APPLIED RESEARCH 



Applied research consists of solving 

 specific problems of the fishing industry 

 — in our case of the tuna industry. In 

 many instances it is the Bureau's position 

 that such specific problems can best be 

 solved by industry itself. There are some 

 special cases, however, where Government 

 can help. 



If it is not completely clear how the 

 results of basic research can be applied 

 or if the research results are not well 

 known to the industry, then the Bureau 

 often goes a step further. Work on the 

 causes of green tuna is an example. This 

 work, most of which had been done at Davis, 

 was not widely known in the tuna plants 

 nor was it clear just how the chemical 

 treatment might work out in practice. As 

 an extension of the basic research, 

 Clarence Carlson of our Terminal Island 

 Station carried out some additional tests 

 by putting up some experimental packs em- 

 ploying the new chemical treatment for 

 retaining maximum normal color. At the 

 same time, at Seattle, we discussed results 

 with manufacturers of some of the chemical 

 materials involved. As a result, the ap- 

 plied research is currently being carried 

 out jointly by one of the pharmaceutical 

 concerns who manufacture the chemicals 

 involved, in cooperation with the tuna 

 industry. 



Applications of basic technological 

 research to problems of the fisheries are 

 not necessarily restricted to basic pro- 

 grams of the Bureau. Any such results of 

 basic research of any laboratories are 

 considered for application. For example, 

 much research in the past had shown the 

 possibility of utilizing atomic radiation 

 for preservation of food. Recent experi- 

 ments at the Seattle laboratory have been 

 looking into application of such means 

 of preservation to fish. At present, 

 radiation is carried out at a very few 

 Atomic Energy Commission sites. In our 

 program at Seattle, radiation was con- 

 ducted at such a site in Idaho. After 

 radiation treatment the samples are 

 returned to Seattle to determine the 

 effect on storage life. Our studies 

 have shown that very adverse flavor 

 changes are brought about if a sufficient 

 level of irradiation is used to sterilize 

 the fish, killing all the bacteria and 



insuring an indefinite keeping for the 

 fish. Use of lower radiation levels do 

 not seriously alter the flavor, but the 

 fish are merely pasteurized which destroys 

 some but not all of the bacteria. When 

 such fish are refrigerated, their keeping 

 time, which might have been ten days in 

 ice without radiation treatment, can be 

 increased to about 6 weeks. 



The next stage in this applied 

 research program can be undertaken as soon 

 as the Army Quartermaster Corps completes 

 its large-scale irradiation facilities 

 near Stockton. Industry will then be asked 

 to participate in larger scale operations. 



In some cases, applied research pro- 

 grams are undertaken by the Bureau to 

 solve directly some problems of the tuna 

 processing industry. The contract research 

 program of Philip R. Park Research Founda- 

 tion, although concerned to the major 

 extent with problems of freezing and thaw- 

 ing of fish aboard the vessel, touches also 

 upon processing problems. Since Dr. Lassen 

 has already discussed this program I will 

 not dwell further upon it. 



Finally, applied research must be made 

 in the byproducts field. I discussed at 

 some length Bureau programs on fish oils. 

 After new chemical derivatives have been 

 prepared by our organic chemists, indus- 

 trial uses have to be found. Some of the 

 potential industrial uses for several 

 chemical derivatives prepared from fish 

 oils (in some cases from tuna oils) are 

 shown in Figure 3. These potential 

 applications, as you can see, include 

 such fields as chemical intermediates, 

 plasti<cizers and ore flotation agents. 

 But these are only potential uses and 

 must be tested to determine whether these 

 fish-oil derivatives possess any advan- 

 tages over substances currently being 

 used by industry. 



One of our first efforts was to apply 

 certain of the derivatives for agricul- 

 tural insecticides and fungicides. Most 

 of this work was done in laboratories in 

 Florida but a portion was carried out at 

 the University of California' s Riverside 

 Citrus Experiment Station. Results 

 showed that while the compounds did pos- 

 sess fungicidal and insecticidal activity, 

 the extent was not great enough to make 

 these fish-oil derivatives attractive 



82 



