VALUE OF FISHERY IMPORTS INTO U.S. AND DUTIES COLLECTED, 1960-64 



1960 



1961 



1962 



1963 



1964 



together information which could bear upon more logical con- 

 servation regulations and upon the more efficient capture of 

 fish. He presents a rather bold and new approach to the 

 Federal organization of fishery research in recommending a De- 

 partment of the Oceans, composed of various Chilian agencies 

 having an interest in the sea. He points out that this civilian 

 agency would provide for the civilian sector a function parallel 

 to that which Navy's oceanographic program provides for de- 

 fense. He points out, essentially, that the National Science 

 Foundation is well suited to promote adequately the ocean 

 activities of academic institutions, but what is needed is a 

 Cabinet-level organization within the Executive to stimulate 

 the coordination and development of research and use of the 

 ocean's resources for the civilian economy. 



Dr. Chapman does not for one instant question, as Dr. Kask 

 does, the present expenditures of funds for research. He ex- 

 presses the belief that the expenditures are too low and that 

 State fisheries research agencies as well as academic fishery 

 research groups should be strengthened both in staff and finan- 

 cing. His answer to Kask's question about the justification of 

 present expenditures of research is that we need more research, 

 and if more dollars are spent along these lines we might expect 

 dramatic results such as have occurred in agriculture during the 

 past century. He also tends to answer the question raised by 

 Dr. Kask about the success of present fishery management 

 efforts by indicating that there needs to be a general overhaul 

 of this function within the States, a greater use of research re- 

 sults, and a willingness of State legislatures to leave to the 

 specialists the job of conserving the resources. 



He considers that, if we are to compete in the American food 

 market, the cost per ton of fish must be reduced by the greater 

 application of science and technology, along with overhauling 

 and eliminating State laws which have no factual basis nor 

 conservation effect. He would strengthen State and academic 



fisheries organizations, and would reorganize the ocean research 

 and development in the Federal establishment. 



Lastly, he has little sympathy for the proposition by many 

 that the jurisdictional fisheries limits of the United States should 

 be extended. His view, quite obviously, is that the American 

 fishing industry — with the proper application of money, brains, 

 and existing scientific and technological information — can com- 

 pete successfully with fishermen from any other country for 

 fishery resources on the high seas and ought to start doing so. 



Dr. Milner B. Schaefer, in discussing ways in which the study 

 of the oceans — oceanography — can contribute to the increased 

 catch of fish, quotes optimistically from a recent National 

 Academy of Sciences-National Research Council publication 

 to the effect that we could double our fish catch within the next 

 10 to 15 years and quadruple the overseas fisheries within the 

 next decade. He develops the thesis that oceanographic re- 

 search is one of the essential elements in realizing these poten- 

 tials and he lists five ways in which oceanographic knowledge 

 will assist in increasing the harvest of the sea. First, he points 

 out that until recently, fishing grounds were discovered in al- 

 most a haphazard fashion, at least by trial-and-error means, 

 but that a knowledge of the ocean currents and ocean environ- 

 ment may well lead to the rapid location and development of 

 rich, new fishing areas. 



Secondly, he points out that even in areas where commercial 

 fisheries have long been exploited, systematic studies of current 

 systems may well lead to major new discoveries. He uses as 

 an example the discovery and delineation of the standing stock 

 of some 2 to 4 million tons of anchovy, which he claims could 

 sustain a harvest of perhaps a half-million tons a year or more 

 off the southern coast of California. He cites other examples 

 on both coasts to indicate that careful, systematic oceano- 

 graphic studies in existing fishing areas have provided informa- 

 tion leading to the development of more efficient use of these 

 resources or to the discovery of entirely new resources not under- 

 stood to have been present in abundance previously. 



Thirdly, Dr. Schaefer points out that a knowledge of fish 

 behavior in relation to ocean conditions and properties in the 

 ocean environment can lead to more efficient capture. There 

 is no question about the fact that fish, being cold-blooded ani- 

 mals, react more specifically to their environment than do warm- 

 blooded animals of the sea or land, and that a knowledge of 

 such simple parameters in the sea as temperatures has been 

 shown to be a tactical advantage to fishermen. He points out 

 that albacore fishermen off the North Pacific coast and cod 

 fishermen in the North Atlantic have used the distribution of 

 temperatures in certain layers of water to find concentrations of 

 fish. Dr. Schaefer cites the almost obvious relationship be- 

 tween harvestable fish and aggregations of food supply as being 

 a useful tool which fishermen might in the future use to improve 

 fishing operations, although he recognizes these relationships 

 have not been well developed. 



Fourthly, Dr. Schaefer recognizes that a knowledge of the 

 oceans is giving us information on predictability, and that vari- 

 ations in ocean conditions provide a forecast of expected good 

 or poor runs of fish in many circumstances. He believes that 

 a knowledge of the oceans will provide a basis for rational 



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