2.0. Food From the Sea 
2.1. INTRODUCTION 
Adequate nutrition is prerequisite to all other human activities. 
For most of humanity, life is supported by a diet which is largely, if 
not exclusively, of vegetable origin. Only in the developed areas is 
a significant fraction of calories and of proteins and vitamins sup- 
plied by food stuffs of animal origin. Approximately 1.5 billion per- 
sons, largely in the tropical and subtropical zones, live on diets which 
are frequently dominated by one staple crop although occasionally 
mixtures of vegetables and cereals are available. But many vegetable 
diets fail to provide protein either of the quantity or the quality needed 
for adequate human nutrition. The quality of protein depends on its 
composition of amino acids. Vegetable proteins frequently are abso- 
lutely or relatively deficient in one or another of the ten amino acids 
essential for human nutrition. For example, corn is seriously defi- 
cient in tryptophan and is not adequate in lysine content. 
Chronic protein deficiency, the consequence of inadequate amino 
acids in the diet, is a serious public health problem of man. Combined 
with infectious diseases whose effects it magnifies, this form of mal- 
nutrition is the leading cause of death in the period between weaning 
and 5 years of age in all countries in the equatorial zone. Protein 
deficiency accounts for as high as 50 percent of deaths at these ages. 
Protein deficiency also limits the lifespan and productive capacity of 
adults. If these peoples are to be assisted in their entry into the 20th 
century, if they are to be offered opportunity on the scale available 
to developed nations, it is imperative that their diets be improved, 
particularly with respect to protein. 
Several techniques for nutritional improvement are apparent. One 
of these is to redistribute agricultural products to assure that, instead 
of a single staple, a mixture of vegetables and vegetable products with 
a balanced amino acid composition is consumed regularly. Experi- 
ments are in progress but to accomplish this redistribution on a large 
scale would be an enormous task. 
The second technique is to provide a nutritional supplement of 10 
to 20 grams of animal protein per day to a predominantly vegetable 
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