President Johnson Signs 

 Fish Protein Concentrate Bill 



President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 

 Fish Protein Concentrate Bill in Anchorage, 

 Alaska, on November 2, shortly after return- 

 ing from the Far East. As enacted, the bill 

 (S. 2720 ) is Public Law 89-701. 



The purpose of the act is to set up a pilot 

 program that will produce low -cost protein 

 concentrate from fish. The act authorizes 

 the appropriation of $1 million to build a 

 Government -owned plant, and $1,555,000 an- 

 nually for 5 years, beginning in fiscal 1968, 

 to lease a second plant and to operate both 

 plants. 



The President said: "I am today signing 

 a bill which marks another advance in this 

 Nation's connmitment to eliminate poverty, 

 famine, and disease throughout the world. 

 This measure will make it possible to apply 

 the results of research from the laboratory 

 to the economic large-scale production of a 

 wholesome, nutritious protein concentrate. 



"Protein deficiency is a problem even in 

 our own country here in America. But even 

 more important, it is the greatest cause of 

 childhood disease and illness throughout the 

 world --and particularly in the less developed 

 countries. 



"The fish protein concentrate to be devel- 

 oped in this program will be used to fortify 

 foods of many kinds without changing their 

 taste or their texture. It is easy to trans- 

 port, because 85 percent of the world's pop- 

 ulation, almost 3 billion people, live less than 

 500 miles from the sea. Itcanbemade avail- 

 able without the need for special storage or 

 refrigeration and its use throughout the world 

 will not require any change in food custom 

 or habits. 



"The boundless fishery resources of the 

 seas are as extensive as the seas themselves. 

 Marine biologists tell us that the oceans 

 could support an annual catch of 400 to 500 

 billion pounds of fish and that is a very im- 

 portant source of animal protein. 



"Nevertheless, despite the world's in- 

 creased fishery efforts, 85 percent of this 

 great potential supply goes unused every 

 year. This fish protein concentrate program 

 offers us an opportunity to utilize our fishery 



resources, to provide the world with a pro- 

 tein source of great value at a very low cost, 

 to help our commercial fishing industry to 

 prosper. This is a challenge and it is an im- 

 portant beginning." 



4F^cg. 



October Wholesale Prices and 

 Indexes for Edibles 



Wholesale prices for edible fishery prod- 

 ucts (fresh, frozen, and canned) decreased 

 slightly from September to October 1966. 

 The October index was 131.3percent of the 

 1957-59 average; it dropped 0.1 percent from 

 September but was 11.3 percent higher than 

 October 1965. Prices were generally lower 

 than in September, but there were substantial 

 increases for several selected items. 



The subgroup index for drawn, dressed, 

 or whole finfish rose 0,4 percent from Sep- 

 tember to October --mainly because of sharp- 

 ly higher prices at Bostonfor ex-vessel large 

 haddock (up 43.2 percent); landings were 

 light, demand good, and market strong. 

 Prices were lower at New York City for 

 western fresh and frozen king salmon (down 

 7.2 percent) and down slightly for western 

 halibut (market supplies were the frozen 



