sumption had reached about 14 billion pounds— 

 nearly 12 per cent of total world production— and 

 per capita consumption (including that used for 

 oil, meal, and other industrial purposes) was about 

 double the world average. The United States has 

 become the largest market for marine fish and 

 shellfish in the world and growth continues. 



Clearly, the failure of U.S. sea fish production 

 to expand over the first three decades cannot be 

 attributed to lagging demand. 



B. Production Possibilities for U.S. Flag Fisheries 



Most of the fish taken in North American 

 waters are caught on or over the Continental Shelf 

 areas. The character of the Outer Continental 

 Shelf adjacent to various segments of the United 

 States and the extent of shelf areas involved 

 therefore play a major role in determining the "level 

 and composition of the United States fishing 

 industry. Figure 2 provides an approximation of 

 the Continental Shelf areas in square miles (nauti- 

 cal) adjacent to major subdivisions of the United 

 States. It is apparent that the extensive shelf areas 

 adjacent to our country are mainly in the Bering 

 Sea and Gulf of Mexico, with moderately ex- 

 tended shelf areas in the central Gulf of Alaska 

 and off the New England States. 



1. Scope of Existing U.S. Shelf and High Seas 

 Fisheries 



The general dimensions of the American fishing 

 industry are indicated in Tables 5, 6, and 7 and 

 Figures 3 and 4. For detailed summaries of 

 production and historic trends for major United 

 States fisheries, readily accessible and authoritative 

 sources are presented in Graham (1968) and 

 Ketchan (1968). 



Several essential characteristics of the United 

 States flag fisheries stand out clearly in these data. 

 Most apparent is the absence of growth; landings 

 have been virtually stable at between four and five 

 billion pounds for the past three decades. Mean- 

 while, world production of fish and shellfish has 

 climbed from about 20 million metric tons in 

 1950 to 57 milhon tons in 1966. U.S. consump- 

 tion has also expanded rapidly, from about 44 

 pounds (round weight equivalent) in 1950 to 72 

 pounds in 1967, but the entire gross increase has 



been met from imports. The relative dechne in the 

 position of the U.S. fleet has been even greater 

 with respect to landings used directly for human 

 food. 



It is also evident that there are major differ- 

 ences in the regional composition of catches. New 

 England landings consist largely of ground fish and 

 shellfish entering the fresh and frozen trade. High 

 valued salmon, tuna, crabs, and oysters dominate 

 the catch in the Pacific Coast States; groundfish 

 assumed much greater importance after 1940, but 

 have levelled off in recent years. Catches in the 

 Mid-and South Atlantic and Gulf areas are domi- 

 nated in terms of volume by landings of industrial 

 fish (principally menhaden) used for meal and oil, 

 but also produce large quantities of valuable 

 shrimp, oysters and crab for the fresh and frozen 

 market. The inshore fisheries of Hawaii are very 

 small and stable; the bulk of the catch, by weight 

 and value, comes from the tuna operation. 



The fisheries of the United States as a whole are 

 heavily oriented to species taken on or above the 



Table 5 



U.S. CATCH OF FISH AND 



SHELLFISH, 1945-1967 



Source: Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1965, U.S. 

 Department of the Interior, 1967, p. 19; current figures 

 from the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. 



VII- 18 



