304 



Economic Aspects 



at present areas of disposal. Selective 

 pickup of dissolved radioisotopes by both 

 plants and animals is important, particularly 

 with reference to human food suppHes from 

 the ocean. The well-known autophoto- 

 graphs of fishes collected from Bikini Atoll 

 following the 1946 bomb tests are examples 

 of such pickup. As shown by Martin (1957) 

 the pickup is more important for minor con- 

 stituents of organisms than for major ones, 

 because the major elements such as calcium 

 and carbon are naturally present in such 

 large concentrations in sea water that the 

 added radioisotopes are nearly negligible in 

 comparison with the total available to or- 

 ganisms. Radioisotopes among trace ele- 

 ments, such as zirconium 95, rubenium 106, 

 zinc 65, and cobalt 60, were observed to be- 

 come concentrated up to thirteen times by 

 Discorbis floridana, a benthic foraminiferan. 

 Even larger concentrations were measured 

 in fresh-water organisms by Krumholz and 

 Foster (1957). 



In order to obtain data for future control 

 of radioactive contamination of the ocean, 

 surveys of present and future levels of radio- 

 activity have been and will continue to be 

 made. A survey in April 1956 over Santa 

 Cruz Basin by Scripps Institution of Ocea- 

 nography (Faughn, et al., 1957) failed to de- 

 tect radioactivity in the water, although large 

 water samples from the surface and from 

 1000 meters deep were concentrated by pre- 

 cipitation of salts and by evaporation. The 

 organisms collected at various depths had far 

 greater radioactivity at the surface than at 

 depth, presumably because of concentration 

 of fallout of bomb fission products. The 

 level of artificial radioactivity at the sediment 

 surface was below that of natural radium and 

 its daughter products in the sediment. 

 Negative results were also obtained for the 

 much greater dumping area off" San Fran- 

 cisco. In 1956-1957 measurements of radio- 

 activity in the water over the mainland shelf 

 off" southern California were made in connec- 

 tion with a survey of the area by University 

 of Southern California for the California 

 State Water Pollution Control Board, again 

 with negative results. Negative results for 

 both surveys indicate either that no appre- 



ciable contamination of the water has oc- 

 curred or, more reasonably, that methods of 

 detection are not yet sensitive enough. 



Repeated monitoring should be done in 

 areas where radioactivity is most expected 

 after leakage of containers. The bottom and 

 surface currents near Santa Cruz Basin are 

 such that detection near the surface ought 

 to be expected in the part of the area of up- 

 welling that is just south of Santa Cruz Is- 

 land. Sampling is probably simplest in the 

 shallow-water column of the north half of 

 the Santa Rosa-Cortes Ridge. Probably a 

 better area for disposal of containers than 

 Santa Cruz Basin is Santa Barbara Basin, 

 even though it is shallower. Small con- 

 tainers should settle farther into the softer 

 mud of that basin and, if not first ruptured 

 or corroded, they should be buried faster by 

 deposition of subsequent sediments owing 

 to the three-times-faster rate of deposition 

 in Santa Barbara Basin. Corrosion should 

 also be relatively slower in Santa Barbara 

 Basin because of the low content of oxygen 

 in the bottom water and its absence in inter- 

 stitial waters. Once the container is buried, 

 it is probable that future release from it 

 would not mean release to the water above 

 the bottom, because burrowing organisms 

 are not present and water driven upward by 

 compaction should never reach the surface 

 of the sediment, as discussed in the section 

 on permeability of basin sediments. 



Fisheries 



Fishing constitutes one of California's 

 major industries and it takes on both com- 

 mercial and sportfishing aspects. The value 

 of the total commercial catch and importa- 

 tion for the whole state has increased from 

 about $7 milUon in 1926 to $19 million in 

 1939 to $60 miUion in 1947 to $83 million in 

 1956. These figures are influenced more by 

 the rise in price of fish than by increased 

 landings. About three-quarters of this total 

 value represents landings at the ports of Los 

 Angeles and San Diego, about one-third of 

 which consists of fish caught in waters off" 

 Mexico and even farther south. In 1946, 

 4450 commercial fishing boats were active 



