It is possible that the unsaturated oils of fish have special 

 health benefits in the human diet by affecting beneficially the 

 cholesterol level in the blood and mitigating the occurrence of 

 heart disease, strokes, etc. However that may be, the Federal 

 Trade Commission will not let us say so in advertising. There 

 are other pharmaceutical attributes that fish protein and oil 

 may have that make them particularly valuable in the human 

 diet. In rare instances do we know enough about such pur- 

 ported attributes to be permitted to advertise those facts under 

 United States law. Accordingly, we must sell fish as food and 

 not as medicine. 



Some kinds of fish have particular taste attributes, but by and 

 large the present American palate likes bland tastes so that this 

 is seldom a prime sales factor. Too often the fish taste is 

 equated with age of product before processing. As a general 

 rule, if a fish tastes or smells fishy it has already begun to spoil, 

 and nobody knows this better than the consumer. Unproc- 

 essed fish from the sea takes more trouble to prepare for eating 

 than meat, and tends to create undesirable odors in the house 

 while cooking. Under current social conditions in the United 

 States, these attributes are marketing handicaps. Fish gen- 

 erally spoils more quickly than meat and is much more sensi- 

 tive to damage in transport. Thus it must bear extra costs 

 in careful handling at all stages from the ocean to consumer, 

 and of careful preservation and processing at all these stages. 

 Thus it must start on its way at as cheap a cost per ton of pro- 

 duction as can be arranged, if it is going to compete with other 

 foods on the final consumer market. 



Having spent much of the decade of the 1950's seeking pro- 

 tection for fishery products from international competition on 



this market, I am under no illusion on that score. In my life- 

 time I do not expect to see additional protective tariffs or qui itas 

 adopted for fishery products in this country and, instead, ex- 

 pect to see those that exist continually under pressure for 

 reduction. 



Similarly, I do not expect to see the Congress provide direct 

 subsidies for fish production. It was saddled with all sorts 

 of subsidies for agricultural products a generation ago, which 

 created a monstrous maze out of which it is still trying to grope 

 its way. The sorts of subsidies which the Congress will be 

 prepared to provide are indirect means aimed at helping the 

 industry help itself, through education, ocean research, eco- 

 nomic and technological research, vessel design, and even the 

 construction of new sorts of vessels which might lead the way 

 to improvements. 



The hard fact is that fish in this country competes in a 

 rough consumer market for food and it can expect no help from 

 the outside. It must appear on that market in more desirable 

 form and at cheaper cost than other competitive food prod- 

 ucts — not only to increase in volume of sale, but to hold its 

 own. Most of mv comments will be directed to this cost factor. 



State Laws 



The regulation of fishing in the United States, aside from 

 that done under treaty with other countries, is done under 

 state laws. There is a growing conviction among students 

 of this subject that a major factor preventing the rational ex- 

 pansion of the sea fisheries of this country is the maze of regu- 



