Radcliffe. — Fishery Products Laboratories 11 



The annual production of edible fishery products in the United 

 States, including Alaska, amounts to about 1,850,000,000 pounds, 

 and the estimated per capita consumption is about IS pounds. 

 Both production and consumption should be increased. The 

 chemical composition and food value of fish should be studied in 

 greater detail. Such analyses as have been made reveal the need 

 of analyses of fishes of different sizes and ages, from different 

 localities, for different seasons of the year, with due consideration 

 of the life history and habits of the fish. Experiments on the 

 digestibility of certain species show a very complete utilization 

 of the protein and fat in these fishes and confirms the value of fish 

 as food and the need of its more extended use. These investiga- 

 tions should be extended to other species. There is a lack of 

 information on the presence of vitamines, the medicinal value of 

 various fish oils, the substances in fish that give taste and odor, etc. 



The consumer should be acquainted with the pertinent facts 

 brought out by these investigations, with the dietetic qualities 

 of fish and with the best and most economical methods of prepara- 

 tion and cooking. 



INVESTIGATIONS NOW IN PROGRESS. 



Reference having been made to some of the problems of the 

 industry, attention will be directed to investigations which are 

 now in progress. These fall within the scope of or are dependent 

 upon investigations of the fishery products laboratories. 



Salting Fish. — Large quantities of fish preserved by salting are 

 lost annually by spoilage and still larger quantities of fresh fish, 

 for which there is no immediate market, are thrown away because 

 of the risk of loss if cured. At times of high temperature or during 

 the warm months in warm climates, such as obtains in the south, 

 little or no attempt is made to salt fish, for lack of suitable methods 

 of preserving the product. To determine the practicability of 

 overcoming these difficulties and to gather more definite informa- 

 tion about the basic principles governing the processes, an investi- 

 gation was started over a year ago and has yielded significant 

 results. 



This investigation has shown that impurities in salt, such as 

 the chlorides of calcium and magnesium, even in small quantities, 

 have a marked effect on the process of salting and on the quality 



