1115 
8. Known resources adjacent to the coast of the United States are capable of 
yielding about 22 miilion tons per year on a sustainable yield basis, and the 
United States thus has the largest underutilized marine food resources in the 
northern hemisphere directly off its coast. It is this which has attracted four- 
teen countries of Europe and Asia to fishing off the coast of the United States 
with substantial internal political, and external diplomatic interaction. 
9. Thus the production of coastal fishery resources of the United States can 
be expanded, on the basis of sustainable yield, by a factor of 10 from the level 
produced by U.S. flag vessels over the past 30 years, and currently they are capable 
of producing annually 3 times the amount now used by the United States; and 
market for the production is available in the United States. The projected 
domestic market for fish and shellfish in the United States for the year 2000 
(Marine Science Affairs, 1968 p. 88) is about 15 million short tons per year, 
which is 6-7 times the present level of production by U.S. flag vessels, but well 
within the ability of known resources adjacent to the United States to produce. 
10. The difference between use of fish and shellfish in the United States and 
production by U.S. flag vessels has been met by steadily increasing imports. In 
terms of round weight the proportion of fishery products used in the United 
States that arose from imports has risen from 20% in 1948 to 71.4% in 1967. It is 
running higher in 1968 than in 1967. 
11. Substantially all of the imports of fishery products into the United States 
has been imported and marketed, by U.S. fish firms, who have added more or less 
processing to the imports after arrival and before marketing. For instance, tuna 
is imported frozen and canned in the United States; shrimp are imported largely 
in the frozen green headless form and further processed before marketing; 
frozen fish are largely imported as blocks of frozen fillets which are further proc- 
essed before distribution; etc. The value of added processing in the United 
States exceeded $1 billion in 1966. 
12. United States fish firms have set up extensive collecting networks for 
fishery raw material or semi-processed products on a world-wide basis extend- 
ing through more than 30 countries, primarily in the developing world. This has 
been accomplished through a variety of methods; wholly owned fishing and 
processing firms in those countries ; joint ventures either with local entrepreneurs 
or firms in other fishing countries; the provision of risk capital for vessel or 
plant construction to local entrepreneurs; the provision of technical assistance 
for transfer of technology and quality control; the provision of guaranteed 
market to local entrepreneurs ; etc. 
13. One consequence of this has been that U.S. fish firms have been, and are, a 
substantial factor in the development of the fisheries of the developing world. 
This has led not only to exports to the United States, but the building of exports 
to other countries as well both in ‘the industrialized and developing world. It 
has also led to increased use of fishery products in the country where the de- 
velopment took place. 
14. A second consequence has been an increase in the taxable earnings of U.S. 
fish firms to a degree not reflected in the statistics of catch of U.S. flag vessels. 
15. A third consequence has been a growing dichotomy within the U.S. fish 
business between the processors and distributors on the one hand, whose business 
has grown and thrived during the post World War II period both foreign and 
domestically, and the domestic fisherman and vessel owner whose volume of 
production has been stagnant for 30 years and whose general earnings have been 
unsatisfactory in comparison with other United States industry. 
16. The rapid increase in use of fishery products in the United States has been 
in terms of both volume and value. In 1967 the value of the catch to U.S. fish- 
ermen was $438 million; the declared value of imports was $686 million; the 
value at the processor level in the United States was $1,193 million; the value in 
the United States at the wholesale level was $2,151; and the retail value of 
fishery products sold in the United States was $2,578 million. Nearly half of 
the latter values ($1,220 million) arose from imports. (BCF statistics. ) 
17. Four classes of products comprised nearly 80% (in round weight terms) 
of the fishery products used in the United States in 1967 (fish meal and soluables, 
frozen fish, tuna, and shrimp). Hach of these main classes of products (all 
growing steadily in usage) represent varying problems with relation to capa- 
bility of being supported by coastal United States resources. 
18. Fish meal is overwhelmingly the largest, using about 64% of the round 
weight equivalent of fish consumed in the United States in 1967. 81.6% of this 
was imported. This is the product for which very large resources exist in coastal 
39 
26—563—70—pt. 2 
