222 



MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



fisheries, while fishermen received the greatest income from their catches of 

 salmon, tuna, oysters, and shrimp. Salt-water fin-fish usually make up about 

 85 per cent of the catch, salt-water shellfish about 10 per cent, and fresh-water 

 fish the remaining 5 per cent. 



In 1948 menhaden ranked highest in volume. A record catch of over 1 billion 

 pounds was taken from Atlantic and Gulf Coast waters. The catch represents over 

 one-third of the total production of the area and is utilized almost exclusively 



903.000.000 LBS. MARKETED FRESH 



CATCH 



903.000.000 LBS. 



x: 



579,000,000 LBS. fillets (fresh a FROZEN)! / 93,000,000 LBS. 



4K Sn, 000.000 LBS. 



. W Idi.dddKdd LBS. 



BILUON 

 POUNDS 



\ 



FKMEn ( mi PiLLgts I I / 6 5,000,000 LBS. 

 n.Drn ■ ^=^ 75.000.000 LBS. 



1.459.000,000 LBS 



CANNED 



1.348,000.000 LBS 



BY-PRODUCTS 



WASTE FROM FRESH AND 

 PROCESSED FISH 



650,000,000 LBS. 



782,000,000 LBS 



MEAL 

 399.000.000 LBS. 



OIL 

 130.000.000 LBS 



{Courtesy V. S. Fish and Wildlife Service) 



Fig. 12-4. Flow chart of the commercial fisheries of the United States and Alaska, 1948. 



to manufacture livestock and poultry feeds, feeding oils, and industrial oils for use 

 in paint, soap, and the technical processing of various products. 



The five species of Pacific salmon— chinook or king, red or sockeye, silver or 

 coho, pink, and chum— are the bulwark of Alaska's fisheries and are of con- 

 siderable but varying importance in each of the Pacific Coast States. They con- 

 stitute one of the most valuable fisheries in the world, furnishing the raw ma- 

 terial for the world's largest pack of canned fish. In 1948 the estimated catch was 

 400 million pounds, well below the record total of 791 million pounds in 1936. 



Until 1946 the Pacific Coast pilchard fishery was surpassed only by the great 

 herring and ground fish fisheries of Europe. The peak production of 1.5 billion 

 pounds in 1936 dropped to 850 million pounds in 1945, 531 million pounds in 

 1946, and 272 million pounds in 1947 before recovering to 373 million pounds 

 in 1948. Intensive research is being undertaken to determine the cause of the 

 decline. The catch is utilized for canning and for reduction into fish meal and 

 fish oil, the emphasis varying with the demand and profit. The greatest canned 

 pack was over 5 million cases in 1941, while 122 thousand tons of meal and 

 over 26 million gallons of oil were produced in 1936. 



The Pacific Coast tuna fishing area extends from Ecuador to Alaska, with an 



