30 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28. No. 9 



The U.S. Coasts Geodetic Survey research vessel, Oceanoqrapher 

 (OSSOl), is the most advanced oceanographic research ship of its 

 kind built in the United States. 



President Johnson spoke at the commis- 

 sioning ceremonies which were held at the 

 Washington, D. C, Navy Yard. The President 

 called for a vigorous program of ocean re- 

 search and said, ". . . the sea holds the ulti- 

 mate answer to food for the exploding popu- 

 lation of the world. Nearly four-fifths of all 

 life on earth actually exists in salt water. . . ." 

 He added, "Our scientists are developing a 

 process for turning whole fish into a taste- 

 less but highly nutritious protein concentrate 

 which can be used as a supplement to our 

 daily diet. In addition, the United States Sen- 

 ate has recently passed a bill for the con- 

 struction of several pilot plants to begin the 

 commercial development of this fish protein 

 food. The daily output of one of these plants 

 would provide enough protein supplement for 

 well over half a million people each day." 



The vessel has a cruising range of 13,000 

 miles and can remain at sea for 150 days at 

 a time. Its normal complement will be 13 

 officers, 39 crew and 45 technical and sci- 

 entific personnel, with additional accommo- 

 dations for 8 visiting scientists. 



The Oceanographer will be followed later 

 this year by a sister ship, now under con- 

 struction in Jacksonville, Fla. The vessels 

 are part of the national oceanographic pro- 

 gram which received its impetus from the 

 late President Kennedy who, shortly after 

 taking office in 1961, asked Congress to 

 authorize a new vessel with deep ocean capa- 

 bilities. 



The Oceanographer can operate equally 

 well in any area of the global sea, including 

 polar waters, and has over 4,100 square 

 feet of laboratory space. All living quarters 



and scientific areas are air-conditioned. 

 Closed circuit television is provided through- 

 out the engine room. 



Note: See Commercial Fisheries Review , June 1966 p. 26. 



Oregon 



DUNGENESS CRAB CATCH, 

 1965/66 SEASON : 



Commercial Dungeness crab landings for 

 the 1965/66 season were well above the av- 

 erage for the past 20 years and the best since 

 the 1960/61 season, the Oregon Fish Com- 

 mission reported. From December 1965 

 through April 1966, Oregon landings of Dun- 

 geness crab totaled 8 million pounds, well 

 above the 6.7 million pounds taken during 

 the entire preceding season. It was estimated 

 that the 1965/66 harvest would exceed 9.5 

 million pounds by the end of the season in 

 mid-August. The 1960/61 landings were 11.3 

 million pounds, with average landings for the 

 past 20 years between 7.5 and 8 million 

 pounds . 



Commercial crabbers indicated there 

 were good numbers of legal size male crabs 

 over the 64-inch commercial minimum width 

 which provides optimism for the 1966/67 sea- 

 son. 



The market for Oregon crabs was off 

 early in the season, but with the cooperation 

 of various state. Federal, industry, and con- 

 sumer interests in publicizing this excellent 

 seafood, the product made a strong and rapid 

 comeback. 



In recent years, the commercial fishery 

 has taken about 90 percent of the legal size 

 male crabs each season in a fishery that has 

 grown in a spectacular manner under an usu- 

 ally lively market demand since the end of 

 World War II. 



The trend during the 1965/66 season is 

 especially heartening since the crabs landed 

 were predominately from the 1962/63 year 

 class and were in the highly vulnerable lar- 

 val stage during the summers of 1962 and 

 1963 when there was extensive seismic oil 

 exploration activities off the Oregon coast. 

 At that time concern was expressed by some 

 that the use of explosives in the seismic 

 work on the offshore grounds destroyed great 

 quantities of crab larvae which would result 



