Annual report of the 



Technological Laboratory, Gloucester, Massachusetts 



for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1961 



BACKGROUND 



On June 17, 1960, the Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries dedicated a newtechnological 

 laboratory at Gloucester, Massachusetts. 

 This facility is staffed by 19 professional 

 people trained in the fields of chemistry, 

 food technology, and engineering. These 

 scientists and engineers conduct technologi- 

 cal research aimed at solving basic prob- 

 lems of the regional and national fisheries. 



The program at the Gloucester laboratory 

 is directed toward (1) improving the quality 

 of seafoods in order to give the consumer 

 the best possible value and at the same time 

 increase and diversify the market for 

 fishery products, (2) improving methods of 

 handling fish to reduce operating costs, 

 and (3) investigating new methods of pres- 

 ervation to enable the processor to level 



out production and find new methods of 

 marketing. This program is both funda- 

 mental and applied in nature and includes 

 (1) research on the chemistry and bio- 

 chemistry of fish, (2) development of grade 

 standards and specifications, (3) inspec- 

 tion and certification of fishery products, 

 and (4) studies on the preservation of fish, 

 including the engineering aspects involved. 

 The following is a discussion of the high- 

 lights of this program and the accomplish- 

 ments from July 1, I960, to June 30, 1961. 



RESEARCH ON THE CHEMISTRY AND 

 BIOCHEMISTRY OF FISH 



Our studies on the chemistry and bio- 

 chemistry of fish are of a fundamental 

 nature and are concerned with the denatura- 

 tion of proteins in frozen fish, isolation and 

 identification of the compounds that cause 



Making light-scattering measurements to determine the effect of frozen storage on the size and shape of actomyosin molecules from 



cod muscle. 



