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8, The Federal fishery function should concentrate its domestic activities at least 
for the next decade on increasing the production of fish and shelifish by U.S.- 
flag vessels, primarily from the underutilized resources of the U.S. Conti- 
nental Shelf and slope regions 
General goals should be established which the Congress and others could keep 
in pod as objectives to be met. These should be to double production by U.S. 
flag vessels within the next decade, and to quadruple it by 2000. 
9. The Federal fishery function should broaden and strengthen vigorously its 
entire program (resource assessment, exploratory fishing, gear development, 
processing technology, economic research, etc.) aimed at bringing to harvest 
the very abundant organisms of lower trophic level and smaller size that 
can be caught in bulk cheaply and manufactured into fish meal, fish oil, fish 
solubles, fish protein concentrates, and other low cost, high nutritive value 
protein and other products 
The most abundant underutilized resources in United States coastal waters, and 
in the world ocean, are these small, densely schooling, lower trophic level animals. 
The largest demand for fish in the United States and in the world is in the form 
of fish meal. This is likely to change into demand for fish protein concentrate for 
direct human consumption if processing and distribution problems with such 
products can be solved. Making these enormous resources useful for man is one 
of the most important contributions the United States could make to the harvest 
of the sea, both for itself and the world in general. 
10. The Federal fishery function should be provided with funds and authority to 
mount a concentrated drive for a 10- -year period to building the ground fish 
fisheries of the United States 
This program should include for this period of time authority to provide vessel 
construction subsidies and other supports fully equivalent to Canadian supports 
in these fields. 
11. The Federal fishery function should be provided with authority to give tax 
incentives, under appropriate criteria, to particular U.S.-flag fisheries which 
it is wished to develop 
No general incentive would more quickly stimulate production by U.S. flag 
fishing vessels than appropriate modification of the industry’s tax base along the 
line of the depletion allowance granted petroleum producers, and land taxes 
granted farmers. 
12. The fishermen’s loan and vessel mortgage insurance programs should have 
sufficient level of funds authorized to mect all demands upon them 
These two programs have been very useful to the fishing industry at nominal 
cost to the government, and little adverse comment from the private banking 
business. Vessel operators steadily need better access to capital than private 
business can make available on suitable terms. 
13. The Federal fishery function should have a line item in its budget devoted to 
the support by it of academic research on fishery problems, both in the 
natural sciences and the social sciences, through grants and contracts, using 
the normal procedures of having such proposals reviewed by a committee of 
peers 
This procedure, so valuable to NASSA, NSF, Navy, AEC, and other govern- 
ment agencies has been very lightly used in fisheries for a variety of reasons that 
need correction. 
14. The Federal fishery function should strengthen materially its support of 
developing the production of fish and shellfish for direct consumption by 
aquaculture. In particular attention should be given to the elimination of 
institutional barriers preventing the econonvric production of shellfish, salmon 
and sea-run trout by private enterprise 
In particular, experiments should be conducted to apply existing knowledge, 
technology, and private business methods to the production of Pacific salmon 
and sea-run trout for commercial private purposes by experimentation with runs 
in small coastal streams entirely on land within Federal control. 
15. The Federal fishery function should particularly strengthen materially its 
economic research and statistical reporting capabilities 
There is hardly any aspect of the federal fishery function so weak and so badly 
needed as its economic research and statistical reporting capabilities. 
