COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 8 



Expensive and time-consuming research is required to answer this question. We have 

 begun these studies and intend to aggressively carry out a program to determine the effects 

 of the fisheries on the industrial fish populations. But still other problems face us. It has 

 become quite clear that menhaden require extensive estuaries during their lifetime and, of 

 equal importance, they require favorable environmental conditions within the estuaries during 

 critical periods of their development. But the estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are 

 deteriorating. Heavy loads of pollution of all kinds are destroying the estuaries, and physical 

 changes by man are further altering this environment. We are not putting enough effort into 

 studies of the estuaries, and we are rapidly losing this important and productive environment. 

 It seems unlikely to me that species of fish and other aquatic life important to man, which in- 

 habit the estuary, can adjust to the degree necessary for survival under these rapidly deteri- 

 orating conditions. 



In recent months, the public has been further prejudiced against the industrial fisheries 

 along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. To some extent the problem has arisen because of negli- 

 gence on the part of fishing vessel captains. So, to the extent that the industrial fishery op- 

 erates prudently, taking into account other public uses of the inshore areas and resources, 

 and to the extent that the public can be more fully informed about your conservative fishing 

 practices, you will avoid public criticism and improve your image with conservation groups. 



Then, there is the constant threat of foreign fishing fleets off our coasts. While at the 

 moment there appears to be no threat to the menhaden fishery, this could change overnight. 

 It is likely that menhaden can be found in concentrations beyond our territorial limits and 

 could be harvested by these fleets on the high seas. Much more thought needs to be given as 

 to how we can best protect our special interests; and it behooves us --Government as well as 

 industry --to make sure that we do not wait too long. 



Editor's Note: The U. S. menhaden catch in 1965 was 1.7 billion pounds and accounted 

 for 36 percent of the total catch of all species. U. S. fish meal production (menhaden, herring, 

 tuna, etc.) in 1965 totaled 253,400 tons; imports of fish meal and scrap in that year amounted 

 to 270,666 tons. 



Notice of the Department of the Interior's petition to the Food and Drug Administration 

 to approve as a food additive a protein concentrate made from whole fish, was published in 

 the Federal Register , March 2, 1966. 



Created in 1849, the Department of the Interior— o department of conservation— is concerned with 

 the management, conservation, and development of the Nation's water, fish, wildlife, minerol, forest, 

 and park and recreational resources. It also has major responsibilities for Indian and Territorial 

 affairs. 



As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department works to assure that nonre- 

 newable resources are developed and used wisely, that park and recreational resources are con- 

 served for the future, and that renewable resources make their full contribution to the progress, 

 prosperity, and security of the United States—now and in the future. 



