APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
subsidized Canadian vessels are newer and carry more sophis- 
ticated detection equipment than U.S. vessels. Better equip- 
ment enabled Canadian fishermen to locate and catch herring 
in the Gulf of Maine when U.S. vessels could not. 
To minimize herring spoilage, a NMFS-sponsored develop- 
ment program arranged a test of a new method for holding her- 
ring at sea. A carrier vessel used to transport herring 
from the catching vessel to the processing plant was partly 
converted to a chilled sea-water storage system. Tests showed 
that herring could be held aboard ship long enough to enable 
U.S. fisherman to land herring from offshore areas in good 
quality. This system, or an adaptation, may also be useful 
in improving the quality of herring landed from inshore areas. 
No increase in harvesting capabilities is required to 
harvest Pacific herring which inhabit the protected sounds and 
inlets in southeastern and central Alaska. However, to take 
advantage of the resource located in other waters, such as the 
Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, might require larger vessels and 
different types of fishing gear than are presently used in the 
small inshore fishery. 
Product development and 
processing 
On the Atlantic coast, increased herring abundance will 
enable more efficient use of existing processing facilities. 
In addition, NMFS is analyzing the feasibility of U.S. pro- 
duction of semiprocessed, marinated herring products currently 
imported. Although exact figures were not available on the 
extent of these imports, one NMFS official estimated that from 
20 to 50 million pounds were imported annually. 
Alaska could use herring as a source for fish protein 
concentrate when a more economical technique is found to pro- 
duce foodstuffs from fatty fish. Using herring for fish pro- 
tein concentrate would help the Alaska fishery have a bigger 
share of the world market. 
Marketing potential 
Foreign markets provide an opportunity for expanding the 
U.S. herring industry. Consumption of herring products in 
West Germany, according to an industry official, is estimated 
to be between 200 to 300 million pounds a year. The United 
States supplies only a small portion of the European market. 
U.S. processors may be able to supply a larger share of 
the domestic sardine market at the expense of imports. The 
U.S. industry is now better able to compete against imports, 
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