FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1925 221 



Comparative statistics of the products of the menhaden industry, 1921 to 1925 



FOREIGN FISHERY TRADE 



The foreign trade in fishery products of the United States during 

 1925 amounted to $70,293,363, of which $49,030,591 were the value of 

 fishery products imported for consumption and $21,262,772 the value 

 of exports of domestic fishery products. The imports consisted of 

 263,330,035 pounds of edible fishery products valued at $29,059,225 

 and nonedible products valued at $19,971,366, while the exports con- 

 sisted mainly of edible products amounting to 160.859,863 pounds, 

 valued at $20,734,584, and nonedible products valued at $528,188. 



Imports of edible fishery products consisted mainly of fresh and 

 frozen fish that originated chiefly in Canada and Mexico, and of 

 salted, dried, smoked, and pickled fish. Canned fish followed next 

 and consisted principally of canned sardines. The remaining im- 

 ports were of canned or fresh shellfish and other products, such as 

 fish roe and caviar. Imports of nonedible fishery products consisted 

 mainly of fish and marine animal oils, pearls and imitation pearl 

 beads, shells, sponges, and agar agar, given in order of importance. 



Exports consisted almost entirely of canned edible fishery products, 

 mainly canned sardines and salmon, with other products in much 

 smaller quantities. The Philippine Islands received 20.1 per cent 

 of the canned sardines; Straits Settlements, 19.6 per cent; Argentina, 

 13.8 per cent ; Dutch East Indies, 8.8 per cent ; and Mexico 3.8 per cent. 

 The United Kingdom purchased 46.7 per cent of the canned salmon ; 

 Philippine Islands, 13.9 per cent; Canada, 4.7 per cent; Mexico, 3.7 

 per cent; and Belgium, 1.8 per cent. Exports of nonedible fishery 

 products consisted solely of shell and pearl buttons, unmanufactured 

 shells, sponges, and fish oils. 



The ratio of imports to exports of the quantity of fresh and frozen 

 fish is 95 to 10; salted, dried, smoked, and pickled, 54 to 10; fish 

 canned or packed in oil, 10 to 43; shellfish canned or fresh, 21 to 10; 

 and other fish products, 10 to 13. The most striking feature of a 

 digest of import and export statistics is the fact that while the 

 United States produces about 40,000,000 pounds of fish and marine 

 animal oils annually, this amount seems insufficient to supply the 

 demand. As a consequence the imports^of these products are 123 

 times greater than the exports. At the same time large quantities of 

 waste fish and offal from the fishing industry continue to be available 

 as a source of oil that possibly could be diverted to this trade. 



Following are tables showing the amount and value of the foreign 

 trade in fishery products by the United States for 1924 and 1925 and 

 a comparison table for 1925. 



