POISONOUS FISHES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO MARINE 

 FOOD RESOURCES IN THE PACIFIC AREA * 



By Bruce W, Halstead 



School of Tropical and Preventive Medicine 

 College of Medical Evangelists 

 Loma Linda, California, U.S.A. 



Introduction 



Recent declines in fish catches in certain regions in the Pacific have 

 stimulated scientific organizations to investigate ways and means of 

 developing latent fishery resources. Other fishing grounds are being 

 explored, and the addition of new fish species to the consumers' menu 

 is being considered. The decline in catches becomes even more serious 

 when considered in the light of increasing human population through- 

 out the world. This increase is estimated to be progressing at the rate 

 of 1 to 1.25 percent per annum, or in terms of numbers, about 25 

 million people a year. Unfortunately, the population increase has not 

 been matched by the production of food stuffs. Many of the southern 

 Asiatic countries, which prior to World War II were exporters of food 

 stuffs, have since become importers. 



Increases in population, decreased food production resulting from 

 political and military upheaval, and the general decline in fish catches 

 have all contributed toward making protein food stuffs a subject of con- 

 cern. It is not unusual, therefore, that economists should focus their 

 attention on the almost untapped protein food reserves of the sea. How- 

 ever, the development of the shore fisheries of the tropical Pacific will 

 present important jDroblems regarding the edibility of certain fish species 

 which fisheries and public health organizations must not ignore. 



Economic Significance of Poisonous Fishes 

 The economic significance of poisonous fishes can probably be more 

 readily appreciated by reviewing a few instances which have occurred in 

 the tropical Pacific within the last ten years. According to Mr. P. F. 

 D. Palmer,^ who has managed the Fanning Island Plantations Limited 

 (Line Islands) and has been a resident of the island since 1936, poi- 



' This investigation was supported by a research grant from the Division of Research 

 Grants and Fellowships of the National Institute of Health, Public Health Service, Bethesda, 

 Maryland, supported in part by the United States Air Force under contract No. AF 18(600) — 

 451, monitored by Research Secretariat, U.S.A.F., School of Aviation Medicine, Randolph Field, 

 Texas. 



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