Technological developments in processing and product form 

 have had an important impact on world trade in recent years 

 and likely will be just as important in the future. The develop- 

 ment of the cold-chain has resulted in an increasing proportion 

 of fishery products moving to market in fresh and frozen form. 

 Trade in dried, salted, and smoked fish has declined since 

 1945. This trend has been most pronounced in North 

 America. However, it may well be one of the most important 

 developments in Western Europe in the next decade. The ex- 

 tension of the cold-chain to supermarket type of retail installa- 

 tions and to the home is just getting under way in Europe. 

 Rapid advances will be made in the next decade and significant 

 changes in product form and method of distribution of fish in 

 Western Europe will result. 



I have mentioned several factors that have been important 

 in the recent expansion in the volume of world trade. Now I 

 want to touch briefly on trends developing throughout the world 

 to reduce restrictions in international trade, especially tariff 

 and nontariff restrictions. 



There is little question that international trade is important 

 in helping developing nations to achieve stability and progress 

 in freedom. It is also important that the flow of fishery pro- 

 ducts be channeled through world markets in a manner that 

 will satisfy human wants and needs. 



We are engaged in the Kennedy Round of Tariff Negoti- 

 ations, seeking to reduce trade barriers on a reciprocal basis 

 for the purpose of increasing international trade. In the 

 United States, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 gives the 

 President the tools to effectively bargain down trade restric- 

 tions. However, I want to emphasize that the United States 

 now has one of the lowest overall tariff schedules on fishery 

 products in the world fishing community. 



The Kennedy Round negotiations represent an opportunity 

 to enlarge the benefits of trade for all nations of the free world. 

 We in North America, as well as our counterparts in Europe 

 and Japan, bring to these negotiations special and highly 

 charged domestic interests, and unique within-country prob- 

 lems. No country will be able to gain all the advantages it 

 would like. These negotiations are expected to continue 

 through the present year and into 1966. They will be com- 

 plex and difficult, for stakes are high involving vital economic 

 interest of many nations. 



From the standpoint of some individuals or industries, seg- 

 ments of the fishing industry, for example, action taken to free 

 world trade poses immediate economic hardship. But the 

 feduction in trade barriers, making possible freer trade and 

 opening new markets, I would hope, will provide a challenge 

 to the American fishing industry which could very well in the 

 long run more than offset immediate adverse effects. 



Competition in international markets grows more vigorous 

 as other trading nations enlarge their fisheries. As competition 

 for markets increases so do international con c ervation problems 

 increase, and the need for broad cooperation between nations 

 to solve the present and foreseeable problems of the develop- 

 ment, management, and conservation of aquatic resources, 

 commonly fished by many nations, becomes urgent. If we 

 solve these problems in the future, the fishing industry will pros- 



per; if we fail, we can only predict a further contraction of this 

 vital industry. We would hope that the 1958 Convention on 

 Fishing and the Conservation of the Living Resources of the Sea 

 will soon come into effect to help in this effort. 



Potential Demand 



Now let us turn to the other part of world demand — that 

 part which lies outside present commercial trade channels — not 

 because the wants and desires are lacking but because the 

 people do not have the means of purchasing the products to 

 satisfy these desires. 



It has been estimated that one half the world population 

 today is hungry, and that over 500 million of the world's 3 bil- 

 lion people are actually suffering protein malnutrition. In- 

 adequate diet can result in lassitude, susceptibility to infection, 

 persistent mental retardation, and a number of serious diseases. 

 It can also cause horrible disfiguring diseases in infants and 

 children, robbing them permanently of physical strength and 

 mental agility. 



Protein deficiency exists in all of Asia except Japan and 

 Israel, all but the southern tip of Africa, the northern part of 

 South America, and almost all of Central America, and the 

 Caribbean countries. 



The low income countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa 

 make up half the free world's population. They have massive 

 economic and social problems and a shortage of means to 

 meet their aspirations. 



In 1961, at the FAO International Conference on Fish and 

 Nutrition, the representatives were challenged to provide 

 sources of fish protein to persons in all walks of life in nutritive 

 forms and within the range of all income groups. It is now 

 clearly indicated that fish protein offers a practical way of get- 

 ting the necessary ingredients into the diet of undernourished 

 people of the world. Fish is a nutritious human food and some 

 of its byproducts are a valuable additive to food for animals. 



Some experts of marine resources believe that about 90-95 

 percent of the oceans' productivity is unused and that with 

 proper management and conservation it can be increased at 

 least ten-fold without endangering the supply. If so, the 

 world's oceans could provide at least 500 million tons annually 

 as opposed to the present 50 million tons. It was suggested by 

 Dr. Larkin earlier in this meeting that the potential catch of 

 fish from the sea is at least 500 million tons, ten times the 

 present catch, and may in fact be as much as two billion tons, 

 or 40 times the present catch. 



Yes, the resources of the sea can provide valuable food to 

 meet the problems of malnutrition throughout the world today. 

 Thus is especially significant in view of the prediction that our 

 food supply must double within the next 40 years to feed 

 the increased population. 



The United States National Oceanography Program has, for 

 the past five years, been accumulating the basic physical, chemi- 

 cal, and biological knowledge necessary for understanding the 

 ocean and its resources. We are now ready for the ancillary 

 supplemental program — the National Ocean Engineering Pro- 

 gram — whereby we may translate this knowledge into effective 



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