760 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



markets of this country are excellent food and are available in sufficient quantities 

 to be worthy of commercial exploitation. 



These vessels are fitted with freezing and refrigeration equipment, and studies 

 are being made of possible improvements of handling fish at sea so that a higher 

 quality, more tasty product can be introduced in the markets. To be most effec- 

 tive this type of investigation should be expanded to a far greater extent by the 

 Federal Government. 



Several universities and colleges are making similar studies in the waters ad- 

 jacent to the shores of the states in which they are located. Among these are the 

 Universities of Washington, California, North Carolina, Southern California, 

 Miami, Harvard, Columbia, and Yale. 



The European nations, which are dependent to a considerable extent on fish 

 to supply food for their national economies, are probably far more research con- 

 scious than the United States. The British, Norwegians, Danes, and Dutch operate 

 varying numbers of research vessels to investigate fish populations and prospect 

 for new fishing grounds. 



The Japanese, who are far more dependent on their fisheries to supply protein 

 foods than any other country, have financed exploratory fishing to a far greater 

 degree than any other nation. The Japanese fishermen have explored the resources 

 of every area of the Pacific Ocean, and have exploited many of them. 



An international compact, drawn up recently by 11 countries which fish in the 

 North Atlantic, establishes a commission for the conservation of the fisheries in 

 this area. This commission is similar to that on the Pacific for the control of fishing 

 in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Since the international agreement gov- 

 erning the fishing for halibut in this area was signed, this species has made a re- 

 markable recovery. It is possible that similar control of the same fishery in the 

 North Atlantic would result in a similar recovery of this species in this area. It is 

 expected that conservation measures applied to the cod and haddock fishery will 

 result in a recovery of these species to their former abundance and economic im- 

 portance. 



Other Uses for Sponges 



All along the coast of Florida are found great quantities of sponges, of little 

 or no commercial value for that purpose. However, these sponges contain a high 

 percentage of very pure silica in crystalline form. As yet only minor use has been 

 made of this resource, which would yield other chemicals of value as by-products. 

 Some attempts have been made to prepare a poultry food from this source, but 

 due to the inefficient method of manufacture this has not been entirely satisfactory. 



Utilization of Algae 



In only a few instances are any attempts made to utilize the great quantities 

 of seaweeds which are common to all the waters of the ocean along the coast of 

 the United States. While large sums of money have been spent by private indus- 

 try in the development of new products from certain species of seaweed, the Fed- 

 eral Government has been quite conservative in sponsoring research in connec- 

 tion with such developments. The Scottish Seaweed Research Association has 

 financed research, which equals if not surpasses that of the United States, in the 

 utilization of seaweeds. Much interest has been expressed in the possibility of 



