operations and administration of the 

 Fisheries Loan Fund. The committee 

 was composed of a representative of 

 the Small Business Administration, 

 the Office of the Solicitor of the De- 

 partment of the Interior, and the Bu- 

 reau of Commercial Fisheries. The 

 committee conducted a detailed review 

 of the program and nnade a number of 

 recommendations . 



The committee recommended ( 1 ) that 

 certain changes be made in the appli- 

 cation form to make preparation easier; 

 (2) that processing procedures be 

 simplified and review of recommenda- 

 tions be decreased so that processing 

 time could be cut substantially; (3) that 

 the Small Business Administration 

 maintain closer control over proce- 

 dures connected with closing the loan; 

 (4) tha' the regulations entitled Loan 

 Procec ures be revised; and (5) that 

 all en ployees concerned with the pro- 

 gram be better informed regarding 

 principles followed by the Central 

 Office in miaking final determinations. 

 This report was accepted by the Assist- 

 ant Secretary, and at the end of the 

 fiscal year arrangements were being 

 made to put all of the changes into 

 effect as soon as possible. 



ORGANIZATION AND STAFF 



The organization of the Office of 

 Loans and Grants was not basically 

 changed during the fiscal year. The 

 field office located in Pascagoula, 

 Mississippi, was moved to St. Peters- 

 burg Beach, Florida. 



The country was divided into regions 

 by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 during the fiscal year and Regional 

 Directors appointed for each region. 

 Up to June 30, 1958, line supervision 

 of field employees of the Office of 

 Loans and Grants had not been trans- 

 ferred to the regions. Preparations 

 were being made to effect such a 

 transfer of supervisory authority dur- 

 ing the following fiscal year. The 



central office staff consisted of three 

 professional and three clerical em- 

 ployees. The field staff included four 

 full-time and one half-time profes- 

 sional employees and one full-time 

 and one half-time clerical employees. 



STATUS OF THE LOAN FUND 



During the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 1958, 194 loan applications totaling 

 $5,361,000 were received. Thisnnadea 

 total of 452 applications ($16,032,000) 

 received since the program began in 



1957. During the year 109 loans 

 totaling $2,662,000 were approved, 87 

 ($3,074,000) were declined, 19 ($659.- 

 000) were declared ineligible, and 24 

 ($1,225,000) were withdrawn. During 

 the two fiscal years that the program 

 has been operating, 242 loans totaling 

 $6,267,000 have been approved. Figures 

 1, 2, 3, and 4 show the number and 

 value of loan applications received 

 and loans approved by area during the 

 fiscal year 1958. Figures 5, 6, 7, and 

 8 show the number and value of appli- 

 cations received and loans approved 

 by area during the fiscal years 1957 

 and 1958. 



The proportion of applications re- 

 ceived from other sections of the 

 country than the North Atlantic in- 

 creased considerably during fiscal year 



1958. There were several reasons for 

 this. The first surge of applications 

 received was largely from Massa- 

 chusetts due to the fact that the in- 

 dustry in that area had been in a 

 depressed state for a number of years 

 and the demands for assistance had 

 been more widely publicized there. 

 During the fiscal year 1958 the tuna, 

 sardine, shrimp, and salmon fisheries 

 declined and fishermen in those areas 

 became more cognizant of the pro- 

 gram. There was also an increase in 

 the percentage of applications re- 

 ceived for loans of $10,000 or less. 

 This was probably due to increased 

 familiarity with the progrann by 

 smaller producers as well as a gen- 

 eral tighteniiig of credit. 



