44 



they will not be able to advance this technology. I think we all 

 know from any industry that no industry has succeeded unless that 

 basic R&D work and the technology transfer is available. 



Senator Kerry. So, it can be treated like any other startup. 



Mr. Silva, what about — are you familiar with any programs in 

 other countries? 



Mr. Silva. Quite so, sir. 



Senator Kerry [continuing]. That are really advanced in promot- 

 ing this kind of technology? 



Mr. Silva. Just to give you an idea, and I am sorry you missed 

 my earlier remarks on fish oils, but this is a 1-gram sample of 95- 

 percent pure EPA and DHA. It is derived from menhaden oil. It is 

 the same kind of thing that is being produced by the Charleston 

 laboratory. 



My cousin is head of science and technology for the AMA, and 

 10 years ago he told my wife and I, borrow as much money as you 

 can from your parents and start a laboratory in New Bedford, MA, 

 which we did, and we have been nothing else since then. 



Senator Kerry. Nothing else but borrowing money. [Laughter.] 



Mr. Silva. That is about it, sir. If it were not for the fact that 

 the Bagwell family of Georgia supports our research, and if we did 

 not make money in poultry, we would not be able to stay in menha- 

 den fishing. 



It is a losing proposition from the terms of fish meal, but like so 

 many of these industries — a good example is our ventures into 

 aquaculture. We started Aquarius Aquafarms, which was the first 

 salmon farm in Vancouver, which is a startup industry. 



I remember going with my old boss up there, and we had the 

 technology from Norway, and the Canadian banks would not even 

 loan money to their own people, but the Norwegian industrial fund 

 was willing to guarantee those loans, so we went back to Norway 

 to get the Norwegian industrial fund to guarantee the loans that 

 the Canadian banks made to their own citizens so that we could 

 sell them fish meal and grow salmon up in Canada, and that start- 

 ed the entire salmon farming industry. 



The threat of the loss of jobs has never been higher, sir. I would 

 not be here, I would not be so adamant about what ought to be 

 done, if I did not see everything — everything that Senator Pell 

 worked for in Sea Grant — and I cannot tell you — I mean, I live in 

 your library, sir — how valuable that marine biological laboratory at 

 Wood's Hole is to this kind of research. We are watching the jobs 

 evaporate. We are watching them go overseas. 



What the Japanese are after, they are after this oil. This is the 

 real Lorenzo's Oil, this is the real cure to cancer. This is the real, 

 most significant, important part of the diet of children. It has to 

 do with their retinal development, it has to do with their nerve de- 

 velopment. 



There is a conference right now that I could not attend in Lu- 

 cerne, Switzerland, on these omega oils. You have heard Roy Mar- 

 tin come here before these committees from the National Marine 

 Fisheries Institute and testify to this. You have heard scientists 

 from the National Institutes of Health, doctors from Massachusetts 

 Genera] Hospital, everyone has been supplied with just about 

 enough oil to get by with the mice, and we are at a point where 



