"There are as good fish in the 

 sea as ever came out of it." 



ENGLISH PROVERB 



Chapter VI 



ACCELERATING USE OF FOOD FROM 

 THE SEA 



A strengthened fishing industry can contribute to economic development 

 at home and abroad, improve our balance of trade, broaden our research 

 and industrial base to explore and use the oceans more effectively, enhance 

 our stature as a world maritime power, and provide new tools in combatting 

 hunger and malnutrition in the developing areas of the world. 



The United States has become the world's most lucrative market for 

 fishery products with a two-fold increase in demand during the past 

 ten years. However, while the fishery catch worldwide and off our coast 

 has more than tripled during the past two decades, the total catch by U.S. 

 fishermen has slightly declined, with the United States now sixth among the 

 world's fishing nations. This problem in U.S. fisheries is further aggravated 

 by the fact that foreign fishermen take most of the catch from the many 

 highly productive high seas fishing grounds off the U.S. coast, and about 

 three-fourths of our domestic demand is satisfied by imports (Figure VI- 1 ) . 



The demand for fishery products at home and abroad will continue 

 to grow, and fishing activities along our coast will probably continue to 

 intensify in view of the abundance of known nearby resources \vhich are 

 not now being exploited. Thus, expansion and further improvements in 

 the vitality of our fishing industry — and particularly a revitalization of 

 large segments of the harvesting sector of the industry — could contribute to 

 our economy, provide a wider variety of high quality, low cost, fishery 

 products, and reduce balance of payments deficits through improved com- 



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