COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 8 



conference- 

 ference. 



-cautious optimism prevailed among industry and Government leaders at the con- 



Fig. 2 - Brailing menhaden froi.: . ,1 a purse 



seine. More modem purse seiners are now euuipped with large 

 suction hoses to transfer the fish from the net to the vessel. 



Much has happened since this meeting. Our own production of fish meal from domestic 

 sources reached a peak during the early 1960's but has declined since. On the other hand, 

 consumption of fish meal in this country has continued to increase through 1964, with the do- 

 mestic production of 235,000 tons being only one-third of the total apparent consumption of 

 674,000 tons. Thus, during the past 5 years, our own production has become a minor source 



of the fish meal used in the United States. In 

 fact, the 440,000 tons of meal imported in 



1964 was a new record; a record not equaled 

 in 1965, however, mainly due to a scarcity of 

 fish and increasingly heavy worldwide demands. 



Prices have become dangerously high, as 

 you all know, and world consumption of fish 

 meal as poultry and stock feed might even de- 

 cline if these prices continue. There are, how- 

 ever, those in the audience who are much more 

 qualified than I am to discuss this point. 



It is important to members of the Nation- 

 al Fish Meal and Oil Association to be aware 

 that the world production of fish meal fell in 



1965 for the first time since the end of the war 

 two decades ago. It is also pertinent to note 

 that in 196 0, our consum.ption of fish meal was 

 about 20 percent of the world production of 2.1 

 million tons. In 1964 we also used almost 20 

 percent of the world supply of 3.6 million 



tons of meal. This surprises me, for I would have thought that world consumption would have 

 increased at a higher rate than in the United States. 



With this background I would like to look for a moment at the potential world stocks of 

 fish suitable for fish meal production. The better known large stocks of herring-like fishes 

 are being fished close to their capacity- -the menhaden, Norwegian herring, Peruvian anchovy, 

 Japanese herring, pilchard, and so on. The phenomenal growth of the Peruvian fishery seems 

 to have reached a peak. Some scientists believe that it was overfished at about 9 million tons 

 in 1964, and this led to the 1965 reduction in catch. That may have been the case; at least, 

 maximum growth of that fishery has occurred and the world is going to have to look elsewhere 

 to find more fish to increase fish meal production. 



Can it be done? Here at home, our industrial fish catch has declined. This decline--as 

 everyone knows--has occurred because of the serious decline of the Atlantic coast menhaden 

 stocks in 1963. Some improvement in these stocks might be predicted, although no one be- 

 lieves we are going to vastly increase our average yield of menhaden from the Atlantic and 

 Gulf combined. 



The anchovy stocks off California are a potential source of increased production, although 

 at present. State laws and other economic problems are hampering the development of this 

 fishery. Theoretically it might sustain a yield of 200,000 to 300,000 tons annually. 



The herring-like fishes of the Gulf of Mexico look promising as a source of supply of in- 

 dustrial fish. Hake on both coasts appear abundant and relatively underfished; thus, it seems 

 reasonable that if the demand for fish meal continues high, the U. S. fishery could probably 

 double its production of fish meal within the next 5 to 10 years. 



Essentially the same is true elsewhere in the world. The oil sardine of the Western In- 

 dian Ocean and Red Sea, the sardines of the Gulf of Guinea, the stocks of herring-like fishes 

 off South Africa and the east coasts of Africa and South America all lead me to believe that-- 



