of trashfish per pound of shrimp caught.°* Shrimp 
boats now do not have room to store these low- 
valued species. Techniques for storing and processing 
such fish, which are normally thrown back dead, 
would aid the development of underused species. 
Marketing and Economic Analysis 
A study currently underway is examining the 
potential foreign markets for fish and shellfish that 
exist in commercially harvestable numbers in U.S. 
waters, but are not now tapped by domestic fleets. 
The study, expected to be completed by October 
1978, is primarily supported by NMFS and the Eco- 
nomic Development Administration. Additional sup- 
port comes from funding contributed by Federal 
Regional Commissions. Preliminary estimates indi- 
cate that new export markets could be valued as high 
as $10 billion. 
An important aspect of market development with 
regard to possible underused species is consumer 
education. The increasing concern with human nutri- 
tional requirements could help the acceptance of 
newly introduced species. One problem in developing 
future markets of some underused species is that 
many carry unappealing names—such as cancer 
crabs, rat tails, and spiny dogfish sharks. Food and 
Drug Administration regulations require that fishery 
products be labeled with their common names. 
NMFS has begun a project concerning market 
names for fishery products, basing the name on edi- 
bility characteristics such as color, texture, flavor, 
and fat content. The uniformity of this system should 
help consumers shop on the basis of edibility prefer- 
ences. In addition, it is hoped that these names will 
have more appeal than many of the common names 
of underused fish. 
Another marketing technique used by the Gulf and 
Southeast Fisheries Development Foundation to 
teach consumers about underused fish is to prepare a 
cookbook for these species. This effort was done in 
conjunction with other major marketing promotions. 
Seafood Waste Recovery 
Several projects are looking at the recovery of 
seafood processing waste for its nutrient veiue. Not 
only do these developments have the potential to 
bring about the more efficient use of the fishery 
resources, but by transforming processing wastes, 
such as shells, into commercially valuable products, 
the research can help eliminate the growing problem 
of waste disposal. 
A private firm has developed a process which 
retrieves the “dust” resulting from sawing blocks 
of frozen fish. This byproduct, estimated to total as 
much as 10 percent of the frozen block, can be 
* Thid. 
used as fish sticks or fillet-shaped products. 
A project at the NMFS Fisheries Engineering 
Laboratory is attempting to develop a selective 
shrimp trawl that will prevent most of the incidental 
catch of low-valued trashfish. 
Under Sea Grant’s Seafood Science and Tech- 
nology program, the University of Washington’s 
“Total Utilization Concept” for fishery raw materials 
involves the completion of the processing cycle where 
use is made of byproducts and wastes in sequential 
processing stages. 
Fishery Cooperatives 
There have been some attempts to pull together 
the presently fragmented commercial fishing in- 
dustry. The formati : land Fisheries 
formation of the New England Fisheries 
Development Program in 1973 and the Gulf and 
South Atlantic Fisheries D ion in 
1976 could help regio nt. These 
groups coordinate many functions and serve as: 
e@ a formal mechanism through which the commer- 
cial fishing industry of the region can identify its 
research and development needs, 
an institutional arrangement which allows fishery- 
related funds to be combined in order to accom- 
plish defined objectives, and 
e potential advisory body to the appropriate 
egional Fishery Management Councils.** 
The New England Fisheries Development Pro- 
gram’s original goal was to expand the value of fish 
production by $10 million by the end of 1978 by 
developing long- and short-finned squid, offshore 
crabs (red, Jonah, and rock), ocean quahogs, and 
mussels. This goal has been realized. 
Since its charter in the fall of 1976, the Gulf and 
South Atlantic Foundation has contracted projects 
totaling over $150,000, generating over $750,000 
in matching funds.®° 
Another cooperative program is the Pacific Tuna 
Development Foundation. This group is specialized 
and rallies around the common interest in the eco- 
nomic improvement of the tuna fishing industry in 
the Central, Western, and South Pacific. Funding 
for this group comes from the NMFS Saltonstall- 
Kennedy funds and the Pacific Islands Development 
Commission. 
Aquaculture 
Aquaculture is to fishing as agriculture is to hunt- 
ing and gathering; the culture or husbandry of 
aquatic animals or plants, however, lags far behind 
agricultural advances. One authority estimates that 
5A Program for the Development of Underutilized Demersal 
and Pelagic Finfish Resources of the Southeast; Gulf and South 
Atlantic Fisheries Development Foundation, Inc., Tampa, Fla. 
°° Ibid. 
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