130 SEA GEANT COLLEGES 



The processing plant operator geared to handling one or two species 

 is either overwhelmed with fish in times of heavy production and 

 thereby sometimes produces an inferior product, or is shut down or 

 running a fraction of capacity with resultant loss of competent per- 

 sonnel and crushing overhead. 



Many species of lish go ignored or underutilized, not because they 

 are unappetizing to the consumer, but because they cannot be eco- 

 nomically put into acceptable form with the techniques and equip- 

 ment currently used by the industry. 



The resources are there. It seems that everyone in the world wants 

 to fish off our coasts. Still it is generally agreed that there are many 

 unexploited fishery resources. The markets must also be there. Over 

 half of the fish consumed in the United States are not caught by 

 American fishermen. 



THE MEN 



Fishing vessel operators and those activities that back up the fleet 

 need young men who are real seamen if more sophisticated methods 

 and equipment are to be utilized. The land oriented, untrained and 

 poorly motivated are presently those generally available. 



THE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION 



The staffs of our marine oriented universities, colleges, laboratories, 

 and Government agencies, with a few notable exceptions, could appear 

 in nearby fishing ports and go completely unrecognized, frequently by 

 design. Traditionally we have been overrun by biologists studying 

 the fish. Mostly they are dedicated and doing an excellent job, but 

 they have watched the fishing industry go downhill. Valuable 

 assistance has been given in the most obvious trouble spots, but only 

 in narrowly confined areas. 



Sea slanted programs at the high school and college levels are 

 almost nonexistent. Yoimg men who ask us how to acquire such 

 training get unsatisfactory answers. 



^'VHiat are the needs of the fishing industry? Obviously there are 

 needs that are not being filled. "VVliat are needed are — 



1. Trained people, bright young sea-oriented men, not just to 

 be fishermen any more than all men concerned with land resources 

 are dirt farmers, but a broad base of people who are interested 

 in using the sea's resources as well as studying them. 



2. Application of presently available and ever increasing new 

 equipment and techniques. We must do a better job of develop- 

 ing and applying new technology to resources and the markets 

 not just in the area but all the way from the ocean to the con- 

 'sumer. 



I believe that sea grant colleges can fill this need. Why ? Because 

 of past frustrations and more recent brief but extremely promising 

 experiences. Recently the Graduate School of Oceanography and the 

 Department of Food and Resource Economics at the University of 

 Rhode Island joined together in what is to us a new and most hearten- 

 ing approach. They have brought together in projects, for us, bi- 

 ologists, resource economists, home economists, engineers and bio- 

 chemists from their respective colleges and departments, who, through 

 cooperation on these and other marine problems have become ac- 



