Special Groups Concerned with Oceanography 



19 



"How are turbidity currents generated? Are 

 they the primary means of transporting terres- 

 trial material to deep water? At what speeds do 

 they flow?... 



"What is the flux of sediment from land to deep 

 ocean?... 



"What is the nature of the stress exerted by 

 waves and currents on the bottom?... 



"What world-wide changes in sea level have 

 occurred in the past? What changes are in prog- 

 ress now, or are to be expected in the near future?" 



In general, the same questions challenge oceano- 

 graphic scientists today at just the time that tech- 

 nology and engineering have put the answers to 

 many of them tantalizingiy near his reach. The 

 assessment of the National Academy of Sciences 

 four years ago was "that both the quantity and 

 quality of basic research in the marine sciences 

 can and should be increased substantially during 

 the years ahead." The challenge and promise are 

 even greater now. 



B. The Fishing Industry 



The remaining groups to be discussed, such as 

 the fishing industry, are primarily consumers of 

 oceanographic information, though some of them, 

 like the government, may be producers or at least 

 patrons of it also. The questions they ask of o- 

 ceanography are highly practical and the motive 

 is largely economic. To see their oceanographic 

 needs, we must therefore view them in an econom- 

 ic setting. 



Commercial fishing has been an important in- 

 dustry on this continent for nearly three and a 

 half centuries. Today it supplies over a million 

 tons of food each year for our population, which 

 consumes an average of nearly 1 1 pounds a year 

 per person. More than half a million people de- 

 pend on it for their livelihood. 



1962 was both favorable and unfavorable to 

 the American fishing industry. On the favorable 

 side, the year was one of the most prosperous 

 in American fishing history. Catches of salmon 

 and shrimp were sharply up from 1961, and the 

 tuna industry, although short of its all-time high, 

 had another successful year. Even the New Eng- 

 land groundfish industry, beset by competition 

 from foreign imports, did reasonably well. Only 

 the oyster industry fared badly, but research al- 

 ready well advanced is expected to brighten its 

 future also. 



The most unfavorable aspect is the increasing 

 competition from the fisheries of other nations. 

 This competition takes two forms: cheaper im- 

 ports from countries with labor costs lower .than 

 ours, and the invasion of traditionally American 

 and Canadian fishing grounds by foreign fleets, 

 most notably those of the USSR and Japan. 



Technological problems arise from the ad- 

 vanced age of many of our fishing vessels, lag- 

 ging progress in seafood processing, and from the 

 adverse eff^ects on some seafood stocks of pol- 

 lution and engineering projects as well as from 

 environmental changes due to natural causes. 

 Technological progress is being made, however, 

 in some quarters. Among these are the use of 

 power blocks and synthetic fiber nets in the sal- 

 mon and tuna fisheries and the widespread adop- 

 tion of automatic peeling and shucking machines 

 in the shrimp and crab industry. The industry 

 has also recognized the advantage of voluntary 

 quality inspection of many fishery products. 



There is a strong feeling that one of the most 

 promising avenues for the future is further de- 

 velopment of fish protein concentrate. This ma- 

 terial, a flour-like substance, can be made cheaply 

 from fish wastes and from species either not being 

 caught at present or now being discarded as trash. 

 It is stable, easily transported and stored, and 

 has a very high protein content. These character- 

 istics make it particularly promising for use by 

 countries with poor distribution and transporta- 

 tion systems, among which are many with diets 

 seriously protein deficient. 



A necessary condition for successful compe- 

 tition with foreign fleets is superior knowledge 

 of the sea and its inhabitants. With some important 

 exceptions, the industry is largely dependent on 

 the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries for this 

 knowledge. Since many areas of potential interest 

 are remote from U.S. shores, international co- 

 operation is frequently essential. The two large- 

 scale international enterprises in which this coun- 

 try is now participating, the International Indian 

 Ocean Expedition and the International Coopera- 

 tive Investigations of the Tropical Atlantic, re- 

 present important steps toward a better under- 

 standing of these two areas of potential interest 

 to American fishermen. 



The industry feels that knowledge is not enough, 

 however. It needs more capable ocean-going 

 fishing vessels, and more modern and efficient 

 techniques for locating and capturing the fish. 



