574 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES . 
who took their places are also dropping out; and when the Europeans, who are 
taking their places, become Americanized, they will pass on also. Make fishing 
an attractive occupation financially and the young men of the seacoast towns 
and villages will turn away from the factories and take to the sea. 
The vessel owner, as a rule, makes but little on his investment. Many 
fishing fleets show no profit from their fishing operations, but are maintained 
by wholesale producers for the purpose of insuring a supply of fish. Unless 
the full value is obtained from the fish caught—waste fish and offal included— 
a rise in the cost of the marketable product may be expected ; and then fish 
will be so costly that it will become a luxury. By utilizing the waste and mak- 
ing a profit on it, the price of marketable fish to the consumer can be held at 
possibly a lower level than exists to-day. ; 
The growth of the fillet business is creating a considerable tonnage of edible 
waste and bones. It is essential that some recovery be made here. Some 
companies are manufacturing flaked fish from the fillet cuttings, marketing 
the flakes in cans. These cuttings are being utilized also in the production of 
fish loaf. There is a field for investigations here, as the fillet waste is too 
valuable to be thrown into a glue factory or used as stock for cattle feed and 
for fertilizer. The bureau, I believe, has this problem in hand and is working 
upon it. 
The bureau has many demands upon the time and knowledge of its skilled 
staff, and it is only natural that it conserve its efforts and confine its activities 
to problems worth while and for the good of the greatest number, and after a 
eareful review of the subject upon which I was asked to speak, I believe I 
have presented the most important and the most pressing. Summed up briefly, 
it is (1) to help the industry give the public a bountiful supply of fish in the 
best possible condition and in the most attractive form, thereby expanding the 
market, and (2) to aid the fisherman to make the fullest use of our fishery 
resources by utilizing every pound of waste and thereby make his vocation 
more profitable. 
Mr. Hicarns. I think we all agree that Captain Wallace has 
pointed out a fruitful field of work. It is my understanding that 
the division of fishery industries is already engaged on problems of 
fishery technology that are particularly urgent. We should all bear 
in mind these problems of industry at the same time that we are 
carrying on our biological investigations, for if there were no eco- 
nomic problems, there would be no biological problems. 
Captain Watuace. I noticed that in Mr. Sette’s graphs of the cod 
and haddock fisheries he shows a considerable decline in the cod- 
fishery and a rise in the haddock. Would that not be from an eco- 
nomic cause? In the old days there was a great salt fishery con- 
ducted out of Gloucester and other New England ports. They 
wanted cod and would not take haddock. They brought them in 
for the dried salt codfish market. That business has practically 
passed out of existence. There is not the market for cod existing 
in the country to-day as there was years ago. Haddock has started 
to come up now. I wonder if there is such a thing as a decline in 
the actual quantity of the cod on the grounds. It would seem to me 
that there is still a large fleet of French fishermen coming across to 
the Grand Banks and taking codfish exclusively; also Portuguese. 
If you could get the statistics of what they are catching and compare - 
them with those of about 20 years ago, you would be able to tell. 
5. . . 
Mr. Serre. We don’t know the cause exactly. The decline might 
be due to the failure of the salt-fish trade. I have been compiling 
statistics of the catch of foreign nations on the Grand Banks. I 
find that the Newfoundland catch, although it fluctuates, is now on 
relatively the same level that it was in 1850. It is interesting to 
note that they have an increased return per vessel and per man, 
probably indicating increased efficiency in fishing. It is up to the 
