89 



vidual stocks of fish and shellfish. Wise use 

 of living marine resources is not only a mat- 

 ter of expanding output from underutilized 

 or unused species and areas but also of effec- 

 tive management of those subject to over- 

 fishing. The management system must be 

 structured to preserve the productivity of 

 heavily fished populations witliout discour- 

 aging the technological and marketing prog- 

 ress required to push productive activity into 

 new areas and into the use of new species. 

 As demand grows, it will become increas- 

 ingly important for the United States, alone 

 and in coojDeration with other nations, to 

 establish more accurately the dimensions of 

 the many living resources usable to man and 

 to estimate the production that can be taken 

 from them without impairing future yields. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 United States continue its own research 

 programs aimed at improving stock and 

 yield estimates, cooperate with other na- 

 tions in programs for this purpose, and 

 explore new techniques for preliminary 

 assessment of stock size and potential 

 yield where new fisheries are contem- 

 plated. 



World Production and Demand 



Dramatic changes have marked the world's 

 fisheries in recent years. With fleets ranging 

 across the globe and developing stocks here- 

 tofore not economically accessible, the ex- 

 ploitation of fisheries has assumed new di- 

 mensions as an activity of international 

 interest and concern. 



Aggregate figures conceal the changes oc- 

 curring within the industry. Total output has 

 been growing at a rate of more than 6 per 

 rent per year since the end of World War II, 

 the sliarpest growth occurring in recent years. 



The gro\vth has not been evenly distributed 

 among the various fisheries. There have been 



tremendous increases in some areas, like the 

 Peiiivian anchovy and the South African 

 sardine fisheries, and actual declines in others 

 as a result of overexploitation, deterioration 

 of spawning areas, and natural causes. If 

 expansion in the use of living resources of 

 the sea is to continue, improvements in tech- 

 nology, market development, and processing 

 must keep pace with the needs to move far- 

 ther afield and to utilize lower-valued species. 

 The rapid increase in fishmeal use for live- 

 stock feeds and the potential development of 

 fish protein concentrates from heretofore 

 unmarketable fish foreshadow both the needs 

 and the opportunities to utilize lower valued 

 species. 



Rapid growth in tlie harvest of living re- 

 sources of the sea reflects the strong world de- 

 mand for animal protein foods. Although per 

 capita consumption of sea foods tends to level 

 off at the income levels attained in highly de- 

 veloped nations, population growth and in- 



Trends in the U.S. and World Catch 



of Fish ^including catch from freah water) 



Source : United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza- 

 tion, Yearbook. 1967. 



