I 



Color of the different packs of cammed fish will be graded in the new standards 



GIVING three types, WHITE-MEAT, LIGHT-VEAT, AND DARK-MEAT PACKS. THE COLOR, DE- 

 termined in a special instrument, will be stipulated for each grade. in addition 

 tc color grades, packs may be pltt up as solid-pack, chunks, a^d flakes. specifica- 

 tions may limit the amount of small pieces allowed in the solid and chunk packs to 

 15 and 50 percent respectively, 



While many packers believe that the existing standard tuna pack is all that 

 the housewife needs or wants, no large-scale attempt has ever been made to fmt 

 up a mass produced tuna product consisting of tuna and some other food i nqred i entj[ s ) 

 which would be ready to serve by merely opening the can and heating, several 

 such products have been tried on a small scale in the past, but with the high cost 

 of production (and consequently, high selling price) they have never been popular. 



One OF THE LARGER TUNA PACKERS IS NOW IN THE PROCESS OF BRINGING OUT SUCH A MASS- 

 PRODUCED PRODUCT. A FEW MEMBERS OF THE TUNA INDUSTRY BELIEVE THAT SUCH PRODUCTS 

 MAY GREATLY EXPAND THE DEMAND FOR CAMMED TUNA, BUT UhfTIL THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE 

 OF THIS NEW VENTURE CAN BE DETERMINED, IT 13 IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDIICT THE FUTURE OF 

 SUCH ITEf«, The armed forces HAVE EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN SUCH PRODUCTS MC , 



if they were to be made avail/flle in a size of can to fit the united states army 

 ration carton, there might be a considerable market for them. highly seasoned, 

 smoked, and other specialty tuna products have been produced for many years in 

 small vollime but p<.ant operators do not believe there is any possibility of greatly 

 increasing their sale. 



Some members of the California tuna industry are giving serious consideration 

 TO opening plants in Puerto Rico, The favorable tax situation gives this Territory 

 m edge over any other place in the Caribbean or Gulf areas. Southern California 

 has certain advantages over many areas as a location of tuna canneries. It has 

 available other species of fish which are commonly canned making possible a di- 

 versified YEAR-ROUND INDUSTRY WHICH INSURES A SUPPLY OF TRAINFD PERSONCJEL SKILLED 

 IN THE VARIOUS OPERATIONS RANGING FROM CATCHING THE FISH TO PACKING THEM IN THE 

 CANS. 



JAPANESE- IMPORTED FROZEN WHOLE FISH IS PREFERRED BY MOST PACKERS TO DOMESTIC 

 ri9H BECAUSE OF CERTAIN HAIVOLING ADVANTAGES IN THE CANNERY. THE JAPANESE FISH 

 ARE GRADED AS TO SIZE AND DAMAGED FISH ARE CULLED OUT BEFORE EXPWTATiON. THESE 

 FACTORS TEND TO MAKE THE JAPANESE FISH SEEM SUPERIOR TO THE UfJGRADED, DOMESTIC 

 LAM3INQS. There is a belief in some segments of the ItCUSTRY THAT THE COLO^ OF 

 THE JAPANESE FISH IS LIGHTER THAN THAT OF AMERICAN PRODUCED TUI^IA. THIS IS SOME- 

 TIMES ASCRIBED TO BETTER HANDLING OF TUNA BY JAPANESE THAN BY AMERICAN FISHERMEN. 



Actually such better HA^OLlNG has neither been verified nor, in fact, has any 



DIFFERENCE IN COLOR BEEN CONFIRMED. POSSIBLY THE FACT THAT A VAST MAJORITY OF 

 IMPORTED TUNA ARE ALBACORE, A WHITE -MEAT SPECIES, HAS CAUSED PEOPLE TO BELIEVE 



THAT Japanese-caught fish are always of a light color regardless of species. 

 Japanese -CAUGHT tuna have often been held -n cold storage for many months 



before THEV reach THE AMERICAN PROCESSOR. 'WHERE THE GLAZE HAS BEEN LOST FROM 

 THE FISHp DEHYDRATION MAY BE MORE EXTENSIVE THAN WITH AMERICAN-PRODUCED TUNA. 

 The CAMMED PRODUCT, RESULTING FROM SUCH DEHYDRATED FISH IS SOMETIMES DESCRIBED 

 AS HAVING A WOODY TEXTURE AND BEING TASTELESS OR LACKiNG IN NORWL FLAVOR. 



This chapter will treat of the two principal activities in the tuna 

 processing industry, :;anning of tuna and production of byproducts. As 

 has been indicated in the chapter on consumption, there is not much demr.nd 



283 



