APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
are much smaller than the large modern distant water foreign 
vessels which fish off our shores. Foreign vessels traveling 
long distances to fish must process and freeze the catch at 
sea. In addition to fishing vessels, some foreign fleets 
contain support ships including factory, command, supply, 
transport, and at times repair ships. Due to the closeness 
of shore processing and supply facilities, U.S. vessels do 
not need to be as large as foreign vessels and do not require 
the sea support typical of foreign fleets. 
In 1972 the Atlantic coast groundfish fishery included 
about 765 otter trawl vessels and 54 boats. An analysis of 
vessel age showed that most New England groundfish otter 
trawl vessels were over 20 years old. Although some modern 
vessels have entered the fishery in recent years, NMFS of- 
ficials stated that most of the fleet remains old and poorly 
Maintained. An industry official, on the contrary, believes 
that most vessels have been well maintained, but that due to 
increasing maintenance costs as vessels become older, vessels 
need to be replaced as continued maintenance will no longer 
be economically practical. Industry officials conclude that 
the bulk of the New England groundfish fleet is less effi- 
cient than the relatively newer Canadian fleet and those 
newer U.S. vessels employing modern technology. 
Products and processing 
Most groundfish landed by Atlantic coast fishermen are 
processed for the fresh fish market. Fresh fish is sold in 
several product forms. Fish fillets are the fleshy sides of 
the fish cut lengthwise and fish steaks are cross section 
slices from large dressed (eviscerated with heads and tails 
removed) fish. These product forms are also sold frozen, 
as are fish sticks and portions which are highly processed 
convenience products. Fish sticks and portions are made from 
fish blocks which are fish fillets or minced fish frozen 
into blocks weighing 10 pounds or more. Almost all fish 
sticks and portions processed by U.S. firms are made from 
imported fish blocks. 
Both hand labor and machines are used to fillet ground- 
fish on the Atlantic coast. Machines are used extensively 
to remove the skin from fillets. Filleting machines are 
available for some species and are used by some processors, 
but according to an NMFS official, many processors do not 
process enough fish to economically justify the machines. 
Gloucester, Boston, and New Bedford, Massachusetts are the 
major groundfish processing ports on the Atlantic coast. In 
1974, according to a preliminary university study, there were 
84 
