity of gear operated, the catch of fishery products, and related activities in Mississippi; as well as the collection of certain data on the fisheries of Alabama, Detailed statistics on the shrimp fishery will be obtained for Biloxi and nearby ports in connection with the Service's expanded program for the collection of shrimp sta- tistics. Hermes G. Hague, who has engaged in fishing operations in the Gulf and who was, for atime, employed by the Service in its exploratory fishing program in the Gulf, will be in charge of the office. This project is being financed by funds provided by the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act (68 Stat. 376). mK % OK PROGRESS ON BRANCH OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES PROJECTS (MAY 1955): This is a report of the status as of mid-May 1955 of the various Saltonstall-Kennedy Act projects under way inthe U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Branch of Commer- cial Fisheries and financed by funds provided by P. L. 466 (83rd Congress). 1. North Atlantic Fisheries Explora- tion and Gear Research: A program to explore the fishery resources of the North Atlantic area and to developmore effective fishing gear for use inthat area, The program is based at East Boston, Mass.; and is in full operation using the Service's exploratory fishing trawler Delaware, The Delaware was outfitted with new electronic fish finder and additional trawling cable, which will allow fishing to depths of 400 fathoms. Seven cruises were completed to ex- plore deep-water grounds on the edge of Georges Bank and to explore potential shrimpareas in the Gulf of Maine--1, 000 pounds of 10-pound lobsters were caught in a single drag; shrimp appear to have moved from grounds fished some years ago; and catches of other fish have not been large. Cost of project: $160, 000 a year. 2, Maine Herring Exploration and Gear Research: A project to determine more fully the availability of herring in New England waters in order to smooth out the fluctuations in supply that have been plaguing the Maine sardine industry. The Service research vessel T.N. Gill was transferred to Boothbay Harbor, Me.; and outfitted with a ''Sea Scanar" and experimental gear for sampling sur- face and subsurface herring schools. The first exploratory cruise in the Gulf of Maine began on April 19. The re- search program was laid out in coopera- tion with the Branch of Fishery Biology and the Canadian Department of Fisher- ies, and with the advice of the Maine Sardine Industry. Cost of project: $76, 000 a year. 3. Research on Methods of Handling, Freezing, and Packaging Southern Oys- ters: A project to study improvements in the methods of handling, freezing, and marketing Southern oysters. The College Park, Md., laboratory completed analyses on representative samples of oysters collected to measure seasonal variability incomposition. These data will provide background information for research contractors at a later date. Contracts for research were let with these Gulf area universities: Louisiana State University, Tulane University, and Florida State University. June 1955 The first group discussion of research under way at each of these universities was held in New Orleans on April 24, Cost of project: $40,000 a year, 4, Development of Voluntary Standards ucts: A program to develop voluntary grades and standards for various fish- ery products, (a) A contract was awarded the Nation- al Fisheries Institute for industry liai- son assistance in the development of grades and standards. The contractor has now completeda survey of producers, packers, and distributors in the principal production and marketing areas through- out the United States, A completere- port of this survey was being prepared, Preliminary information indicates that cooked fish sticks will have the highest priority for development of grade stand- ards. Second priority probably will be assigned to breaded shrimp, and third to ocean perch frozen fillets. (b) Personnel have been recruited for the Service research phases of standards development and are now engaged in re- search, Two other contracts for re- search on the standards project were a- warded, The University of Washington is evaluating the principal chemical methods for the measurement of fresh- ness of fishery products on a one-year contract, Massachusetts Institute of Technology is developing new objective tests for freshness of fish and fishery products under a one year contract. (c) At the Service's Boston laboratory a semifinal draft of standards of grading conditions for cooked fish sticks was completed, It is now being reviewed by industry producers and buyers for their comments, Scale models of cooked fish sticks showing salient characteristics, such as variations in size and shape and major defects, were prepared for use in the application of standards, Cost of projects: $100,000 a year, 5. Development of a Quality Index for ects will determine through research COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 55 studies possible new uses for fish oils and develop a standard quality index for fish meals, The personnel requiredfor the Service portion of the meal and oil research program were recruitedand are now at work. QUALITY INDEX FOR FISH MEALS: Agreement was reached on the following contracts for research on the quality in- dex of fish meals: University of Dela- ware, short-term growth response and longer-term broiler feeding tests of screened meal samples; Maryland State College, nitrogen distribution studies of fish meals; and Reedville Oil and Guano Co., Reedville, Va., pilot-scale and commercial-plant studies. NEW USES FOR FISH OILS: The fish oil research program was likewise firm- ed up through discussions with individual members of the industry. Basic research contract proposals under consideration include: University of Minnesota, chem- istry of inclusion type complexes; Uni- versity of Minnesota, composition of the unsaturated and saturated fractions in fish oils; and University of Minnesota, the chemistry of odors in fish oils. APPLIED RESEARCH ON FISH OILS: A part of the research effort will be placed on the modification of oils for in- creased use in known fields or for the recovery of former markets lost to com- peting products. Among the proposals under consideration are: University of Cincinnati, application of fish oils inthe leather trade: Florida Southern College, use of fish oils and metallic compound complexes as fungicides and insecticides for citrus orchards; University of Con- necticut, evaluation of fish oils in high energy rations for chickens; North Caro- lina State College, determination of phys- ical-chemical characteristics of fish body oils in different seasons and geo- graphical locations; Texas A. & M. chro- matography of fish oils; and OregonState College, use of fish oils in swinerations, MEAL AND OIL RESEARCH IN GENER- AL: Arrangements were being completed for the use of pilot-scale reduction equip- ment in one of the principal menhaden processing plants as a part of the Serv- ice research program. Samples will be taken at the same time of the meal and 56 oil prepared from the full-scale com- mercial equipment in this plant. Samp- lings will also be taken routinely of oils produced at specified places throughout the entire United States. Analyses of these oils will provide valuable back- ground information on the variability with locality, season, and type of equip- ment used, Fish-meal sampling will be carried out on a somewhat similar basis at the reduction plant. Service staff members will study problems of heating and piled fish meal and in warehouse storage of sacked fish meal, Cost of projects: $234, 000 for first year. . Regular Educational and Market ieteioeriene Program: Program: These are exist- ing programs formerly financed by the annual transfer of funds from the Depart- ment of Agriculture. The equivalent of the $175, 000 was allocated for carrying out the same work as previously, which features market promotional activities, educational activities, and school-lunch demonstration programs, EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES: School- lunch demonstrations, numbering 78, have been conducted in North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, and Kentucky during this spring semester. Two industry-financed Service-pro- duced fishery educational motion pic- tures are in production. Theyare 16mm. color sound films. One entitledShrimp Tips from New Orleans is financed by a Gulf manufacturer of shrimp peeling ma- chines; the other entitled Fishing with a Kicker is financed by two larger outboard motor manufacturers, Exhibits were sponsored at the major food association conventions of the Amer- ican Dietitians Association, American School Food Association, National Fro- zen Food Wholesalers Association, and the National Restaurant Association, The preparation and publication of Commercial Fisheries Abstracts, Com- mercial Fisheries Outlook, Fishery Notes, " and "Test Kitchen Series" have proceeded according to schedule, COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6& The program is completely staffed and on schedule. Cost of project: $167,000 a year. EXPANSION OF REGULAR EDUCA- TIONAL AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: An additional allocation ex- pands the regular programs, It is pri- marily for increasing in number and scope the school-lunch demonstration program, for increasing the emphasis on promoting the purchase of fishthrough locker plants, and for conducting special marketing programs to aid segments of the fishing industry that are faced with excessive inventories. A contract was awarded to the Univer- sity of Miami Marine Laboratory to study the development of new markets for Florida fishery products. It is well un- der way. Beginning in January a special indus- try-government special marketing pro- gram was undertaken to aid the distress- ed Boston haddock industry. Asa result of the program, cold-storage stocks in Boston dropped almost 45 percent from January 1 to March 30, A similar industry-government coopera- tive marketing program had been started with the Pacific Coast tuna canning industry, in which the industry will concentrate on consumer markets and the Service will con- centrate on institutional markets. Arrangements for similar programs are under consideration for the halibut and shrimp industries, The school-lunch program is being ex- panded in the Pacific Coast, Gulf, and Middle Atlantic States. All programs are well under way and all vacant personnel positions have been filled. Cost of expansion: $85, 000 a year. 7. Information on Foreign Production, Marketing, and Technical Advances in the Field of ‘Fishery Products: These projects will assist domestic producers of fishery products to compete more ef- fectively with imports of foreign fishery — June 1955 products and to develop and reestablish foreign markets. A unit has been established and work is under way to improve the receipt and analysis of foreign consular dispatches and other sources of information on for- eign production, processing techniques, and markets, Arrangements have been made to have specialists in the Department of Agriculture conduct special investiga- tions of foreign production facilities and markets for fishery products while on related projects in foreign countries. Cost of project: $48,000 a year, 8. Surveys on Fish Consumption and Industry Segments: An economic sur- vey of the shrimp industry is well under way. Field work has commenced for the purpose of obtaining foreign and domes- tic costs of production, This work is being done by the Federal Trade Com- mission, Contracts with nongovernmen- tal organizations are under considera- tion or have been let to cover the follow- ing types of survey work with the indi- cated organizations: Harwell, Knowles and Associates, Inc., Coral Gables, Fla., survey of efficiency of shrimp ves- sel; First Research Corporation, Inc., Miami, Fla., survey of efficiency of processing plants in the shrimp indus- try; University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., economic analysis of production and primary marketing operations inthe shrimp industry; A. C. Nielsen Co., Chicago, Ill., survey of secondary dis- tributors and retailers of shrimp prod- ucts to obtain suggestions for improving marketing conditions, These proposals are under considera- tion: First Research Corporation, Inc., Miami, Fla., time and motion studies of shrimp fishing; Northeastern University, Boston, Mass., economic analysis of freezing fish at sea in the New England fisheries; Bureau of the Census, fish consumption in public eating places (a questionnaire form has been pretested; Census Bureau will survey approximate- ly 4,000 public eating places to deter- mine the answers to various problems in marketing fish and shellfish among these outlets). COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 57 Cost of projects: $143,000 a year. 9. Increased Coverage and More Rap- tistics: These programs will speed up the existing procedures in the collection, tabulation, and publication of fishery sta- tistics; increase the coverage of inland fisheries and obtain more detailed sta- tistics on shrimp in the South Atlantic and Gulf area for biological and market- ing uses, Supervisory personnel have been em- ployed in Washington to help expedite compilation and issuance of statistics. Additional personnel have been employed in the Mississippi River, South Atlantic, Eastern Gulf, and Pacific Coast areas, Employment of personnel required tocom- plete the Section's staff is proceeding as rapidly as suitable employees can be lo- cated, Bulletins on the domestic production of canned fishery products, byproducts, and packaged fish already were released several months earlier than has been pos- sible in previous years, A contract for expediting tabulation of production data is under consideration with the State of California. Arrangements were made for collec- tion and joint state-Federal publication of monthly statistics on landings of fish- ery products in the states of North Car- olina and Georgia, Release of these data will begin during the summer, Full cooperation has been sought and in most cases received from state fishery agencies in this program, Cost of project: $160,000 a year, 10, Study of Improvement of Cold-Stor- age Statistics: This project will investi- gate means of improving the collection of statistics on the freezing and holdings of fishery products and expedite their issu - ance in a monthly bulletin which is wide- ly used by the trade, To aid the Service the National Fisher- ies Institute has conducted, without charge, a preliminary survey to determine the ef- fectiveness of the present coverage. In- 58 formation has been obtained on the num- ber of firms not submitting data ontheir freezings and holdings. Arrangements have been made for the temporary em- ployment of a man who has many years' experience in the fishing industry, and is well acquainted with the need for and use of cold-storage information. He COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVEIW Vol. 17, No. 6 will conduct a detailed survey of the col- lection and publication of fishery cold- storage information and prepare recom- mendations for improving the monthly cold-storage report. Cost of project: $5,000 for first year. OK OR OK PROGRESS ON BRANCH OF FISHERY BIOLOGY PROJECTS (MAY 1955): The status, as of mid-May 1955, of the various Saltonstall-Kennedy Act projects under way in the Service's Branch of Fishery Biology is as follows: Research on the Identity of Stocks of See in the High Seas of the North Pacific: A senior biologist h has beenen- gaged to take charge of the sampling pro- gram on the high seas and ashore, Ar- rangements have been made with the Jap- anese Government and fishing companies for biologists to work aboard the Japa- nese high-seas fleet in 1955, Preliminary results from serological research on the identity of salmon stocks have been encouraging. Red-cell sam- ples produced antisera in laboratory ani- mals which showed differences accord- ing to geographical origin of the salmon from which the blood was taken. Growth patterns of ridges on salmon scales have also exhibited differences according to geographical origin of the fish. Spectroscopic examination of scales from young salmon fea bismuth distin- guishes them from fish fed a normal diet, indicating a method of marking young fish for subsequent identification when caught on the high seas, The research vessel John N. Cobbhas been readied for experimental fishing, and fishing gear is being assembled, A contract was awarded the Fisheries Research Institute of the University of Washington for a high-seas tagging pro- gram, It is understood that theInstitute has made preliminary arrangements for charter of a vessel and procurement of supplies, A contract has been let to the Univer- sity of British Columbia for research leading to identification of salmon runs by means of scales. Cost of project: $130,000 for initial year. 2. Research on the King Crab of the Bering Sea: All preliminary work for the 1955 research at sea was accomplish- ed. Bids were secured for charter of a vessel, A pattern of stations for experi- mental crab fishing has been laid out, Cost of project: $50,000 for initial year. 3, Research to Develop Methods of Controlling Oyster Predators and to Im- prove Efficiency of Seed Collection: The staffs of the Milford, Conn. ; Annapolis, Md.; and Pensacola, Fla.; shellfish re- search laboratories have been increased by the employment of four biologists and a statistician in order to provide person- nel to carry out the project. A contract was let to a chemical firm to provide sub- stances for use in developing a drill con- trol agent. A contract was awarded the Florida State University for a survey of predators on oyster reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, a contract is being negotiated with the Texas A. and M. Research Founda- tion for a survey of the currents near Pensacola, leading to the determination of better locations for the attachment and growth of oyster spat. Cost of project: $75,000 a year, 4, Atlantic Herring Research--Booth- bay Harbor, Me.: Available biological and statistical information concerning the Atlantic herring is being reviewed and a report is being prepared in collabora- tion with Canadian investigators. Knowl- June 1955 edge to date will be used for design and conduct of future research, Samples of herring were obtained from New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Bruns- wick for analysis to detect races or sub- populations. The research vessel T. N. Gill was was assigned to the herring project and was outfitted for biological and scouting surveys to determine the annual distri- bution and abundance of herring and to obtain samples from offshore areas, Eight of eleven staff members were recruited, Cost of project: $74,000 for first year. 5. North Atlantic Trawl Fish Investi- gations--Woods Hole, Mass.: WHITING: Mesh selectivity experiments were con- ducted to determine the mesh size re- quired to catch whiting of various sizes, Results show that marketable sizes can be caught without catching or harming smaller fish. Methods of aging whiting are being studied and use of scales ap- pears to be a promising method, OCEAN PERCH: Analysis of ocean perch catch statistics shows that catch per unit of effort in the Gulf of Maine for 1954 was 7.4 thousand pounds per day which is near the average for the last five years. Methods of ageanalysis of ocean perch have been perfected. Cur- rent work is directed towards obtaining a reliable measure of yearly brood size through sampling and age analysis. SEA SCALLOPS: Present knowledge of scallop biology was reviewed. Equip- ment, such as an underwater camera, dredges, and tags, was designed and is being procured, The research vessel Albatross III was dry-docked, equipped, and placed in op- eration, Three cruises to Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine were completed, Project leaders and staff biologists for new projects were recruited. Cost of these projects: $206,000 for first year, COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 59 6, Atlantic Menhaden--Beaufort, N,. C.: Headquarters were established at Beau- fort, N. C. A sampling and age analysis program was being developedto deter- mine relative size of year broods. A series of menhaden larvae, in graduated sizes, is being collected for use in iden- tifying later collections. Tows withfine meshed nets are made biweekly at Indian River, Del. Staff partially recruited. Twobiolo- gists and a statistician of a staff of seven plus several seasonal aids are to be re- cruited, Cost of project: $33,000 for FY 1955. 7. Florida Red-Tide Studies--Fort Myers, Fla.; and Galveston, Tex,: Sampling for Gymnodinimum brevis, the microogranism which causes fish kills, was increased through use of a float plane. Trial flights have shown that wa- ter samples can be easily and quickly obtained by landing in the inside water, Red-tide outbreaks will be detected in early stages by the intensive sampling and patrol. G. brevis distribution is now limited to one small area off Ever- glades, Fla. The research vessel Kingfish was op- erated on observational and sampling cruises during the past year, Cost of project: $53,000 for first year. 8. Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Studies-- Galveston, Tex.: Research, by contract, was under way to develop techniques for marking shrimp and to identify shrimp from different areas by anatomical means, Field and laboratory studies were started to determine conditions which govern shrimp survival and development from the egg to the adult. Five staff members were added. Ex- perimental equipment was obtained, Cost of project: $80,000 for first year. 9, Pacific Sardines and Related Studies-- La Jolla, Calif.: The research vessel 60 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 Black Douglas was placed on operation Cost of project: $125,000 a year. after being laid up for three years. Sur- veys indicate that fair numbers of sar- 10. North Pacific Albacore Studies-- dines are spawning in Southern Califor- Honolulu, Hawaii: Four cruises were nia waters this spring. Last year a re- | conducted in waters north of Hawaii to lation between spring spawning and the define the distribution and abundance of fall catch was noted, If the same rela- albacore tuna. Results to date indicate tion holds this year, the catch of sar- that albacore are located in areas where dines off Southern California should be currents converge and where the temper- 60, 000 tons or greater. ature change is most rapid from southto north, Albacore have been caught con- Research cruises are being continued sistently in these areas but not in com- in cooperation with the California Depart-| mercial quantities. ment of Fish and Game and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Cost of project: $234, 000 a year for ves- sel operation. U.S. Canned Fish and Byproducts--1954 United States (including Alaska, American Samoa, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico) production of canned fishery products and byproducts registered healthy advances in both quantity and value in1954, according to an annual summary report (canned fish and byprod- ucts--1954, C.F.S. No. 1127) re- leased May 5bytheU.S. Fishand Wildlife Service. s ! The 1954 pack of cannedfish- = near, i ‘ ery products processed in 400 plants in 25 States andin Alaska, American Samoa, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, amounted to 868 tis million pounds and was valued at Woe hn $331 million to the packers. This SEES Be anes ee a d6hdis an increase of 10 percent in quantity and 8 percent in value as compared with the previous year. Fishery byproducts in 1954 were valued at $82 million, a gain of 10 percent over 1953. The 1954 gain in production in canned items can be attributed to increased packs of tuna, Maine and Pacific sardines, salmon, and the fish packed for pet food. The pack of tuna and tunalike fishes exceeded that of any other item in both quantity and value, and amounted to almost 11 million standard cases (214 million pounds), valued at $142 million. Compared with 1953, this was an increase of over 1 million standard cases in quantity, and almost $16 million in value. The tuna pack was worth 54 percent more than that of salmon which ranked second in value. Tuna was packed in seven States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and (for the first year) American Samoa, The pack of canned salmon in 1954 amounted to 4 million standard cases (200 million pounds), valued at $92 million to the canners--an increase of 6 percent in quantity and 11 percent in value as compared with 1953. The largest pack of sock- eye salmon in the Puget Sound area since 1913 and an unusually large pack of chum salmon in southeastern Alaska were responsible for the gain, June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 61 Pacific sardines returned to southern California waters in 1954 after an almost complete absence during 1952 and 1953, The catch of 133 million pounds was used to produce a pack of over 1 million standard cases (60 million pounds), compared with less than 64,000 cases in 1953, Had there been a market for additional sup- plies of canned sardines, it is estimated that the pack could have been doubled. The pack of Maine sardines amounted to almost 3 million standard cases (60 million pounds), valued at $18 million to the packers, Compared with the previous ! VALUE OF CANNED FISH AND BYPRODUCTS 1934 - 1954 year, this represented an increase of 5 percent in CANNED BYPRODUCTS TOTAL quantity and 7 percent in g $331,026, 000 $81,571,000 $412,597,000| value, O53. . - 306,873,674 74,371,996 381,245,670 152; . . 305,829,198 67,991,631 373,820,829 1951. 301,210,295 69,313,027 370,523,322 In the byproducts field 1950... 331,335,347 77,188,366 408,523,713} anew record was attained 1949. 295,503,905 78,472,495 373,976,400 ; 1948. 336, 181,000 793,866,000 Ba ee 70no| olen cups oductiony of 1947. . 310,679,000 80,592,000 391,271,000] 296,915 ton of fish meal aeee 227, 629,000 76,643,000 304,272,000} worth $33 million. This 1945... 152,800,000 58,211,000 211,011,000 1944, 152,914,000 63,299,000 ieee ee ee oe tous 1943... 141,189,000 59,136,000 200,325,000; more than in 1953 and am 144,997,000 50,897,000 195,894,000} 13,000 tons above the pre- ome 138, 684,000 56,801,000 195,485,000] .. Feats 1940. . 94,182,000 30,554,000 124’736,000| V10US record production in 1939. 96,627,000 34,039,000 130,666,000, 1936. 1938. 83,446,000 30,576,000 114,022,000 9475087000 3479697000 12975437000 ie eoreiaietieie Ca Tats a568: 533, Cana) Be chee ak 74,999,000 293520,000 104;519,000/ Yrine-animal oils in the Unit 80,021,000 22,598,000 102,619,000] ed States and Alaska during gallons, valued at $13 million to the producers. This 1954 amounted to 22 million was an increase of 9 percent in quantity as compared with 1953, but was only 55 percent of the record 1936 pro- duction when 40 million gallons of oils were produced. Other important byproducts produced during the year were marine pearl-shell, oyster-shell, andfresh-water products valued at $16 million. Byproducts were man- ufactured in 227 plants in 25 States, Alaska, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico in 1954, The Service's Branch of Commercial Fisheries has made annual statistical sur- veys of the domestic production of canned fishery products and byproducts since 1921, The data collected include statistics on the production and value of each canned com- modity by can sizes and trade classification. (a2 U.S. Fish-Stick Production, January-March 1955 United States production of fish sticks continued to rise during the first quarter of 1955, reaching a total of 18.0 million pounds, according to Fish Stick Report, January-March (C.F.S. No. 1132), published bythe U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see table). This was 8.0 million pounds more than was produced during the same pe- U.S. Fish-Stick Production, Jan,-Mar, 1955and 1954 Uncooked riod of 1954 and 2.7 million February 4,9 a3 pounds more than the produc- |March Ge 9 4 tion during the last quarter of ot alee Moen OS On ae ial lb eb Ol 1954, ‘62 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 A total of 5.1 million pounds was packed during January, 5.8 million pounds during February, and 7,1 million pounds during March, The largest amount previ- ously reported was in October 1954--5.6 million pounds, During the first quarter of 1955, 86 percent of the fish sticks were precooked, This was only a slightly smaller proportion than the 87 percent reported during the entire previous year. This bulletin, the first in a series is available free from the Division of Infor- mation, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington 25, D. C. > en U. S. Foreign Trade EDIBLE FISHERY PRODUCTS, FEBRUARY 1955: United States imports of fresh, frozen, and processed edible fish and shellfish in February 1955 amounted to 55.4 million pounds (valued at $13.6 million), according to a Department of Com- merce summary tabulation (see table), This was an increase of 1 percent in quan- tity but a decrease of 4 percent in value as compared with January imports of 54,9 million pounds (valued at $14.2 million), Compared with a year earlier, February imports were about the same in quantity but 7 percent less in value. United States Foreign Trade in Edible Fishery Products, February 1955 with Comparisons Heb MELO 55 Feb. 1954 Year 1954 Valuel Quantity] Value| Quantity|Value Fish & shellfish: fresh, frozen, & Exports: Fish & shellfish: processedl/ only (excluding ireshvandstrozen) a -meueleas / Includes pastes, sauces, clam chowder and juice, and other specialties. 1/ processed— . Exports of processed edible fish and shellfish (excluding fresh and frozen) in February 1955 totaled 6.7 million pounds (valued at $1.5 million)--a decrease of 45 percent in quantity and 35 percent in value as compared with January exports of 12.2 million pounds (valued at $2.3 million). February exports were higher by 179 per- cent in quantity and 88 percent in value as compared with a year earlier, due tolarg- er exports of California sardines, Virginia eries Laboratory and the Chesapeake Bay Institute are conducting a joint investiga- tion of oyster grounds in the Hampton Roads area. The Virginia Department of High- ways has employed a construction firm to build a combination bridge and tunnel a- cross this famous waterway to link the Newport News area with Norfolk. Two large artificial islands are being built, one on each side of the ship chan- nel, each to be joined to the adjacent shore by a bridge. Thetunnel, which willcross the channel from one island to the other, is to be made of precast sections which will be laid in a dredged trench and covered with sand. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 63 This bridge-tunnel crosses or adjoins some of the most productive oyster bot- tom in Virginia, The oystermen have voiced concern that their oysters may be damaged or their grounds destroyed by deposition of silt during the dredging opera- tions. The two laboratories are making studies to determine the transport of silt from the dredging operations, and to investigate the effects, if any, upon the oys- ters. The results of the work should have far-reaching application in other prob- lems of a similar nature, —~—" Fr Wholesale Prices, April 1955 Increased production and lighter demand for fresh and frozen fish and shellfish caused a further drop in wholesale prices from March to April. The over-all index of edible fish and shellfish (fresh, frozen, and canned) in April 1955 was 98,7 per- cent of the 1947-49 average (see table)--2.0 percent less than in March and 6,6 per- cent below April 1954, Lower prices for Western halibut, salmon, and yellow pike at New York in A- pril 1955 more than offset higher prices for large haddock at Boston and most fresh- Table 1 - Wolesale Average Prices and Indexes for Edible Fish and Shellfish, April 1955 with Comparisons Point of Avg, Prices1/ Indexes Group, Subgroup, and Item Specification Pricing Unit (3) (1947-49=100) Apr. | Mar. Apr. 1955 | 1955 1955 MAMISHic HELE RSH (eres, rOzen, cc Ganned) |. cu. 5 =< 5» sits: + «elle ite 6 98.7 Riresiicohirozen!Mishery Products: <5). « + 6 ces + « s : Haddock, lge., offshore, drawn, fresh . . ... Halibut, West., 20/80 lbs., drsd., fresh or froz, | New York Salmon, king, lge. & med., drsd., fresh or froz, | New York Whitefish, L, Superior, drawn, fresh ..... Chicago Whitefish, L, Erie pound or gill net,rnd., fresh | New York Lake trout, domestic, No. 1, drawn, fresh. . . | Chicago Yellow pike, L, Michigan& Huron, rnd.,fresh . |New York Boston Processed,Fresh (Fish & Shellfish):. ..... Fillets, haddock, sml,, skins on, 20-lb, tins . .] Boston g 5 5 88.5] 78.3] 100.4) 95.3 Shrimp, lge. (26-30 count), headless, fresh, . .] New York 5 101.1} 98.0] 91.7} 109.1 Oysters, shucked, standards ,...... . .| Norfolk i 114.4} 117.5 | 120.6} 117.5 Processed, Frozen (Fish & Shellfish): ..... Fillets: Flounder (yellowtail), skinless, 1-1b, PRGeyee tach eee el ve, sete Se)» (s0ston Haddock, sml,,skins on, 1-lb. pkg. . . | Boston Ocean perch, skins on, 1-lb, pkg. . . | Boston Shrimp, lge. (26-30 count), 5-lb. pkg. . . . . | Chicago Canned Fishery Products: .... Aare nee eke ela sa tection kee Salmon, pink, No, 1 tall (16 0z.), 48 can/cs. . Seattle Tuna, lt, meat, chunk, No. 1/2 tuna (8-1/2 oz.), ASiCans/(CS pate suis olga sched cea ias enone Los Angeles|case| 12.70 | 12.90 Sardines, Calif,, tom. pack, No, 1 oval (15 oz.), ASiCdS/ CSal cms seine ieee ine, aie cen | eosiAngelesicase|| #7230)1). 7-30 Sardines, Maine, keyless oil, No. 1/4 drawn (3-1/4 0z.), 100 cans/ces.. 2... Bee eee ||Newsrorks |fcase|), #72209|"7220 1/Represent average prices for one day (Monday or Tuesday) during the week in which the 15th of the month occurs, These prices are published as indicators of movement and not necessarily absolute level, Daily Market News Service ‘‘Fishery Products Reports”’ should be referred to for actual prices. 2/Not available, 64 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol, 17, No. 6 water varieties at New York and Chicago, This accounted for the 7.5-percent de- cline in the drawn, dressed, or whole finfish subgroup index from March to April a 1955. Compared with April 1954, all items were consid- erably lower in April 1955 and the index for the sub- group was down 10.3 percent, Fresh haddock fillet prices rose from March to April, the first increase for some months, due to im- proved demand, Fresh shrimp prices were alsohigh- er as production continued good and demand improved. Oyster prices were down slightly from the previous month because the season drew to a close at the end of April. The April 1955 index for the fresh processed fish and shellfish subgroup was 1.0-percent higher than arieial ; March but 5.3 percent below Boxes of fish stacked up in the shipping and receiving room of a wholesale April 1954, firm in Chicago’s Fulton Market, Lower prices for frozen haddock fillets and frozen shrimp caused a 1. 5-per- cent decline from March to April in the index for frozen processed fish and shell- fish. Flounder fillets were priced higher in April, while ocean perch fillet prices remained unchanged, April 1955 prices for frozen processed fish and shellfish were down 4.1 percent as compared with a year earlier--prices for all items were lower except flounder fillets which were priced considerably higher. The only price change from March to April in the canned fishery products sub- group was a slight drop for tuna; all other items were the same, Canned tuna in- ventories are reported heavy. Compared with the same month a year earlier, A- pril prices for tuna and Maine sardines were substantially lower and salmonprices were significantly higher. IRISH MOSS "Trish Moss" is the trade name for the seaweed, Chondrus crispus, which is used commercially in the manufacture of carageenin. Carageenin is used in the making of preparedfoods, drugs, andcosmetics, asit has remarkable thick- ening, suspending, emulsifying, gelling, and stabilizing powers. At present its most important use is as a stabilizer in chocolate milk. It is also usedin pre- pared cheeses, ice-cream toppings, saladdressings, syrups, puddings, candies, etc. Irish moss was originally imported from Europe, but in 1835 was dis- covered in abundance along the rocky shores of Massachusetts. It is found in quantity along the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to Newfoundland. --Sea Secrets, July 20, 1954 The Marine Laboratory, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 65 International INTERNATIONAL PERMANENT COMMITTEE ON CANNED FOODS MEETING AT GOTEBORG, SWEDEN, IN 1954: The 1954 meeting of the Inter- national Permanent Committee on Canned Foods (CIPC) took place at the Swedish Institute for Food Preservation Research, Kalleback, Goteborg, Sweden, from Sep- tember 27-October 25, 1954. There were some 50 delegates and advisers from Belgium, France, West Ger- many, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and observers from Denmark, Norway, the Tin Research Institute, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The program covered a 4-day meeting during which the delegates split up into standing commissions. These include among others the Scientific Commission, Commission for Standardization of Cans for Fish, and Commission for the Regula- tion and Definition of Canned Fish. Scientific Commission: Under the heading ''Bacteriology,'' research work car- ried out ina number of member countries on the bacteriology of semipreserved marinades, on sterilization of spices and on bacteriological definitions of canned foods, e. g. semipreserved canned hams, was discussed. Under the heading "Standardization of Analytical Methods,"' the determination of dry matter in tomato pastes, and of total nitrogen, tin, and small quantities of SO» in canned foods, was discussed, as well as ways and means of cooperating with the American Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (AOAC) work of stand- ardizing analytical methods. The CIPC has made an "International Survey of the National Legislations on the Use of Preservatives in Foods.'' This survey will be published in the near future. A similar survey on the use of artificial coloring in foods has also been made, but publication will be delayed as many countries are amending their legislation in this field. Both surveys will be issued in loose-leaf form, Commission for Standardization of Cans for Fish: A list of 12 sizes (capacity in mililiters) for round cans ranging from 85 to 1,700 ml. was approved for recom- mendation to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In addition to the already standardized rectangular ''Club 125" can, the so-called 1/15 P can was discussed and a standard capacity of 50 ml.t 5% was adopted, anda length of 97 * 2 mm. and width of 44 t 2 mm. was recommended. It was decided to give further study to the standardization of the ; Dingley can and a standard capacity of 118 ml. + 5% was suggested. Commission for the Regulation and Definition of Canned Fish: In this Commis- sion, problems of using frozen sardines for subsequent canning were discussed, as 66 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVEIW Vol. 17, No. 6 well as the necessity of standardizing declarations of weight of contents on the labels of canned fish, the necessity of standardization of the definition of marinades in var- ious languages, the definitions of tunas, and the use of preservatives in the handling and processing of fish for subsequent canning. Commission for the Organization of the Third International Congress on Canned Foods: This Congress will take place in September 1956 in Italy, in conjunction with the Canned Foods and Packaging Fair of Parma. The Canning Congress may be held in Rome or Parma depending on the decision of the host country. A five-day meeting is planned and the tentative program was established after a lengthy discussion. This will cover summaries of reports on the CIPC activities, reports on advances in can- ning technology, sessions on packaging (containers) and machinery methodology of market investigations, economics of canning, waste and pollution problems, public health and educational (propaganda) aspects, canned foods and nutrition, and finally, bacteriological problems and definition of canned foods. FAO/CIPC Relations: The FAO observer took part in the discussion of the Scientific Commission and the Commission for the Regulation and Definition of Canned Fish when FAO/CIPC cooperation was informally discussed. A more formal discussion had been planned for the final plenary meeting, but had to be postponed till the next session of the CIPC which is to take place in Paris inthe autumn of 1955. Nutrition Symposium: Following the CIPC meeting, the Swedish Institute for Food Preservation Research organized a 3-day symposium on ''Nutritive Aspects of Preserved Food,'' with over 20 contributors of reports and over 60 participants from Denmark, France, West Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United King- dom, and the United States. The reports, but not the discussions, will probably be issued in printed form at a later date, reports the January-March FAO Fisheries Bulletin. TERRITORIAL WATERS COMMISSION TO STUDY ICELANDIC-BRITISH FISHING CONFLICT: A solution to the conflict between Iceland and British fishing interests which has lasted for more than four years will be sought by the Office of European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), reports the February 18 International Financial News Survey. A commission will be appointed consisting of two representatives from the United Kingdom and two from Iceland, with a neutral chairman, The origin of the conflict was the extension by Iceland in 1950 of her exclusive fishery limits. Since the new limits excluded all trawling (Icelandic and foreign) on certain fishing banks, the trawlers were especially affected. As a reprisal, British trawling interests boycotted Icelandic trawlers, which have not been able to land fish in British ports since. TRADE AGREEMENTS GATT NINTH SESSION CLOSED MARCH 7: The Ninth Session of the Contract- ing Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which convened in Geneva on October 28, 1954, closed March 7, 1955, the Department of State announced. Representatives of the contracting parties completed the review of the Gen- eral Agreement, which began on November 8, and the drafting of: (1) An agreement establishing an organization for trade cooperation to admin- ister the GATT and to facilitate consultation and study of matters relating to inter - national trade; (2) Amendments of the trade rules contained in the General Agreement; June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 67 (3) Technical amendments of the General Agreement to give effect to the trans- fer of its organizational provisions to the proposed new organization for trade co- operation; and (4) A declaration extending from June 30, 1955, to January 1, 1958, the firm life of the tariff concessions previously negotiated by the contracting parties which are an integral part of the General Agreement. The text of the Agreement on the Organization for Trade Cooperation and the texts of other documents will be authenticated, and will be open in Geneva for signa- ture by governments. The GATT is the principal instrument through which the United States has car- ried out the provisions and purposes of the Trade Agreements Act. It is a multi- lateral trade agreement among 34 nations, including practically all major trading countries accounting for approximately 80 percent of world trade. Negctiations looking toward the accession of Japan to the GATT are now under way. United States participation in the review session of the Contracting Parties to the GATT afforded opportunity to carry out the recommendation of the President's Commission on Foreign Economic Policy that the organizational provisions of the GATT be renegotiated with a view to providing an organization to sponsor multi- lateral trade negotiations, to recommend broad trade policies, and to provide a forum for consultation regarding trade matters, and that the organizational provisions so renegotiated be submitted to the Congress for approval. In his message to Congress on foreign economic policy of March 30, 1954, President Eisenhower signified his intention to act promptly on these recommendations and to seek to negotiate certain revisions of the trade rules of the General Agreement to provide a simpler and stronger instrument. The decision was made by the contracting parties in October 1953 to convene a session in the fall of 1954, ''to review the operation of the General Agreement upon the basis of experience gained since it has been in provisional operation, and in the light of this review to examine to what extent it would be desirable to amend or sup- plement existing provisions of the Agreement and what modifications should be made in arrangements for its administration." The Contracting Parties agreed to convene the Tenth Session on October 27, 1955, at Geneva. Tariff negotiations involving Japan and certain other negotiations with contracting parties to the GATT convened at Geneva on February 21, 1955. ok ok ke ok PUBLIC ADVISERS TO U.S. GATT DELEGATION APPOINTED: The designa- tion of four public advisers to the United States Delegation at Geneva which conduct- ed tariff negotiations with Japan and other countries, was announced April 16 by the State Department. The United States officials on the negotiating delegation represent nine executive agencies and departments of the government. It is expected that this delegation will be materially aided by the broad experience and judgment of the public advisers just appointed. The negotiations at Geneva are being conducted between the United States and Japan, on the one hand, and between the United States and third countries which are negotiating with the Japanese under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Upon conclusion of the negotiations, Japan is expected to become 68 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 a full-fledged participant in the General Agreement. At present Japan is participat- ing on a provisional basis. The public advisers arrived in Geneva about April 24. They were: R.G. Smith, executive vice-president in charge of international operations of the Bank of America; L.F. Whittemore, Chairman of the board of directors of Brown Company, pulp and paper manufacturers of Berlin, N. H.; A. B. Kline, former President of the Ameri- can Farm Bureau Federation; B. Seidman, Staff Economist for the American Federa- tion of Labor. 3K OK OK ok AGREEMENT ON ORGANIZATION FOR TRADE COOPERATION AND AMEND- MENTS TOGATT: Assistant Secretary of State Samuel C. Waugh on March 21 signed on behalf of the United States in Geneva, Switzerland, the documents incorpo- rating the results of the review of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The GATT is an international trade agreement adhered to by 34 countries, reports a March 21 release from the Department of State. The most important of the documents is an agreement establishing an Organiza- tion for Trade Cooperation to administer the GATT. Mr. Waugh's signature of the Agreement was conditional on Congressional approval of United States membership in the Organization. In addition to the Agreement establishing the OTC, Waugh also signed several protocols amending the trade rules contained in the General Agreement itself. The Department of State is preparing and plans shortly to publish the texts of the amend- ments showing their relationship to the GATT. The Agreement on the Organization for Trade Cooperation is intended primarily to provide permanent arrangements for the administration of the GATT. The negotia- tion of the OTC Agreement was a fulfillment of that part of the President's message to the Congress on March 30, 1954, in which he said the United States would seek the renegotiation of the GATT's organizational provisions and that he would submit them to the Congress for its approval. Under the new arrangements functions formerly exercised jointly by the coun- tries party to the Agreement, in their informal periodic meetings, would be trans- ferred to the Organization for Trade Cooperation. In addition, the Organization would be empowered to sponsor international trade negotiations and to serve as an intergovernmental forum for the discussion and solution of other questions relating to international trade. The Organization's structure would include an Assembly, consisting of all the countries party to the GATT. There would also be an Executive Committee to which the Assembly would delegate powers to handle problems arising between sessions of the Assembly. Under the criteria for election to the Executive Committee, which will consist of 17 members, the United States is assured of a permanent seat on the Committee. The establishment of the OTC constitutes recognition by countries representing more than 80 percent of the world's trade that expansion of international trade re- quires cooperative international action to remove trade barriers. The creation of a permanent body to administer the GATT would also make possible the better en- forcement of the trade rules protecting the more than 50,000 tariff concessions that have been negotiated and incorporated in the Agreement. The OTC would also facili- tate settlement of trade disputes which could give rise to international tensions in the free world. The Geneva Conference reaffirmed the basic objectives and obligations included in the GATT, including the principle of nondiscriminations in international trade. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 69 The general prohibition against the use of quantitative restrictions on imports was also confirmed. One of the major achievements of the conference was agreement to extend the assured life of the tariff concessions beyond June 30, 1955, the present expiration date. The assured life of the concessions would be extended to December 31, 1957. Provisions were also written into the Agreement for the future automatic continuance of the concessions for three-year periods after December 31, 1957. Arrangements were made to allow in special circumstances the renegotiation of concessions dur - ing this period. The Agreement on the Organization for Trade Cooperation provides in part: The Organization shall administer the General Agreement and generally facili- tate the operation of that Agreement. Organization shall have the following functions: (1) Facilitate intergovernmental consultations on questions relating to international trade; (2) Sponsor international trade negotiations; (3) Study questions of internation- al trade and commercial policy and, where appropriate, make recommendations thereon; (4) To collect, analyze, and publish information and statistical data relating to international trade and commercial policy, due regard being paid to the activities in this field of other international bodies. The Assembly shall appoint a Director-General as chief administrative officer of the Organization. The powers, duties, conditions of service, and term of office of the Director-General shall conform to regulations approved by the Assembly. The Director-General shall appoint the members of the staff, and shall fix their duties and conditions of service in accordance with regulations approved by the As- sembly. OK OK OK DANISH-ARGENTINE AGREEMENT INCLUDES COD: Denmark will ship to Argentina cod valued at US$15, in the first year of a five-year trade agreement signed by the two countries in Buenos Aires February 18. No fishery products ship- ments from Argentine to Denmark are included in the agreement, reports an April6 U.S. Embassy dispatch from Buenos Aires. OK OK Kk NORWEGIAN-EAST GERMAN AGREEMENT INCLUDES FISHERY PRODUCTS: A global compensation agreement for 1955 involving fishery products between Nor- way and East Germany was recently concluded in Berlin between Norsk Kompensa- jonsselskap A/S and Deutscher Innen-und Aussenhandel. Substantial increases in Norwegian exports to East Germany for canned fish and other items are offset by decreases in fresh and frozen fish and herring meal. Norwegian export to East Germany in 1955 will include the following fishery products: fresh winter herring, valued at 7.9 million kroner (US$1.1 million); froz- en winter herring for March-July delivery, 8.2 million kroner (US$1.2 million); fresh and frozen fish, delivery from May, 5.7 million kroner (US$0.8 million); salted herring for March-November delivery, 8.4 million kroner (US$1.2 million); canned fish for delivery in the 3rd and 4th quarters, 9.7 million kroner (US$1.4 million); herring meal, 1.5 million kroner (US$0.2 million); mackerel meal, 0.7 millionkroner (US$98,000); pearlessence, 0.4 million kroner (US$49,000). No fishery products are included in the agreement for shipment from East Germany to Norway. Ok Kk ok 70 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 NORWEGIAN-ISRAEL AGREEMENT INCLUDES FISHERY PRODUCTS: A trade agreement between Norway and Israel for the period May 7, 1955, to May 6, 1956, was signed in Oslo April 13, and includes Norwegian exports of frozen fish, herring, and canned fish. Israel will not ship any fishery products to Norway, states anA- pril 15 U.S. Embassy dispatch from Oslo. UNITED NATIONS ROME MEETING ON WORLDWIDE FISHERIES CONSERVATION OPENS: Ex- perts from countries in many parts of the world gathered at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy, April 18 for the opening of a 2- to3-week United Nations conference on ''the conservation of the living resources of the sea.'' When the conference was first discussed in the U. N. General Assembly last win- ter, the narrower word ''fisheries'’ was used, but this was changed to ''living resources of the sea’ in order to cover the whole broad field of ma- rine life, ranging from whales to seaweed. The main purpose of the conference was to examine all fishery conservation techniques, both national and international, which have been employed to date, and then to see how they can be applied in areas where con- servation is needed but where little or nothing has so far been done. The conference was opened in the name of Secretary-General Dag Hammarsk- jold by his special representative for the occasion, Adrian Pelt, Director of the European Office of the United Nations in Geneva. Pelt emphasized the Secretary- General's interest in the solution of the problem, and the importance he attaches to the spread of modern techniques. Some of the 50 or so governments expected to attend were represented by their ambassadors in Rome. Others, notably countries with important fishing interests, sent technical experts. The urgency of the matters confronting the delegates may be gathered from a study of the Assembly's proceedings, and a glance at some of the findings made public by FAO. The question of fishery conservation was brought to the Assembly by a number of nations, including such maritime powers as Brazil, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States. In their request for immediate Assembly consideration, these countries stressed the need for giving prompt attention to the technical aspects of the fishery conservation problem without waiting for the U.N. International Law Commission to complete its work on the legal aspects, a task which the Commission is undertaking as part of its codification of the law of the high seas and of territorial waters. The Commission itself noted the immediacy of the issue when it pointed out in its most recent report on the subject that existing international law ''provides no adequate protection of marine fauna against extermination.'' This, it emphasized, "constitutes a danger to the food supply of the ,world." After a debate in which stress was laid on the fact that the world's fish catch was decreasing despite improved modern fishing methods, the Assembly's Legal Committee agreed to the wish of the requesting countries that a conference be held in April at FAO's Rome Headquarters. Throughout the debate emphasis was laid on the fact that the conference was to be of a strictly technical nature which would June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 71 not encroach in any way upon the Law Commission's work in the legal field. Several speakers expressed the belief that the views of the economic and technical experts attending the conference would be of great value to the Assembly when it ultimately considered the draft Articles on Fisheries which the Commission is formulating. In the current issue of its monthly publication Memo, FAO discusses the situa- tion in an article entitled ''Plenty of Food in the Waters. ‘ Declaring that ''the world's water areas, although covering TIEN CRESS three quarters of its surface, are pro- viding only about one percent of man! s total food supplies and about 10 percent of his total animal protein supplies," the article says that production from these areas is limited not by the number of fish to be caught "but merely by limits on man's present ability to find, catch, and distribute 7 The article stresses that ''many existing fisheries resources are not being ex- ploited to an extent anywhere near their safe productivity." ''This,"' it continues, "is particularly the case in inland fish culture under controlled methods. For the Indo-Pacific region alone, the area of cultivable water is estimated at 37 million hectares (143,000 square miles), which could give very considerable results.' Drawing attention to some of the "less commonly exploited food resources, the article cites such examples as ''zooplanktons which are taken in considerable quantities in Asian countries for the manufacture of pastes and other fisheries pro- ducts; or seaweeds which, suitably processed, can yield large quantities of foods rich in carbohydrates." "It has been estimated, for instance," the article adds, "that Scotland alone could produce from 70,000 to 110,000 metric tons of carbohy- drate annually, for human or stock consumption, from seaweeds harvested along the coastline." Much of the work of the conference was concerned with different aspects of FAO's extensive and varied activities on the problem. Also before it were a num- ber of background papers submitted by scientific and economic experts from many countries. These papers served as a basis for discussion, and included two by Dr. Michael Graham, Director of Fishery Research of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Dr. Graham makes it clear that the problem is by no means a new one. Recall- ing some of the early history of fishery conservation efforts, he notes that in the year 1376 the Commons petitioned the King of England, complaining that ''certain fishermen for seven years past have subtily contrived an instrument which they called 'wondyrchoun','' The ''wondyrchoun,"' the petition said, was made like an oyster dredge with a close net attached. Its ''great andlongiron... runs so heavily and hardly over the ground when fishing that it destroys the flowers of the land be- low water there, and also the spat of oysters, mussels, and other fish upon which the great fish are accustomed to be fed and nourished. By which instrument in many places the fishermen take such quantity of small fish that they do not know what to do with them; and that they feed and fat their pigs with them, to the great damage of the Commons of the Realm and destruction of the fisheries. . ." International Law Commission TERRITORIAL WATERS AND FISHERIES ITEMS GET FIRST CONSIDERATION AT COMMISSION MEETING IN GENEVA: The International Law Commission is ex- pected to concentrate its efforts on the items regime of the high seas and regime of the territorial sea at its seventh session which began at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on Monday,May 2. The session was scheduled to last for about 10 weeks, according to an April 27 U. N. news release. The Commission was established by the General Assembly in 1947 to promote the progressive development of international law and its codification. Its members, 72 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 who, serve in their individual capacity as persons of recognized competence in inter- national law and not as representatives of governments, are elected by the General Assembly. The provisional agenda of the seventh session (Doc. A/CN. 4/89) contains eight items. Listed below, with background notes are those items of interest to the fish- eries and allied industries. Regime of the H ign & Seas: The Commission decided to take up this question in 1949 when GE ironge ticesoe P. A. Francois, who is also Secretary-General of the Per- manent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, was elected special rapporteur for this matter. He has submitted six reports on the subject (Documents A/CN.4/17, A/CN. 4/42, A/CN.4/51, A/CN.4/60, A/CN.4/69 and A/CN.4/79). On the basis of some of these the Commission has adopted draft articles on the continental shelf, fisheries, and the contiguous zone (see document A/2456, chapter III). The sixth report of the special rapporteur (Doc. A/CN.4/79), which will form the basis of discussion of this item at the present session, deals with such subjects as the freedom of the high seas, merchant ships on the high seas, state ships on the high seas, safety of ship- ping, submarine cables and pipelines, penal jurisdiction in matters of collision on the high seas, policing of the high seas, sedentary fisheries, and water pollution. It is also probable that the Commission will again discuss the question of fisheries, as in the course of its session it will receive the report of the International Tech- nical Conference on the Conservation of the Living Resources of the Sea which be- gan at the Food and Agriculture Organization's Rome headquarters on April 18. Regime of the Territorial Sea: In 1951 the Commission appointed Mr. Francois rapporteur for this subject. On the basis of his three reports (Doc. A/CN.4/53 A/CN.4/61 and A/CN.4/77) the Commission at its sixth session in 1954 prepared a draft which was circulated to the members of the United Nations for comments. A number of governments have submitted their observations (Doc. A/CN.4/90 and Addenda) and in the light of these observations the draft will be considered again by the Commission at the seventh session. The question of the breadth of the ter- ritorial sea was left open in the draft and the governments were asked to assist the Commission by stating their views on this problem. Several governments have done so, and it is expected that the Commission will endeavor to formulate concrete pro- posals concerning this controversial question at the present session. A working paper containing an analysis of the replies from governments will be submitted in the course of the session. Members of the International Law Commission are elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly. The present membership is as follows: Gilberto Amado, Brazil; Douglas L. Edmonds, United States; J. P. A. Francois, Netherlands; J. V. Garcia-Amador, Cuba; Shuhsi Hsu, China; Faris Bey el-Khouri, Syria; S. B. Krylov, USSR; Radhabinod Pal, India; Carlos Salamanca, Bolivia; A. E. F. Sandstrom, Swe- den; Georges Scelle, France; Jean Spiropoulos, Greece; Jaroslav Zourek, Czecho- slovakia. WHALING ANTARCTIC CATCH DOWN IN 1954/55: The 1954/55 Antarctic pelagic (open sea) baleen whaling season, which ended on March 19, 1955, resulted in a provision- al catch of 15,300 blue-whale units, —/ or somewhat less than the 15,456 units taken during the 1953/54 season, according to preliminary information available in the April 11 Foreign Crops and Markets, a Department of Agriculture publication. The reported catch during the 72-day hunting period was well under the maximum catch quota of 15,500 units established by international agreement but, being provisional, may be incomplete . 7/1 blue-whale unit = 1 blue whale, or 2 fin whales, or 2.5 humpback whales, or 6 sei whales. Thus, the actual number of — whales taken during the season is far greater than the indicated number of units. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 73 Nineteen factoryships and about 230 catcher boats were engaged in the 1954/55 pelagic operations. Participating countries and the number of factoryships employ- ed by each were: Norway 9, United Kingdom 3, Japan 3, and the Soviet Union, Netherlands, Union of South Africa, and Panama 1 each. Complete data regarding the production of whale oil from this season's catch are not yet available. How- ever, it is believed that output by Norwegian and British South African expeditions was down from the year before. Total production of whale oil during the 1953/54 Antarctic season was around 367,000 short tons. Some 25,000tons of sperm whale oil also was produced during last year's pelagic operations. Norway: According to reports from ‘the 9 Norwe- gian expeditions total production by Norwegian factory- ships was 665,794 barrels (about 111,000 metric tons) of whale oil, compared with 931,694 barrels (about 155,300 tons) in 1954; and 136,777 barrels (22, 800 tons) of sperm oil in 1955 as compared with 31,391 barrels (5,200 tons) in 1954. This total pro- duction was the poorest for the Norwegians since the first postwar season in 1946/47, points out a March 25 U.S. Embassy dispatch from Oslo. The value of the 1955 Norwegian whale oil, all of which was sold on forward contracts at prices ranging from £75-77.5 (US$210-217) per metric ton, has been estimated at 170 kroner (US$23.8 million) as compared with 211 million kroner (US$29 .6 million) for last year's production. As this year's sperm-oil production has not yet been sold, its value has not been estimated. Norwegian spokesmen have cited the following explanations for the reduced out- put by the Norwegian expeditions in the season just concluded: (1) with two addition- al non-Norwegian (one Japanese and one Onassis) expeditions in operation this year competition for the same number of blue-whale units (15,500) increased; (2) many of the whales caught by Norwegian expeditions this year were unusually lean and provided proportionately less whale oil; and (3) unfavorable weather at times hinder - ed Norwegian whaling. Japan: The three Japanese fleets reported a total catch of 2,771.6 blue-whale units, against a target of 2,150. This compares very favorably with an actual catch of 1,896 blue-whale units for the previous season, when only two fleets operated. Baleen whale oil obtained totaled 53,555 metric tons as compared to 37,540 tons for the 1954 expeditions, a March 25 U.S. Embassy dispatch from Tokyo reports. Ok ok ANTARCTIC 1954/55 WHALE- AND SPERM-OIL PRODUCTION: Total pro- duction of whale and sperm oil during the 1954/55 Antarctic season was about 362,690 and 52,830 short tons, respectively, according to preliminary data reported by the U. S. Embassy at Oslo, Norway. This represents a decrease of nearly 10 percent in whale-oil production when compared with the final 1953/54 figure of 399,665 tons. Sperm-oil production, however, was almost double the 26,990 tons produced in the previous season. Pelagic production by the 19 expeditions operating in 1954/55 accounted for 329,720 tons of the whale oil produced and 52,070 tons of the sperm oil. The re- mainder resulted from South Georgia shore-station operations. 74 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Wo, 17, NOs © INTERNATIONAL FAIR OF FISHERY AND ALLIED ACTIVITIES TO BE HELD IN ITALY The Fifteenth ''International Fair of Fishery and Allied Activities" will be held in Ancona, Italy, from July 16-31, 1955. The Fair will include an international marketing display of technical developments in commercial fisheries; technical congresses; meetings of fishermen; and events on sport fishing. Further informa- tion may be obtained from: Segreteria Generale della Fiera Internazionale della Pesca, Mandracchio, Ancona, Italy. Aden STATUS OF FISHERIES: Aden's fishing industry is loosely organized and its methods are primitive, reports a U. S. Embassy dispatch (April 1) from Aden. The fish caught are principally tuna, kingfish, caranx, sardines, and anchovies. What is not consumed is dried and salted for export, the latter running from 2,000-3,000 metric tons a year. The leading markets are still Ceylon, West Germany, and East Africa. A marketing officer was added to the Colony government in March and a proposed marketing and purchasing fishery cooperative may be developed. Also, there is some local business interest in organizing the industry to improve exports. Recently a United States ship left with a full cargo of dried fish for the United States. & Australia the finding of Japanese fishing buoys at various places on Australia’s eastern coast, some newspaper reports (Australian) and comments failed to distinguish between international law on two very different matters, namely, the sedentary fisheries and sea-bed resources of the continental shelf and the swimming fisheries outside territorial waters, points-out the March 1955 Fisheries Newsletter, an Australian fishery publication. The Australian Minister for Commerce and Agriculture issued several press statements in the course of which he said: "There appears to be considerable misunderstanding about the Common- wealth Fisheries Act 1952-53 which has been confused with the pearl fishing legislation passed by Parliment also in 1952. "The Australian Government has shown in its pearl fishing legislation and in its administration of it, a complete determination to exercise its rights to control sedentary fishing on the Continental Shelf. Under international law these rights in- clude the control of the products of the sea bed which of course include pearl oysters. "The Government, on the other hand, has never sought to exercise control, other than of Australian nationals, in respect of the swimming fish industry. In its pres- ent state, international law draws a distinction between the resources of the sea bed and the control of swimming fish beyond the accepted territorial limits which, roughly speaking, are three miles off shore. The Fisheries Act lays down the rules with which Australians must comply in Australian waters outside territorial waters. "The Commonwealth Government certainly wishes to negotiate agreements to regulate fishing in waters adjacent to Australia. However, it would be futile to ex- pect the Japanese to limit their fishing operations on the high seas if we were not June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 75 prepared and ina position to control Australian fishing operations also, so thata total plan of conservation could be operated. We could put no limit on our own fishing operations without first passing a law to enable control of them, and that is one of the reasons why we passed the Fisheries Act in 1952, Australia now has a basis upon which to negotiate." 2 OK ok kk TUNA LANDINGS, 1954/55: A large Sydney, Australia, tuna canner reports that tuna landings this season to December 31, 1954, totaled 1.5 million pounds, according to the February Fisheries Newsletter, an Australian fishery periodical. J British Honduras FISHERY PRODUCTS EXPORTS, JANUARY-NOVEMBER 1954: British Honduras exports of fishery products in January-November 1954 totaled 296,000 pounds, val- British Honduras Exports of Fishery Products, January-November 1954 and 1953 (Total Exports and Exports to United States) Product 1954 1953 Quantit Value SEE 1,000 1,000 Fresh, frozen, or live fish: Total exports Exports to U.S. Total exports Exports to U.S. piny lobsters, whole: Total exports Exports to U.S. piny lobster tails: Total exports Exports to U.S. onchs: Total exports Exports to U.S. Shrimp: Total exports Exports to U.S. Total all fishery products: Total exports : 224.4 |84.0 Exports to U.S : i ie ao) ued at BH$125,000 (US$87,600), compared with exports for the similar period in 1953 totaling 224,000 pounds, valued at BH$84,000 (US$58,600). The United States received 64 percent of the British Honduras fish and shellfish exports in the first 11 months of 1954 as compared with 79 percent in the same period a year earlier (see table). Spiny lobsters comprised the bulk of these exports, and a large in- crease in shipments of whole spiny lobsters in 1954 accounted for the increase in total fishery products exports from British Honduras. paw 76 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 British Guiana FISHING INDUSTRY, 1953: Almost 6 million pounds of fish with an estimated value of US$1.4 million, were caught in 1953 in the waters of the seacoast and of the estuaries of British Guiana's major rivers, a U.S. consular dispatch (April 12) from Port of Spain reports. Although some deep-sea fishing is done off of British Guiana, most of the Colony's fish is caught in the relatively shallow, muddy waters along its 300-mile coastline. Fishing activities include shrimping. A dried-shrimp and shrimp-meal factory is in operation. During 1954 the British Guiana Credit Corporation made loans totaling about US$ 28,000 for development of the fishing industry. eS Cuba TUNA CAUGHT BY EXPLORATORY VESSEL FISHING IN CUBAN WATERS: A total of 5,100 pounds of tuna was caught by the Cuban vessel Cubamar Ie Fig. 1 -Bait in the live-bait tank of the Cubamar II Fig. 2 - A boat leaving the Cubamar Il to load up with bait. during a 5-day exploratory fishing cruise which began July 25,1954. Only 3 hours and 10 minutes were required to catch the amount of tuna indicated. The average weight of the fish was 3 pounds each, and the catch consisted of 60 percent oceanic bonito or skipjack tuna (Kat- suwonus pelamis) and 40 percent al- bacore (Germo alalunga). A crew of eight fishermen used "manjua'’ (Jenkinsia lamprotaenia) as live bait and pgles and lines for catch- ing the tuna. The vessel fished 3 to 15 miles offshore, from Santa Cruz del Norte to Justias, between 82-84 . W. longitude. The best fishing seem- < & ed to be encountered nearest to the as approximate location of the Gulf Stream. mee Fig. 3 -Pole-and-line fishing for tuna from Cubamar II. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW lat Fig, 5 - Crew having lunch aboard the exploratory fishing vessel Cubamar II. Weather conditions during the cruise were clear, the sea was smooth, and there was a light breeze NE. to SE. Fishing conditions were good. The vessel was equipped with Jap- Fig, 4 - Part of the catch of tuna made by anese-type bait wells. the Cuban exploratory fishing vessel dur- ing a 5-day cruise. --Jose A. Ojeda, Master and Fishing Gear Technologist, Asociacion de Credito Pesquero, 'Felipe Poey, ' Afiladoal Banco de Fomento Agricola e Industrial de Cuba, Havana, Cuba r Costa Rica VIEWS ON 200-MILE TERRITORIAL WATERS ZONE: The Costa Rican For- eign Minister ina press conference April [6, during a brief visit to Quito, Ecua- dor (El Comercio, April 17), discussed the declaration of Santiago in which Ecua- dor, Peru, and Chile claimed jurisdiction over a 200-mile maritime zone, an April 20 U. S. Embassy dispatch from Quito states. A summary of his comments follows: "Nations should protect their fisheries resources which are the product of territorial wealth. This problem affects not only the three nations mentioned but the entire continent, and Costa Rica's attitude on this question has already been made clear. CostaRicatherefore has deemed it convenient to propose: "1. That all the nations of America adhere to the Santiago Charter; "2. To include this document in the problem of defense in the face of a possible extra-continental interference; "3. To deposit this international document in the Pan American Union, open to the adherence of the other nations, and; "4, To create an international policy, which at the same time that it guarantees free commercial navigation would protect the sovereignty of nations against illegal fishing and pirates." 78 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 Denmark EXPORTS OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION TO UNITED STATES, 1954: The value of Danish exports of fishery products for human con- sumption to the United States in 1954 was 12.6 million kroner (US$1.8 million) as compared with 13.0 million kroner (US$1.9 million) in 1953, reports the April 4 Foreign Commerce Weekly, a Department of Commerce publication. The principal item was fresh frozen brook trout, valued at 5.8 million kroner (US$0.8 million) in 1954 and 5.4 million kroner (US$0.8 million) in 1953 . Cod exports were valued at 1.6 million kroner (US$0.2 million) in 1954--none in 1953. Frozen cod fillets ex- ports rose from 0.4 million kroner (US$58,000) in 1953 to 1.0 million kroner (US$145,000) in 1954 because of the demand from United States fish-stick proc- essors; flounder fillet exports increased from 0.8 million kroner (US$115,000) to 1.0 million kroner (US$145,000). Danish canned lobster exports to the United States increased notably, from 0.3 million kroner (US$43,000) in 1953 to 1.0 million kroner (US$145,000) in 1954 while other canned fish, including brisling sardines, rose from 2.5 million kroner (US$360,000) to 2.8 million kroner (US$400,000). SKI kK 3K OK OK FISHERY PRODUCTS EXPORTS, 1954: Denmark exported fishery products worth about 225 million kroner (US$33 million) in 1954 against shipments worth about 203 million kroner (US$29 million) in 1953. Exports of fish meal were valued at 26 million kroner (US$3.8 million) against only 14 million kroner (US$2.0 million) in 1953. Fish-oil exports were worth 11 million kroner (US$1.6 million) against 9.5 million kroner (US$1.4 million) in 1953. These increases were due to higher prices caused by good demand, as the actual volume of exports declined 0.5 percent to 129,000 metric tons. Great Britain was the largest buyer of Danish fishery products in 1954, purchas- ing 49 million kroner (US$7.1 million) worth. West Germany took fishery products valued at 25 million kroner (US$3.6 million) and Italy 23 million kroner (US$3.3 million). The United States ranked fourth, receiving Danish fishery products and by- products valued at 22.3 million kroner (US$3.2 million). Other major markets for Danish fishery products were Sweden 21 million kroner (US$3.0 million), the Netherlands 14 million kroner (US$2.0 million), and Brazil 11 million kroner (US$1.6 million). Australia also appeared as a new outlet for Danish exports; shipments to that country in 1954 totaled 2.5 million kroner (US$360,000), and it was hoped that this would be considerably increased in 1954, reports the February 11 issue of The Fishing News, a British fishery magazine. ri ae Formosa (Taiwan) FISHERIES PRODUCTION AND TRENDS, 1954: Formosan fisheries produc- tion in 1954 amounted to 152,500 metric tons, 17 percent more than the 130,600 tons produced in 1953 and 82 percent greater than the 1950 production of 84,000 tons (see table), according to a report from the Assistant Director for Industry, FOA Mission to China. The coastal fisheries supplied more than one-half the total production each year, and the next in importance was the production from fish culture in fresh- and salt-water ponds. June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 79 All Formosan coastal fisheries and fish-culture stations are in private hands. Two Government fishing enterprises operate in the deep-sea fisheries, the remain- der are privately controlled. The number of private operators in the deep-sea fisheries is unknown but it is considered to be large. The total Formosan fisheries catch increased sharply in May and June 1954 due to good weather dur- ing the normal peak season; also, large schools of bonito, anchovy, horse mackerel, and flying fish came near the coasts, especially near the Pescadores Islands. An increase in the number of inshore fishing vessels operating, and an increased catch from fish ponds due to dry weather in southern Taiwain also contributed to the good catch in May and June. Pulling in the ‘‘bag”’ of a beach-seine net which holds the catch, This The deep-sea catch increased is a popular style of fishing in small communities of Taiwan. Men sharply in April 1954 due primarily and women, old and young, join hands to pull in the net. to the greater number of trips and vessels in operation. The typhoon season in July and August decreased deep-sea fishing. After September the deep- sea catch increased again due to more vessels and more trips and a higher catch per vessel owing to good weather. The coastal fisheries catch decreased after September due to bad weather in northern Taiwan. Production from fish ponds after May remained high because of a good market and the peak in the milkfish production season. Deep-sea fishing includes fishing on the high seas by otter trawlers or bull trawlers of at least 50 tons on voyages which last anaverage of 10 days. Formosan Fisheries Production, 1954 with Comparisons Fisheries Deep-sea fisheries: talfishing in- Government vessels . Const Shue cludes fishing on small motor trawlers usually at sea for an average of 24 hours and a maximum of 3 days, and nonpower - ed boats such as sampans and bamboo rafts which operate near the coast. Private vessels .. Coastal fisheries .. As of December 31, 1954, there were 2,448 fishing vessels with a total tonnage of 36,558 gross tons (72,654 hp.) as compared with 2,084 vessels with a total tonnage of 29,434 gross tons (56,722 hp.) as of December 31, 1953. Taiwan Fisheries Bureau of the Provincial Department of Agriculture and For- estry set a 1955 production goal for fisheries of 160,000 metric tons, since about 20 new 80-100 sgross-ton bull trawlers will participate in deep-sea fishing, and about 250-300 new small vessels totaling 2,500 gross tons and a number of motorized Sampans and bamboo rafts will join the coastal fishing fleet. Further, Tilapia cul- ture in rice paddies will be increased with the encouragement of the Provincial De- partment of Agriculture and Forestry. 80 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 It was reported that Formosa and Japan would soon conclude anagreement for joint tuna fishing experiments, anApril 28 U.S.Embassy dispatchfrom Taipeireports. Se- lected Chinese fishermen willaccompa- ae 4 ny Japanese fishermen to the South China Seas, Indian Ocean, and other areas in the Pacific. The twonations are also discussing plans for joint mackerel fish- ing in Formosan waters. The Formosan Government has de - cided to expand the fisheries as a means of increasing food supplies and improv- ing the diet. The Economic Stabiliza- tion Board concluded that the industry, particularly tuna fishing, has to be ex- panded from its present area of opera- tions of 40,000 square miles to 3,000,000 square miles. The Board decidedtorec- ommend approval of a plantoconstruct ; . four 350-ton fishing vessels in Japan U, S.-built trawlers in port of Keelung. at an over-all cost of NT$8.6 million (US$0.8 million). It was estimated that a bal- anced diet would include 211,000 metric tons of fishery products. The 1956 catch, it is estimated, will be only 170,000 tons. The Formosan imports of fishery products in 1954 were valuedat US$4.6 million, all of which was financed by the Formosan Government. French Morocco FISHERY PRODUCTS EXPORTS, AND BYPRODUCTS EXPORTS, 1954 and 1955: Exports of canned fish declined in value from 8.4 billion francs (US$24 million) in 1954 ishery Products and Byproducts because of an un- Exports, 1954 and 1953 satisfactory fish- ing season, re- ports an April 5 U.S.consular dis- patch from Casa- Fresh, dried, salted blanca. The ex- and smoked port value of fish mealand bone meal in 1954 also dropped below 1953. French West Africa FISHERY TRENDS: There appear tobe great potentialities for fishing off the coast of French West Africa from Mauritania to French Guinea as wellas inthe Niger River, states a February 2 U.S. consular dispatch from Dakar. Commercialization of ocean fishing started during World War II. The ten-year development planhas as one of its ob- jectives to increase the tonnage of fish taken. Although productionhas been estimated at about 4,000 to5,000 metric tons per year, the potential is estimated at approximately 30,000 tons. Inthis connection, there now exists a huge freezing plant in Dakar whichis being used in part for freezing tuna taken off the coast. S=_SSSSSS===~ June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 81 German Federal Republic NEW FISH-MEAL DRYING PROCESS DEVELOPED: A Bremerhaven, West Ger- many, firm (Schlotterhose & Co .)has recently developed and constructed an entirely new fish-meal drying process. It is calledthe Circulation High-Speed Drier, reports Inter - The idea on which the process is based andfor which patent applications have been filed is as follows: The material tobe dried is fed--raw or cooked--intoa modern blowing mill, which ispatented. This takes place inan atmosphere of hot circulating drying gas principally consisting of vapor, and during the process the material is minced and dried possibly under fermentation by the influence of heat, whereafter it is immediately cooled down. It is consequently a rapid-drying process which increases the capacity of the individ- ualdevices. By admitting greater quantities of heat and accelerating the circulating gas flow, the capacity may be increased considerably. The fish meal leaving the plant ready for storage is in no respect inferior in quality as compared with fish meal produced in the ordinary steam-jacket plants; on the contrary it possesses various advantages. When producing lean fish meal or if fish is being dried without extraction of oil, a boiler will not be required for the new plant. The same is the case when working with fatty offal if the fish is allowed toferment prior to the drying process by means of the exhaust gases principally consisting of vapor, and if sufficient heat is present, whereafter stickwater and oil is extracted by squeezing. For thermo-technicalreasons the stickwater is concentrated ina vacuum-stage vaporizer, whereafter the concentrate together with the squeezed fish is fed into the Sch- lotterhose Circulation Drier and is dried inthis device. Consequently all devices for further drying the stickwater concentrate, for instance roll driers, etc., conveyors and grinders are superfluous. Surprising is the high thermo-technical efficiency of the process. By using fuel oil, a twelvefold evaporation figure may be obtained in a medium-sized plant. Consequently the fuel costs are far lower as compared with those of the steam- jacket plant and amount only to about one-third of the usual costs. The same thing applies to the drying of stickwater concentrate. The initial expenditure and the space required for the new plant are extremely moderate. Also plants with greater capacities may therefore be installed in fishing vessels, where a minimum of space is available. eK OK Ok Ok PROCESSED FISHERY PRODUCTS r P t PRODUCTION, 1954: The production Bean Gale UlgL HOSE eG of processed fish and shellfish prod- ucts in West Germany during 1954 totaled 175,788 metric tons, and man- ufacture of fishery byproducts amount- ed to 97,058 tons of fish meal and oil (see table). Marinated fish and canned fish were the leading fishery products processed for food, reports an April 5 U.S. Embassy dispatch from Bonn. 2K ok ok ok CANNED FISH IMPORTS AND EX- yO eee PORTS, JANUARY-JUNE 1954; Total = freetype ae West German imports of canned fish Smoked fish Salted fish 82 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 inthe first six months of 1954 amounted to 6,905 metric tons, according toan October 18 U.S.consular dispatch from Bremen(table 1). In 1953 canned fish imports totaled 14,793 tons, and in 1952 the total was 9,523 tons. Sardines and pilchards comprise the bulk of West Germanimports; Portugaland French Morocco were the principal suppliers. Exports of canned fish from West Germany in January-June 1954 totaled 2,648 met- ric tons (table 2). Inthe 12 months of 1953 West German canned fish exports totaled 3,999 tons while in 1952 the total was 1,691 tons. The principal canned fish export item was her - ring which comprised approximately one-half of the total . Miscellaneous canned fish (coalfish or pollock, anchovies, sprats, etc.) and sardines and pilchard were the other items. West German canned fish is shippedto countries inall parts of the world. Canned Mackerel: West German foreign trade incanned mackerel with the United States was practically nonexistent until March 1954. It was reported, however, thatas aresult of a drop inthe pilchard catch in the United States, a sudden demand developed Table 1 - West German Imports of Canned F ish, January-June 1954 with Comparisons all Jan.-June 1954 Year 1953 Year 1952 Item & Country Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Metric Tons|DM1,000 Seb 000 Mestie Tons|DM1,000 Metric Tons| DM1,000}US$1,000 Sardines and Pilchards: Yugoslavia 634.3 249 330.0 594 141 PP) Portugal 4,070.7 8,696] 2,069 8,109.4 | 17,135 4,078} 7,091.2 French Morocco 1,789.8 639 5,634.5 9,541 2,271 Other Countries ee 30 Total sardines and pilchards 6,502.0 12,451) 2,962 | 14,084,0 | 27,300 6,497 | 8,963.9 Herring: Norway 46.6 108 25 130.5 315 75 68.1 Sweden 12.1 36 9 35.6 107 25 36.3 United States 1.6 4 il A 1 1/ 9.7 Australia 2 > = - - - 34.0 Other Countries 2 5 = 1.5 4 1 7.3 Total herring 60.3 148 35 168.0 427 101 155.4 Loa 342.9 $2 2/ 541.4 2/ 127 403.3 Grand Total 6,905.2 | 2/ 2/ | 14,793.4 2/ 2/ | 9,522.6 1/Less than US$500, 2/Not available, for canned mackereland similar products, particularly inthe southern part of the United States. According toa reliable trade source, from March to October 1954 West Germany exported to the United States a total of about 27,000 cases (48 15-o0z.cans) of mackerel. No information could be obtained as to the value of these exports. Quoting the same informant, West German export companies have lately been en- countering growing difficulties inthe marketing of their products inthe United States. It appears that the type of mackerel caught off European coasts is rather large. Packing into 15-ounce cans as required by the United States buyers is possible only by cutting the fish down tothe required size, a practice which was not wellreceived by customers. Fur- ther, mackerel caught by German deep-sea trawlers is landed only after a few days. Their quality does not compare favorably with Japanese and South African mackerel which is reportedly smaller and caught by inshore fishing boats landing their catches daily. As aconsequence, it was reported, the stiffest competition inthe U.S.market comes from these two countries, although the Netherlands and Denmark have also lately beenrather successful in promoting their sales of canned mackerel inthe United States, in spite of the same difficulties as encountered by West German exporters. During the past few years West Germany has been importing rather large quantities of fresh mackerel. The bulk of these imports came from Denmark, smaller supplies from June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 83 Sweden. Exports of fresh mackerel were negligible; they didnot exceed 30 tons per year. Fish traders estimate that about 70 percent of all imported fresh mackerel is re-export- edcanned. Besides exports of canned mackerel to the United States in 1954, West Ger- many has been exporting this commodity for several years to Mediterranean coun- tries, but no exact figures on these exports are available. Canned Sardines and Pilchards: The main emphasis of West Germany's for- eign trade in sardines and pilchards is definitely on imports. During the past three years between 91 and 94 percent of all West German imports of canned fish con- sisted of sardines and pilchards, the bulk purchased from Portugal and French Mo- rocco. Since about the start of 1953, Yugoslavia has been rapidly increasing its exports of this commodity to West Germany and in the first half of 1954 it supplied little less than 10 percent of allsardines as compared with only 2 to3 percent in1953. Notransactions inthis commodity with the United States have ever beenrecorded, according to the West German Bureau of Statistics. Table 2 - West German Exports of Canned Fish, January-June 1954 with Comparisons Jan,-June 1954 Year 1953 Year 1952 Item & Country Metric Tons|DM1,000}US$1,000| Metric Tons|DM1,000|US$1,000|Metric Tons|DM1,000}US$1,000 Sardines and Pilchards: |~ | | gl ae ale RE ic aha Belgian Congo | Austria Other Countries . Total sardines and | pilchards Saar Territory Greece Switzerland United States Great Britain Austria Egypt New Guinea Australia Other Countries 1/Less than US$500, 2/Not available, Exports of sardines and pilchards fluctuated between .3 and .6 percent of total exports during the years 1952 through June 1954, Canned Herring West German ex- ports of canned herring outweigh im- ports by far. Since 1952 the exports of canned herring have represented be- tween 54 and 58 percent of all canned fish exports, while imports have fluc- tuated between 1 and 1.6 percent. With the growing importance of other coun- ‘hee ree eee Lo tries as buyers of West German canned ibis ad sate Bie herring, the percentage of U.S. purchases had dropped greatly in the past few years, as evidenced by table 3. able 3 - West German Exports of Canned Herring to the United States Period Volume Metric _Tons_ 65.3 an. -June 1954 84 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 Greenland GOOD WINTER FISHING FOR WOLFFISH: Fishing for wolffish (ocean catfish) in Greenland waters was very good during the past winter, according to a report by a biologist ina Danish fishery periodical ee Vestjysk Fiskeritidende. He states that the young of wolffish have become more abundant in Greenland waters inrecent years. It was hoped, therefore, that the good fishing would continue. At Sukkertop- penand Holsteinborg the fishery continues all year but farther north only a summer fishery can be conducted. At Sukkertoppen the abundance of wolffish has been greater than ever before so that line fishermenhave beenexceptionally busy. The catch is filleted and frozen for the United States market, reports Fiskets Gang (March 10, 1955), a Norwegian fishery magazine. re Japan FISHERY AND MARINE PRODUCTS CATCH, 1954: Total production of fish- ery and marine products by Japan in 1954 amounted to 9.3 billion pounds (see table), according to estimates supplied by the Jap- anese Fisheries Agency to the U.S. Em- bassy at Tokyo (April). Fish products com- prised the bulk of the catch--75 percent; followed by other marine products, 15 per- cent; and shellfish and seaweed products, each 5 percent. Japanese Catch of Fishery and Marine Products, 1954 Millions of Lbs. oO. Of OO 90 0 CANNED FISH PRODUC- TION S4 Renew torallitesint mated Japanese canned fish pack in 1954 amounted to 7 million cases (see table), ac- cording to an April 1 U. S. Embassy dispatch from Tokyo. The major portion of the pro- duction consisted of tuna and tunalike fish--2,388 cases or 34 percent of the total. The remainder was made up of various species: Pike, sardines, salmon, crab, and miscellan- Pio noneneage alte, 48 is, CaRbeoMign meee 96 8-oz. cans Tuna in brine .. |48 7-oz. cans oie, jim Gill | Go dl Mas ae m Bonito in brine hBOvanleo) ta) Orll 4 o 5 4 Sardines in tomato sauce. . .|/48 15-o0z. cans Sardines, boiled. .|'' '' "' Mm Pike in tomato Sale C mass caress a 96 8-oz. cans eous items. Pike, boiled. .... ieee MY m" Other Various sizes of mk OK ok Ok OK 5700 90°00 DO 0 cans and cases OUTLOOK FOR 1955 FISH- ~ ERIES PRODUCTION AND EX- PORTS: Increased catches of salmon and crab are anticipated because it seems that Japanese vessels will now be able to fish closer to U.S.S.R. waters. The Antarc- tic whaling expeditions have closed their season with a catch of 2,771 blue-whale units as compared to 1,896 units in 1954. A production of about 53,000 metric tons June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 85 of whale oil will be available for export at a price in the vicinity of US$165 a ton without benefit of a sugar-link subsidy. Unofficial estimates by various segments of the fishing industry on total ex- ports of principal fish and fish products to all destinations in 1955 are shown in the table. These figures repre- sent only guesses or hopes as to the amount of export movement. Japanese Exports of Principal Fish and Fish Products, 1955 i etric tons Tuna and bonito, canned| Cases The figure for frozen tuna and bonito implies a 12-percent increase, and will depend farge-poOn. eee OR Cases Hyeupon the state ‘of the United (P2™C nes, Canne LHeee albayCamMnec.s set. ears Cases States market which is present- —— ly weak. The salmon exports will be contingent upon the renewal or extension of the Japanese-United Kingdom trade agreement, as canned salmon is sold chiefly to the sterling areas. The increased export hoped for in canned tuna and bonito also assumes about a 7-percent increase in the United States mar- ket, which is understood to have a large stock on hand. The United States fig- ure may therefore not be reached. The crab export is planned on the basis of 300,000 cases to the United Kingdom and 200,000 to the United States. The former again is dependent upon trade relations with the United Kingdom; the latter is approximately the amount taken by the United States in 1953 but is substantially above the 1954 figure. Considering all factors, Japan's exports of aquatic products, including both fish and other marine products, should be in the neighborhood of US$120 million for the calendar year 1955, or about a 20-percent increase over 1954, an April 1 U.S. Embassy dispatch from Tokyo reports. OK OK ek PEARL OYSTER CULTIVATION IN INLAND SEA SUCCESSFUL: Cultivation of pearls off the southern tip of Awaji Island, first attempted in 1951, has passed the experimental stage and is now said to be a commercially sound operation, a February 15 U.S. consular dispatch from Kobe reports. The Inland Sea has not heretofore been considered suitable for pearl culture and the Awaji grounds are the first within the Sea to be successfully developed. In 1954, 130,000 first-grade pearls from Awaji were displayed at the Pearl Center in Kobe. Plans for 1955 call for sinking 200,000 mother oysters. This number will be increased annually until a goal of one million per year is reached. Mexico MERIDA FROZEN SHRIMP EXPORTS, OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1954: Frozen shrimp exports from the Merida District of Mexico (all to the United States) total- ed about 1,925 metric tons in October-December 1954, almost 27 percent more than the 1,520 tons of the previous quarter, a March 1 U.S. consular dispatch from Meri- da reports. Prices for 15-20 count frozen shrimp (heads off) delivered in Brownsville, Tex., each month April through December for the past four years were as follows: 86 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Wolls 17/, INO. @ Conditions during the last quarter of 1954 continued to improve onthe basis that the catch POMC was sold at a profit over operating costs. How- Apr. 58 80 Dv 53 | ever, many outfits in Ciudad del Carmen, the May 62 90 56 54 | center of the industry, are still in difficulties June 595 90 58 57 | as the result of overexpansion based upon the July 57 80 60 60 | abnormally high prices of 1953. Aug. 538 75 62 58 Sept. 52 67 62 55 During the October-December 1954 period Oct. 49 66 62 50 | the export cost to Brownsville was reduced Nov. 49 66 62 53 | from 16 to 14 U.S.cents a pound. This re- Deck 52 68 65 53 | duction was made possible by decreased freight rates, operating costs, and export taxes. These lowered operating costs have gone far to offset the lower prices of the current year. Merida frozen shrimp exports from Ciudad del Carmen and Campeche (all to the United States) in the 12 months of 1954 totaled 12.3 million pounds as compared with 9.7 million pounds in 1953 from Ciudad del Carmen only. Ce ed Netherlands FISHING FLEET, 1955: The Netherlands fishing fleet on January 1, 1955, consisted of 2,509 vessels of 87,913 gross tons (see table), according toa U.S. consular dispatch of April 1. Netherlands Fishing Fleet, Januar 0. 0 Type of Vessel Vessels Motor trawlers 500 hp. and over Motor lugger’s and small trawlers Motor cutters Other motor vessels 7 tons and over Motor vessels less than 7 tons 3 OK OK OK OK SCHOOL FOR FISHERMEN: In the Netherlands ever-growing attention is be- ing paid to the training and education of fishermen. A fishing school recently open- ed by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food offers astrik- ing example. Inhis opening speech the Minister pointed to the growing need for a thorough training be- cause constant techni- Typical steam trawler used by fishermen of the Netherlands, cal development imposes higher demands on the June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 87 crews of fishing vessels. These demands are not confined to nautical knowledge but also hold good for the handling of fish and fishery products. It is essential that they should know their jobs thoroughly. The home and export markets demand fish of superior qual- ity. Ingeneralit canbe said that the fisheries are developing more and more intoa ration- alindustry, which must supply high-quality products at the lowest possible prices. All- around training is essentialtoreach efficiency. The fishing port of Katwijk is proud of this school which supplies a long-felt need. A total of 385 young and adult fishermen are attending the various day andevening classes. The interest shown is so overwhelming that accommodations have already become in- adequate, reports the February issue of Holland Fish Trade, a Netherlands fisheries magazine. a Norway NEW HERRING PRESS: A new andrevolutionary herring press, embodyinga prin- ciple different from that used in the usual screw press, is being tested ina Haugensund, Norway, herring oilandmealplant, according toareport inFiskaren (February 16),a Norwegian fishery periodical. The inventor of the press, Knut @. Dahl, anengineer with A/S Myrens verksted in Oslo, is seeking patents in Norway and other countries. The press willbe ready for delivery inthe 1955/56 herring season. Oiland water are expressed by the press ina double actionas the pressure increases and the press cake can be kept much thinner thanin the present presses. The pressure in the press alsocan be adjusted according tothe type of raw material while it is in full op- eration. The new press uses only one-half the power and one-third the space required by present presses and weighs only one-halfas much. Operating costs andthe price of the equipment alsoare reported tobe appreciably less. * ok ok ok Ok FISH-FLOUR PLANT BEING BUILT: A plant is being built at Stamsund in North Norway by A/S Sea Foods to process fish waste into non-fattening, albumin-rich flour suitable for human consumption, based on a United States patent, reports an April 14 bulletin from the Norwegian Information Service. Kk Kk ARCTIC SEAL PRODUCTION, 1954: Norwegian sealing operations in 1954 re- sulted in a total catch of 259,194 animals from which about 5,760 short tons of blub- ber was obtained, according to the U.S. Embassy at Oslo. This is a 51-percent in- crease as compared with the 1953 output of 3,810 tons but under the 1952 and 1951 production of 6,560 and 9,300 tons, respectively. Norwegian sealing expeditions operate inthe spring and summer infive areas of the Arctic. Most of the sealing is conducted in international waters inthe area of drift ice known as the Western Icefields located east of Greenland and north of Iceland. In additionto sealing, Norwegian vessels engaged in Greenland shark fishing which yielded 226 tons of shark oil, or less than half the quantity produced in1953. Oe Pakistan FROZEN FISH EXEMPT FROM EXPORT TAX: Processed frozen fish is exempt from all Pakistan customs duties when exported effective March 4, 1955, according to a March 31 U.S. Embassy dispatch from Karachi. 838 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 The exemption is an example of the planning and efforts of certain officials of the Ministries of Finance, Commerce and Industries to utilize better the coun- try's natural resources, and to build up foreign exchange receipts from hitherto untapped sources. Up to the present exports of fresh frozen processed fish have been insignificant, and without doubt they would have remained so if this tax of Rs. 5 per maund (1.8 U.S. cents per pound) had not been removed. Fresh-frozen processed fish were included in the Export Tariff Schedule under the classification of ''Fresh Fish,'' there being no distinction between fresh fish in the natural state and merely iced for export, and frozen and processed fish for export. A fisheries firm in Pakistan in which there is a substantial share of United States private capital, found it could not compete in world markets if an export tax of Rs. 5 per maund (1.8 U.S. cents per pound) was assessed. One of the company's primary objectives was to export a large share of its catch after it had been proc- essed and frozen. Officials of the company visited officials in several Government of Pakistan ministries and explained the position and predicament of the firm. Emphasis was placed on the fact that there would be no income to the government if the tax were retained and the prospects for a new source for foreign exchange were nonexistent. If the tax were removed, however, there were good prospects that a substantial new exchange earner would be found, and that a modern fish-catching and processing industry would, in all probability, be built up over a period of years. 2 ok ok ok ok FOA ‘TO FINANCE FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: A project agree- ment with Pakistan calling for an expenditure of US$88,000 for fisheries develop- ment in West Pakistan was reported April 19 by the U. S. Foreign Operations Ad- ministration. The funds will be used to purchase gear and equipment for two ex- ploratory fishing vessels previously acquired, equipment for a survey of inland waterways, and equipment for refrigeration rooms and display cabinets to improve fish marketing methods. Pa A2S— Panama FIRST FISH-MEAL AND OIL PLANT OPENED: Panama's first fish-meal and oil plant was formally inaugurated on February 18, 1955, reports the U.S. Embassy at Panama. The plant is located at Puerto Caimito in the District of Chorrera. The factory will produce and export fish meal for use as fertilizer, chicken and animal feed, and fish oils and fats for the preparation of oils, paints, varnishes, glycerine, and the manufacture of soap and candles. The plant equipment, with its electric power generating unit, is of United States manufacture and was acquired at a total cost of US$250,000. It is installed in a floor area of about 16,000 square feet, and has a processing capacity of approximately 15 short tons of raw material per hour. Although the firm owns a small fishing fleet, the management has announced that the company will buy all quantities of fish offer - ed for sale. When the plant is in full operating capacity (24 hours per day), it will require a total complement of 150 employees. In the packing of the finished products, the company plans to use locally-manufactured 100-pound jute bags with a special impermeable lining. CEG June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 89 Peru PERMISSION GRANTED TO THREE U.S. VESSELS TO FISH WITHIN 200- MILE TERRITORIAL WATERS ZONE: The Peruvian Government has given author- ization to a Peruvian firm to allow three United States flag fishing vessels to oper- ate within the Peruvian 200-mile territorial waters claimed by them. The Govern- ment newspaper La Nacion (March 10) claims: ''Peru's 200-mile limit has again been confirmed and its basis on sound jurisprudence ratified,'' according to a March 12 U.S. Embassy dispatch from Lima. The Peruvian newspaper continues: ''Within this limit it is not permissible to fish, hunt whales, nor carry on any industry based on fish without obtaining previous permission--such as this corporation has done--under penalty of fine, requisition- ing of the fish illegally taken, or capture of the ships,'' as happened in 1954 in the case of the Onassis fleet and, more recently, in the case of ships belonging to North American industry. The authorization is contained in Ministerial Resolution No. 478 of March 9, 1955, and provides that the fish caught by these vessels will be considered nation- alized (Peruvian) and there will be paid as an export tax US$8 per ton of fish. The authorization is valid for one year and contains a number of other stringent provisions as follows: The newspaper continued: ‘'The full existence of the Peruvian thesis, confirm - ed and converted into actual law in the Lima Meeting of 1954 with Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, during the Second Conference on the Exploitation and Conservation of the Maritime Resources of the South Pacific, requires as a prerequisite the respect of the 200-mile limit as established by these three countries as their territorial waters. "This limit nevertheless does not signify any obstacles for foreign ships pass- ing through this zone and carrying on fishing. But national sovereignty and the future legitimate conservation of fish resources requires that the volume of this industry be known, especially when it is foreign. For this a permission is necessary just as happened in the case of the Corporacion del Pacifico Sur, S. A.; such permission was granted without the slightest difficulty after previous consultation with the Fish- ing and Hunting Section of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Peruvian Section of the Permanent Commission of the Conference for the Exploitation and Conservation of the Maritime Resources of the South Pacific, and the Port Captains Office, and after having considered the opinion of the Chief of Staff of the Navy. "| .2. The boats referred to will have to arrive and leave from the port of Talara in order to comply with the maritime controls and fiscal regulations. "3, The fishing that might have been done in the high seas, outside of the 200 miles, before entering the Peruvian jurisdiction, shall be duly controlled on arrival of the ships at Talara and taken into consideration in order to make deductions re- garding the payment of the respective fees; "4. The fish obtained through the above-mentioned vessels will be considered nationalized and there will be paid as an export tax eight dollars ($8, American money) per ton of fish. "5. The company will embark in the above-mentioned ships, furnishing lodging and food, any person who is named by the Fishing and Hunting Section, the Ministry of Finance, the Administration of Port Captains, or the Office of Port Captains in order to undertake the technical and customs control of fishing while the boats are operating. 90 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW Vol. 17, No. 6 "6. The bait that is used for fishing shall be obtained by each ship itself and the sale or transfer to other boats is prohibited. "7 Absolutely forbidden is fishing for anchovy, machete, and sardines for in- dustrial purposes. "8. Forbidden to these boats is the transfer of fish to any other boat ofa foreign flag already on the high sea or in port, except when it is a matter of exportation of the product, in which case the transfer will be effected but only in port with the super - vision of the maritime and customs authorities; "9, At the port of destination the company should obtain a certificate from the Port Authority or Customs regarding the quantity of fish unloaded and should deliver it to the nearest Peruvian Consul in order that it may be transmitted to the Ministry of Finance. "10. The present authorization involves the use of the port facilities, provisions, fuel, etc., that the above-mentioned boats would need during the time of the present authorization. "11. The company remains obligated to comply with the other conditions express- ed in the request of the Executive Director of the Corporacion del Pacifico Sur, S.A., dated January 17, 1955. "12. All the activities of fishing by these boats shall be subject to the control of the Office of Fishing and Hunting which will indicate the limitations and the time when fishing is forbidden and dictate the technical activities that it deems most con- venient for the purpose of the preservation of the fishing resources. 13. The company as well as the owners of the ship assume full responsibility for the infractions that are commited of laws and national regulations and, as a guarantee, will deposit in the Office of the Port Captains at Talara the documenta- tion of same (the ships), receiving in exchange a copy of the present Ministerial Resolution authorizing them to operate in Peruvian waters. "14, Neither the company nor the owners of vessels will have the right to make any claims from the national or foreign authorities in case of non-compliance with the contract by either party. "15, This authorization is valid for a period of one year from the date of the present resolution, and can be extended by previous notification to the permanent commission within a time of 30 days of expiration... ." Sx Spain VIGO FISHERIES TRENDS, FEBRUARY 1955: Fishing: February is the poorest month of the year for the Vigo fishing industry, and the volume of catches entered through the port during the month declined, a March 15 U.S. consular dispatch from Vigo reports. Nonetheless, landings were slightly larger than in the same month of the preceding year. Smaller catches by the long-range fleet off Ireland and the be- ginning of the closed season for sardine fishing, as well as rough weather and the continued absence of part of the fleet operating from southern ports, all formed part of the normal February fishing picture. Fish Canning: Canneries in the Vigo area purchased 131,000 pounds of fish dur - ing February 1955--1.8 percent of the total catches entered through the Vigo fish June 1955 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 91 exchange. This compares to 292,000 pounds or about 3.5 percent of the catch in the previous month, and 202,000 pounds or about 3.4 percent in February 1954. The decline in the volume of fish purchased by the canneries in February was principally due to the scarcity of varieties suitable for canning. The bulk of the pur- chases consisted of ‘'castaneta'' (brama-raii) and small quantities of anchovies.