XVIII REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE 



By-products. — During 1930 the production of fishery by-products 

 in the marine and lakes sections amounted to $19,559,856. There was 

 a considerable decrease compared with 1929. Important products 

 in this group were marine-animal meals and scrap, pearl and oj^ster- 

 shell products, and marine-animal oils. 



Frozen products. — The pack of frozen fishery products in 193() 

 amounted to 139,297,000 pounds, which had an estimated value of 

 $16,500,000. The volume of the pack was 15 per cent greater than 

 in 1929! The more important products in the group with respect to 

 volume were haddock fillets, 19,270,819 pounds; salmon, 15,991,896 

 pounds ; and halibut, 13,588,630 pounds. 



SOME UNUSUAL MARKETS FOR FISH AND SHELLFISH 



In an effort to expand the consumption of fishery products, the 

 bureau surveyed and reported upon several unusual outlets for these 

 products. This included the newly established commercial sport- 

 fishing industry which numbers more than 40 firms in the country 

 with an investment in excess of $500,000 and the development of a 

 hot-fish shops industry. 



TECHNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 



NUTRITIVE VALUE OF MARINE PRODUCTS 



In cooperation with and in the laboratories of the Bureau of Chem- 

 istry and Soils, the bureau's technologists completed an investigation 

 in which it was shown that commercially produced burbot-liver oils 

 were from four to ten times as potent in vitamin A and from three to 

 four times as potent in vitamin D as medicinal cod-liver oil. It also 

 was shown that burbot-liver oil meets the United States Pharmaceuti- 

 cal X requirements for cod-liver oil with respect to specific gravity^ 

 iodine number, acid value, and unsaponifiable matter. This work 

 should be of value in promoting a burbot-liver oil industry on the 

 Great Lakes and thereby find a market for a by-product from a fish 

 little used, but which can be taken in larger quantities than at present. 



As a result of experiments conducted by the bureau in cooperation 

 with a producer of kelp meal, it has been found that kelp meal is a 

 valuable supplement to corn gluten meal, cottonseed meal, and linseed 

 oil meal in the rations of animals. Kelp meal is also a good source 

 of vitamin A, containing about one-fourth as much as alfalfa hay, 

 approximately the same amount as fresh eggs, and one and one-half 

 times as much of this vitamin as yellow corn. Further experiments 

 showed that kelp meal stimulates appetite, and therefore is an im- 

 portant factor in increasing both growth and food consumption, thus 

 shortening the period of production of animals for early market 

 maturity. 



Studies by this bureau, in cooperation with the Bureau of Chem- 

 istry and Soils, have revealed that fish flour, produced from edible 

 filleting waste, is an extremely valuable source of minerals, such as 

 calcium and phosphorus, particularly for growing children, and that 

 fish flour can be incorporated in bakery products, making a palatable 

 and nutritious food. 



