that foreign interests may directly or in- 

 directly exert a political influence on policies 

 for fisheries management and regulation. ^^ 



Concerns about foreign investments in fish- 

 ing vessels and processing or wholesale 

 operations are that any of the following may 

 result: 



• Less processing of fish may be done 

 locally, leaving part of the work to be 

 done in a foreign country by low-cost 

 labor, thus reducing the value of the local 

 industry. 



. It may be possible for a vertically inte- 

 grated company to operate a fish process- 

 ing plant in the United States on a 

 breakeven basis and take profits abroad 

 thus escaping Federal and State taxes in 

 the United States. 



. The firms may be able to operate at lower 

 cost or pay higher prices for fish, thus 

 making competition difficult for firms 

 wholly owned by U.S. interests. 



• Large-scale export of products from U.S. 

 plants owned by foreign investors may 

 be a way of avoiding catch quotas and 

 permit fees for foreign fishing vessels. 



. Increased demand for fish from foreign- 

 owned firms which want to export prod- 

 ucts may cause increased pressure on 

 stocks from U.S. fishermen. 



On the other hand, there is also some sup- 

 port for foreign investment in U.S. firms. Sup- 

 porters point out that the following can also 

 happen:''7 



. Higher prices may be paid to fishermen 

 for their catch. 



. More money may be available for plant 

 expansion and product diversification. 



. Risk of production may be reduced by 

 firm commitments from foreign markets 

 for fish products. 



. Good markets may be found for products 

 not currently saleable in the United 

 States. 



. The fish trade deficit could be reduced 

 which would be beneficial to the U.S. 

 balance of payments. 



As a result of passage of the Fishery Conser- 

 vation and Management Act, NMFS is again 

 pondering the meaning and impact of foreign 

 investments in the fishing industry, but no 

 specific studies have been undertaken yet to 

 determine if these investments will have 

 favorable or unfavorable impact on the over- 

 all U.S. fishery and fishing industry. In order 

 to adequately address this problem, a wide 

 range of economic information will be needed, 

 including investment and export data plus all 

 those factors already mentioned as necessary 

 for assessing the impact of foreign fishing and 

 imports. 



5) Recreational Fishing. — Although the law 

 is vague on details, it is clear that recreational 

 opportunities in U.S. fisheries are to be con- 

 sidered by the managers. There is a substantial 

 body of literature on recreational benefits, in- 

 cluding recreational fishing benefits, but there 

 are gaps in the data and in measurement tech- 

 niques needed for devising a comprehensive 

 economic data base for recreational fisheries. 



6) Definition of Fisheries. — The resources 

 most immediately affected by the law may be 

 classified by species or type of gear and vessel 

 used to harvest them. Classification by species 

 is most relevant for biological data collection 

 and research; however, that definition is not 

 generally relevant to economic considerations. 

 This is because multiple species fisheries are 



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