fresh water in the world. Although freshwater production is 

 small compared to that of the oceans, it has the merits of being 

 close to markets and easy to sell to traditional consumers. If 

 you just add up the area of fresh water, you get the impression 

 that there is a big potential, but of course this is misleading. 

 A single pond in Alabama not only produces ten times the 

 annual crop of a similar pond in the Yukon but is very much 

 more likely to be fished. There are tens of thousands of lakes 

 in Northern Canada, but each produces a small amount, and 

 they are a long way from markets. To harvest fish from them 

 is like picking berries when the bushes are a mile apart and 

 there is one berry per bush. 



The really large freshwater potential lies in better protection, 

 better management, and the culturing of freshwater fish. An 

 even bigger potential lies in the protection of seashore areas 

 and their use for culturing of sea foods. In several parts of 

 the world, where necessity has goaded invention, there have 

 been developed techniques of artificial culture which have 

 proven capable of greatly increasing production in fresh water, 

 brackish water and salt water close to shore. For example, 

 there are a number of demonstrated possibilities in oyster cul- 

 ture. Shrimp culture is already in production in some areas. 

 The construction of artificial reefs may increase production of 

 desirable species of fish by as much as twenty times. Fresh- 

 water pond culture for trout is an economic proposition in the 

 right circumstances. Salmon hatcheries beckon with better 

 documented promises, though admittedly we must restrain our 

 optimism because for 50 years they have more often than not 

 confounded the enthusiastic arithmetic which spawned them. 

 Properly managed, reservoirs can be big fish producers. Up 

 to 1959, over 130,000 acres of man-made lakes had been 

 constructed in the U.S., and much greater areas are in pros- 

 pect. Over and over, especially for those species for which 

 there is the greatest demand, we are witnessing an accumula- 

 tion of information which, combined with modern technology, 

 implies a great potential. In many respects, investments in 

 these enterprises may prove more rewarding than pouring 

 funds into more sophisticated ways of hunting scarcer and 

 scarcer fish in the common pastures of the world's oceans. 

 The choice is quite akin to raising chickens, rather than buy- 

 ing radar and anti-aircraft guns to shoot ducks. 



But of course one can't speak of the potentials of freshwater 

 and nearshore sea-food culture without again sounding the 

 warning of two generations of conservationists. Much of our 

 network of freshwater drainage and portions of our sea coasts 

 have at least for the present been rendered quite unsuitable 

 for food culture of any kind. Domestic and industrial effluents 

 have destroyed substantial production of sea foods in shallow 

 bays and estuaries. Drainage and land reclamation schemes 

 have converted potential fish cultural opportunities into mar- 

 ginal farm land and often dreary real estate. A great many 

 of our rivers and lakes no longer produce a useful crop of any 

 kind. Pollution abatement is not keeping pace with suburban 

 development and industrial growth. It may well be that the 

 next generations shall have to pay dearly for the freshwater 

 fish they wish, in part because we didn't foresee their need. To 

 learn the appropriate lesson we have only to look to other parts 



of the world, or the worst parts of this continent, which are 

 just a few years ahead in terms of population congestion. For 

 both food and the relaxations of angling, we will be raising 

 fish; we can make it much easier by a little foresight. 



To speak of "fish that people wish" leads naturally into 

 what is perhaps the most realistic appraisal of North American 

 fishery potential. Essentially, the potential we have will de- 

 pend on the nature of the demands for sea-food products. 

 Although this seems obvious enough, it is surprising how often 

 we forget it. For instance, there is no market and hence no 

 potential in the fresh air business, even though there is a huge 

 supply, much of which is going to waste, and much of which 

 is being breathed by people we don't agree with. Similarly, 

 although there are large quantities of fish in the ocean, per- 

 haps more than mankind could ever use, they don't constitute 

 a potential by the mere fact of their existence. They must 

 be needed, and needed sufficiently more than other things, to 

 make it a profitable venture (in the broadest sense of the 

 words) to pursue them. 



What I wish to say is this — to really appraise North American 

 fishery potential, the place to start is with the consumer. There 

 exists at present a substantial demand for fish foods. With 

 shortages of other forms of food, if they materialize, there will 

 be created a further demand for sea foods. Beyond this, there 

 are demands which may be created by the marvels of modern 

 advertising. These demands, from North Americans and 

 people in other parts of the world, will determine what we 

 consider as our potentials. 



These demands will also determine what other countries 

 consider as their potential. There is no valid reason for sup- 

 posing that these other countries won't be realizing our poten- 

 tials, both by catching fish off our shores and by selling in our 

 markets, fish caught anywhere in the world. And, conversely, 

 we can consider all the world's oceans as our potential supplv 

 for satisfying markets in all of the other continents. 



Our North American fishery potential thus hinges not only 

 on the supply of fish available, and on the demand for sea 

 foods, but on the efficiency with which we can catch them or 

 raise them and the enterprise we use to sell them. The real 

 potential is in the people throughout the fish business. I pre- 

 sume that Dr. Kask will pose some embarrassing questions about 

 their competence, to which Dr. Chapman will provide all the 

 answers. 



