The status of the fund as of June 30, 

 1958, was as follows: 



Appropriated $ 10,000,000 



Interest collected 105,409 



Principal collected.... ZZ6,6l 8 



Total available 10,332,027 



Administrative Ex- 

 penses 258,597 



Net loans authorized .. ' 5,673,985 



Total obligations .... 5,932,582 



Amount available for 



loans 4,413,269 



Applications being 



processed 3,27 5,000 



>Net loans authorized represents the total loans 

 authorized minus authorizations which were can- 

 celled after approval on request of the applicant. 



Five percent interest is charged on 

 all fisheries loans. All principal and 

 interest collected is returned to the 

 revolving fund and becomes available 

 for future loans or administrative ex- 

 penses. Administrative expenses are 

 paid from the fund. A limitation on 

 the amount which can be spent each 

 year for this purpose is carried in the 

 Department of the Interior Appropria- 

 tions Bill. During fiscal year 1957 this 

 limitation was $ 31 3,000. However, only 

 $188,724 was used for this purpose. 



During this fiscal year 9 loans were 

 declared in default and turned over to 

 the Department of Justice for collec- 

 tion. The loan which was reported in 

 default in the previous fiscal year's 

 annual report had its default remedied 

 during this year and the vessel was 

 released to the o^vner to resume fish- 

 ing. As legal action has not been com- 

 pleted in most of the cases no figures 

 on losses sustained are available. The 

 estimated loss to date is $97,000. As the 

 earlier loans contained a greater pro- 

 portion of high-risk loans, losses in 

 future years are expected to be lower. 



DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 



During the past two fiscal years the 

 Fisheries Loan Fund has provided long - 

 term financing for approximately 250 

 vessels. As one of the requisites for 

 obtaining a loan from this fund is a 

 showing that the desired financing is not 

 available on reasonable terms from any 

 other source, it can be assumed that 

 most, if not all, of these vessels would 

 have been in serious difficulties if they 

 had not been able to obtain these loans. 

 The estimated catch of these 250 ves- 

 sels in calendar year 1958 was approxi- 

 mately 2 30 million pounds. In addition 

 to keeping these vessels operating, 

 the fact that the Federal Government 

 had sufficient faith in the fishery to 

 make these loans encouraged the ex- 

 tension of limited credit to other ves- 

 sels by banks and suppliers. The 

 assistance provided these vessels by 

 Fisheries Loans enabled many of them 

 to pay off debts of long standing which 

 assistecf the general economy of those 

 areas which are largely dependent on 

 fishing. 



Approximately 64 percent of the funds 

 loaned was used for refinancing mort- 

 gages or lienable debts; 33 percent for 

 repairs, innprovements, and replace- 

 ments; and 3 percent for operating 

 expenses. During the early stages of 

 the program a large portion of the 

 funds was used for refinancing with 

 much smaller amounts used for re- 

 pairs and improvements. The propor- 

 tion used for refinancing has been de- 

 clining and this trend is expected to 

 continue. As more of the funds go into 

 vessel improvements the efficiency of 

 the vessels will increase and prospects 

 for repayment without foreclosures 

 should improve. 



