ANNUAL REPORT OF FISHERIES LOAN FUND 

 FISCAL YEAR 1958 



The Fisheries Loan Fund was au- 

 thorized by Section 4 of the Fish and 

 Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742c) 

 and operations were begun during fiscal 

 year 1957. Background and historical 

 information regarding the Fund can be 

 found in the Annual Report of Fisheries 

 Loan Fund, Fiscal Year 1957, published 

 as Fish and Wildlife Circular No. 103. 



The backlog of loan applications was 

 reduced during fiscal year 1957. During 

 the fiscal year ending June 30, 1958, 

 the number of applications leveled off 

 at a somewhat lower rate than prevailed 

 during the preceding year. Conditions 

 in many of the fisheries were a little 

 poorer than during the preceding fiscal 



year. During the last half of calendar 

 year 1957, when the greater proportion 

 of fish taken during the fiscal year was 

 landed, catches of salmon, tuna, ocean 

 perch, haddock. Pacific sardines, and 

 shrimp, among the nnajor species, 

 dropped below landings of the previous 

 year. 



STATISTICS OF THE FISHERIES 



The number of fishing craft and 

 fishermen employed during calendar 

 year 1958 declined slightly from the 

 previous year. A summary of the num- 

 ber of fishing craft and fishermen is 

 shown in table 1. 



Table 1. --Vessels, boats and fishermen- -United States and Alaska, 1958 



Area 



Vessels 



Number 



Fishermen 



Boats 



Number 



Fishermen 



North Atlantic 



Southeast 



Pacific Northwest 



California 



Great Lakes and Mississippi River. 

 Alaska 



Total, exclusive of duplication. 



2,364 

 4,696 

 2,366 

 1,389 

 555 

 1,904 



11,292 



15,819 

 7,440 

 5,995 

 1,583 



12,136 



26,899 



14,956 



3,794 



1,328 



10,312 



4,673 



37,731 



21,479 



8,035 



2,214 



11,962 



11,496 



47,623 



61,916 



81,331 



■"" Fishennen on boats combined with those on vessels. 



Note: Some duplication may be included within areas when vessels fish from 

 several ports. This has been excluded in the total. 



During the calendar year 1958 the 

 catch of fish and shellfish in the United 

 States and Alaska totaled 4.7 billion 

 pounds valued at $379.7 million. This 

 was about 42 million pounds less than 

 taken during 1957 but the value was 

 nearly $20 nnillion larger. However, 

 the major portion of this catch was 

 taken during the last 6 months of the 



calendar year, placing the increased 

 value largely in fiscal year 1959. 



REVIEW OF THE PROGRAM 



In February 1958 the Assistant 

 Secretary for Fish and Wildlife ap- 

 pointed a committee to review the 



