k6 



CONCLUSIONS 



1. The production of starfish meal is not practicable for the following reasons: 



A. Control methods practiced by the oyster industry dd not offer a reliable 

 source of raw material. 



B. A separate fishery for starfish could not operate at present to yield 

 raw material at a cost consistent with its value as a feedstuff or 

 fertilizer. 



C. Extreme annual fluctuations in the abundance of starfish creates a 

 very poor source of supply of raw material for a meal drying industry, 

 regardless of the cost of raw material. 



D. There are no byproducts, such as oil, which might carry part of the 

 production costs. The costs would be as high or higher than for any 

 other byproduct meal. 



E. Starfish meal has a low nitrogen content and high ash content and 

 therefore is a relatively low priced product. 



2. Control operations now practiced by individual oyster companies appear to 

 be the best means for combating the menace of starfish to the oyster industry. 



A. Reduction of starfish population by bounty payment is only temporary. 

 It appears probable that abundance will normally decline from maximum 

 through natural causes within one or two years. 



B. Further biological research is needed to prove the existence of an 

 abundance cycle, and to study larval forms of plankton samples in 

 order to predict the abundance of starfish in the immediate future.^ 

 Reliable information of this nature should enable more efficient 



and intelligent planning and utilization of present control equipment 

 by the oyster companies. 



3. Future technological research on starfish should be directed to the develop- 

 ment of high-priced preparations from starfish. 



A. The utilization of starfish for feed or fertilizer has been sufficiently 

 explored to show that it is theoretically possible but not economically 

 feasible. 



B. At the present time, it would appear that development of methods for the 

 separation of the amino acids of the protein of starfish might produce 

 products of sufficiently high price to encourage the establishment of 



a separate fishery. 



LITERATURE CITED 



BARNES, E. W. 



1946. Starfish menace in southern Massachusetts in 1931 • Bingham Oceanographic 

 Collection, Bull. 9, Art. 3: 38-43. 



BURKENRQATJ, M. D. 



1946. General discussion of problems involved in starfish utilization. Bingham 

 Oceanographic Collection, Bull. 9, Art. 3» 44-58. 



GALTSOFF, P. S. and LOOSANOFF, V. L. 



1939. Natural history and methods of controlling the starfish ( Asterlas forbesl . 

 Desor), U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Fisheries Bulletin 

 31* 1-132, illus. 



