REGIONS, 



Even where -ResocwcES (re abundant, however, the returns must be large enough to 



JUSTIFY the purchase OF HIGH-PRICED VESSELS AND THE INSTALLATION OF REFRIGERATION AM3 



canning facilities, 



Because of the relatively high cost of producing tuna, continual expansion ap- 

 ears to be largely dependent on the maintenance and enlargement of the more high-pr i ceo 

 markets for tuna products, 



The UNITED STATES APPEARS TO BE THE TARGET FOR MUCH OF THE INCREASED PRODUCTION 

 OF TUNAS CONTEMPLATED BY MANY COUNTRIES. 



It has just been observed that tuna consumption in the United States 

 is in a healthy state. The outlook is relatively bright for continued 

 increase in consumption. To determine if the demands which have been pic- 

 tured in the previous chapter will be satisfied, staff members of the 

 Branch of Fishery Biology and the Branch of Commercial Fisheries of the 

 Fish and lifLldlife Service have reviewed in detail the production or catch- 

 ing of tuna. The term "production" as used in this and the following 

 chapter is limited to the natural resource and things concerned vdth that 

 resource up to the time tuna are landed. Occasionally information on pro- 

 cessing may be given but this is done only to illustrate conditions of 

 production by indirection. Processing, a later stage of the industry will 

 be discussed in Chapter V, 



BIOLOGICAL OUTLOOK FOR TUM RESOURCES!/ 



The tunas, as a group of fishes comprising a renewable biological re- 

 source, differ from all the other well-known and important food fishes such 

 as the herring, cod, haddock, halibut, salmon, and mackerel in two impor- 

 tant respects. They are not limited to broad shallow sea areas abutting 

 continents and their ultimate potentials for production are completely un- 

 known. Even the elementaiy features of their biology such as spawning, life 

 history, and migrations are only beginning to be understood. Under the 

 circumstances, any appraisal of the long-term outlook must be very tentative 

 and in very uiprecise terms 



6/ Tunalike species are not considered in this section. 



108 



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