The development and testing of packages and packaging materials most suitable for refrigerated storage, shipment, and sale of fishery products constitutes one of our major technological research activities. The frozen storage characteristics of various varieties of fish and shellfish have been determined as a result of refrigeration studies, thus aiding the commercial freezer as well as the locker operator and home freezer in predicting the storage life of frozen fishery products. This enables the marketing of fishery products while still at their peak of quality.

Preliminary tests have shown that toughening and adverse flavor changes in frozen crabmeat can be retarded by proper preparation and packaging technique prior to freezing. Treatment of shucked oysters before packaging and freezing has been found to affect the amount of free liquor that forms in the oysters upon thawing. Frozen storage tests have been undertaken to determine the effect on quality of (1) immediate freezing, (2) freezing after several days of storage in ice, and (3) freezing, thawing, and refreezing of fillets.

Better holding and packaging of fishery products make possible the delivery of better products, which in turn will encourage wider consumer acceptance and command premium prices. Freezing permits storage during times of plenty for use in times of scarcity. Proper refrigeration and packaging permit much more extensive marketing of fresh and frozen fish in areas where these products previously were little used. Investigations dealing with the development of new wrapping and preservative materials are bringing an opportunity for betterment of refrigeration practices.

Research has been applied to the problem of adapting and modifying fish body oils so that they can be more widely used in paints, varnishes, linoleum, printing inks, plastics, waterproof finishes, and wherever the higher priced drying oils are now used. The value of fish oils used for such purposes can reasonably be expected to increase to a point more nearly in line with the price of linseed oil. When used as a drying oil, fish oil is no longer in competition with nondrying oils, such as cottonseed oil, coconut oil, and animal fats.

New sources of vitamin A liver oils are being sought. Information on the effects of processing, handling, and storage on the vitamin A content of fish livers and fish-liver oils is being obtained. Methods for insuring complete extraction of the vitamin are being devised. Standard analytical procedures are being developed so that sales, production, and dosage can be placed on a more exact basis.

As a result of such investigations, more economical use of our limited supplies of vitamin A is made possible and wastage is avoided in extraction and handling. With improved analytical methods, larger amounts of the livers containing low potency oils will be able to be marketed and consumers will have more sources of vitamin A for nutrition uses. The work on fish oils is being carried out in close cooperation with oil processors and use is already being made of the preliminary findings.

There has been a shortage of fish oil and meal since before the war.

Research

is under way to obtain data which will be of value in helping to produce a greater yield and better quality of fish meal and oil from certain species of fish and from processing wastes, and for utilization of materials that are now being wasted. The rapidly growing demand by agriculture and industry for oil and fish meal causes such investigations to assume greater importance. Waste utilization produces much needed protein material. New engineering developments provide opportunities for improving the manufacturing methods which conserve the natural nutritional values which make these products so valuable. We are showing where the raw materials are located and how they should be treated for maximum utilization.

The improvement of sanitation is an important problem in all the fishery industries. Research has been accomplished on improved techniques for determining bacterial contaminatlon of fishery products, making possible more rapid methods for detecting the presence of certain types of bacteria. New applications of the science of bacteriology are being investigated and developed for use in the fisheries. Studies are being made of clam toxin, its distribution within the clam as well as in certain producing areas where the toxin is prevalent.

Improved fishery sanitation brings the consumer tastier and more wholesome products. Improved testing methods result in more accurate determinations of wholesomeness, which aids in safeguarding the public health.

Under contract sponsorship of the Industrial Research and Development Division, Office of Technical Services, Department of Commerce, research has been carried out in Fish and Wildlife Service laboratories on the possibility of utilizing to better advantage the Alaskan salmon cannery waste. It is estimated

that well in excess of 100,000,000 pounds of such waste is discarded annually, representing a huge loss in potentially valuable products. Our technologists have performed research on the processing of salmon waste for vitamin A oils, and have tested the feeding of salmon cannery waste to fish in fish hatcheries. Investigation regarding the production of isolated substances to be used in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries has been undertaken. Such products as amino acids, protein hydrolysates, fats, lipids, cholesterol, hormones, enzymes, and miscellaneous organic compounds are under consideration in this research. Work so far completed indicates that salmon waste when utilized to its fullest extent can be converted into several valuable products worth a considerable amount to the producer.

Statistical research and services

Our statistical research makes available information on the yield of the fisheries, employment in the industry, the quantity of gear operated, and the production of manufactured fishery commodities. This aid has been of great value to the industry in the development of our fisheries and has been of benefit in the orderly marketing of fishery products. The data currently compiled form a continuation of almost 70 years' statistical research by this Service and its predecessor organizations. In addition to its guidance to the industry, it has provided local, State, and Federal conservation agencies with basic information on which to promulgate regulations designed to protect and preserve our fishery resources.

A statistical continuity of more than 50 years has been maintained in the issuance of monthly reports on the activities of the fishing fleets operating from the principal New England ports. These data have provided industry with information on the rate of landings, catch on individual fishing banks, price fluctuations, etc., which have assisted in the production and marketing of fishery products. The statistics also have been the basis for important biological studies designed to conserve our important New England fisheries, which supply over 40 percent of the Nation's fresh and frozen fish. These data represent one of the most complete and continuous sets of fisheries records in the world.

To assist the Bureau of the Census in collecting data on the production and stocks of fish oils, we obtain current data from producers of fish and marine animal oils. The information is collected monthly by our Service and published by the Bureau of the Census for the guidance of producers, dealers, refiners, and consumers of oils.

Prior to 1943 the collection and tabulation of the cold-storage data was handled by the Department of Agriculture, and the data published by our Service. In that year, responsibility for the collection and tabulation of fishery cold-storage information was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service, permitting this activity to be conducted by trained fisheries personnel. The results of the collection and tabulation of the cold-storage data by our Service are released promptly in a cold-storage report on the 15th of each month. This bulletin is one of the best barometers of the condition of the fishery trade, and is used widely by both industry and Government for marketing guidance.

Market News Service

The Fishery Market News Service was started in February 1938 when its first field office was opened in New York City. This Service has since been expanded to as many as eight market news offices located in important fish producing and consuming cities. Because of a reduction in funds, only six of these offices remained operative during the current fiscal year. From each of these field offices daily reports are issued which include pertinent fishery marketing data and are disseminated by mail, telegram, telephone, radio, and the daily press. The total number of reports sent to the industry annually has now reached over 21⁄2 million and they are received by fishermen, wholesale dealers, retailers, Federal Government agencies, and State conservation departments, as well as by many industries closely related to the fisheries.

The Service has been developed to a point where its daily reports now include a wide range of current data on production, shipment, prices, in and out movements and holdings in cold storage, imports, receipts, and the pack of canned fish. Market News Reports were one of the fundamental instruments used in wartime control of the fisheries. They have been equally or even more valuable in guiding industry in its readjustment to peacetime operation. They are no less valuable in effecting orderly marketing and economy of operation in the present competitive era of fishery marketing.

The monthly publication entitled "Commercial Fisheries Review" is prepared and released by the Washington office of the Market News Service. This includes 79156-48- -5

material of national interest to the fisheries, such as statistics on the fisheries, feature articles prepared by our specialists in the fields of economics, marketing, technology, and regular sections dealing with current developments, foreign trade, Federal legislation, and orders affecting the fisheries.

Education

While the principal emphasis on fishery education, has been directed toward developing those parts of an educational program designed to meet immediately the most urgent problems capable of solution by educational processes, plans also have been formulated for an extensive and comprehensive series of longrange educational projects.

In recognition of the established merits of audio-visual educational presentations, three fisheries training films have been planned, directed, and produced by our fisheries educational specialists during the current year. Technical assistance was also given in the production of the market development color motion picture "Retailing Fish." In cooperation with Pacific coast fishery operators, an educational color motion picture of the North Pacific halibut fishery was produced which records the fishing methods, fishing areas, and methods of handling and processing fresh halibut. In conjunction with this project, colored slides have been prepared which illustrate selected phases of the halibut fishery. At present the staff is beginning the production of an instructional film on the basic net-mending procedures, and plans have been completed for the production of a color motion picture illustrating the various phases of the Maine sardine industry. This latter film is to be financed jointly by the Maine Sardine Packers Association and the Maine Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries Commission, and represents the type of industry-sponsored film adaptable to the technical direction of our visual education staff.

A sizable portion of the present educational program is designed to instruct homemakers, cafeteria operators, school lunch managers, and other consumer groups in the proper and most efficient methods of preparation of fishery products. In this connection a series of three test kitchen reports have been released and individual fish recipe guides are being prepared for those persons primarily interested in individual species of fish. The public demand for this type of publication is evidenced by the fact that the initial governmental printings of two of the cookery manuals were exhausted within a few weeks after release, with the result that industry groups financed additional printings in each case. Fish cookery demonstrations sponsored jointly by our Service and members of the fishery trade have been conducted under the supervision of competent fish cookery specialists at a number of national food association conventions, universities, and before many interested consumer groups throughout the country. Tested recipes for attractively preparing fishery products for children have been prepared and made available for distribution in the national school-lunch program. A series of educational fishery displays also were prepared during this year for exhibit at several national food association meetings.

A monthly commercial fisheries technical abstracting service was inaugurated January 1948, providing the industry, libraries, and educational institutions with current information on the latest technological developments affecting the fisheries. Requests for the publication exceeded the budgetary limitations by the time the second issue was released, indicating the long-neglected need for this type of publication.

Among the industrial educational aids prepared and made available is a detailed manual incorporating the proper methods of retailing fish; weekly releases of educational bulletins which provide the industry with information on the newest techniques and approved practices related to the fisheries; fishery leaflets containing information on specific fisheries; and personal consulting services offering assistance to fishermen, shippers, processors, and consumers.

Although no extensive efforts have yet been directed toward the establishment of vocational-training courses and undergraduate training in fisheries technology, preliminary discussions leading to a number of lectures and demonstrations have already been held at the University of Maine, the University of Maryland, and the University of Washington. This portion of the program will assume an increasingly important role as the future plans are implemented.

Market development

The market-development program has undertaken to increase markets for fishery products by means of a wide variety of activities. At all stages of distribution, efforts have been made to improve production and marketing practices. Market-development work has also been aimed at the consumer, both directly and through many types of media.

Considerable success has accompanied our efforts at opening up the refrigerated locker-plant as a channel for the distribution of fish. Presentations at conventions of locker-plant operators have been reinforced by contacts with individual plant managers and with those members of the fishery trade who are in a position to supply these outlets effectively. Lists of locker plants for the various States in which they are located, as supplied by our Service, have been extensively used by the fishery trade. Through locker-plant distribution, fishery products have been made available to many people, particularly those in rural areas, who ordinarily do not have access to continuing supplies of these commodities.

Operators of school-lunch programs were assisted in the acquisition and use of fishery products. We have cooperated with the Department of Agriculture in an extensive experiment involving over 30,000 pupils to augment the use of fishery products in school lunches. In this experiment, recipes especially designed for the feeding of children were prepared and made available to schoollunch authorities in 11 States in which the cooperative project was undertaken. Workshops and demonstrations were conducted to insure that the school-lunch personnel were equipped to handle the program successfully, and to test the reactions of the pupils.

Federal purchasing agencies were assisted in locating supplies of fishery products, and this work often meant assistance to processors who are unable to find markets for their products. The need for canned fish for relief feeding or for use in specific foreign projects was insistent. We were able to facilitate the purchase of these commodities through contacts with processors and also assist in inducing the trade to adopt practices which would improve the product.

The demand for information regarding the air shipment of fishery products has resulted in various investigations, the results of which were useful to the industry. The necessity for packages suitable for this type of transport occasioned some experimental work to test the efficacy of certain packages and to develop better substitutes.

While meat has been scarce and grain conservation a major consideration, publications and other information dealing with fish and fish cookery have been supplied to the industry and to food writers for magazines, newspapers, and radio programs. The weekly release of current information on fishery supplies has been of value to the consumer.

Brief reports have been issued weekly to advise the industry of marketing possibilities and to improve methods and practices in marketing. An outlook report for 1948 was prepared for guidance of the trade and related industries. Manuals for various grocery publications have been prepared or revised so that the most up-to-date information on fishery products can be made available to retailers. A sound motion picture in color was produced to instruct retailers in improved and more sanitary practices in handling fish.

Market development work has been directed also at the introduction of new products and the improvement of old products. Favorable results have often been obtained by the application of established methods of preparation to the production of new items. The introduction of new commodities into markets in which they have not been common has also been encouraged. The advocacy of wider use of some of the neglected species of fish has helped to increase the supply of fishery products available in certain areas. Similarly, trade has been encouraged in the utilization of fishery wastes in valuable products. In local situations where surpluses of fishery products occur, assistance has been given the trade in relieving the situations. Similarly, when widespread shortages have existed, it has been possible to bring some measure of relief by encouraging the use of alternate fishery products.

Economics and cooperative marketing

The economics and cooperative marketing program was mainly concerned with economic research related to the fisheries during the current year. Observations were maintained on the development of prices of fish and fishery products at the different production and distribution levels. Continuous study was centered on the development of cost of production and distribution, mainly wages and the cost of gear. The results of these studies and observations were essential to the industry and to the Federal Government and State agencies involved in fishery matters. Material which became apparent in connection with various labor cases was analyzed. Studies of investments made in the fishery industries were undertaken and the economic position of the fishery industries was compared with the economic positions of other industries.

In accordance with special legislation on fishery marketing cooperatives (Public, No. 464, 73d Cong., act of June 25, 1934), a register of all fishery coopera

tives of the United States has been maintained. There are at present 63 fishery cooperatives existing in this country which are subject to control and supervision by the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the application of the Fishery Cooperative Marketing Act. This supervision (as delegated to the Division of Commercial Fisheries) was exercised in about six cases by visits and discussions with officers of the respective cooperatives, and, in about six other cases, by correspondence.

Some specific economic studies were undertaken to assist the fishery industries. Transportation costs, especially the cost of railroad transportation and motor carrier transportation, were studied and the results of these studies were used for presentations before the Interstate Commerce Commission. A member of our staff appeared as a witness in the pending case Ex Parte 166 in which the railroads requested an increase of freight rates by about 41 percent. Members of the industry used our research material as a basis for their own presentations. Similarly, the industry was assisted in ICC discussions of the so-called Monark Egg case involving motor carrier transportation of fresh fish and shellfish. The industry was further assisted by research on fishery associations, fishery unions and fishery cooperatives. Comprehensive lists of these organizations were established and published. A study on the Taft-Hartley Act and its implications for the fishery industries furnished guidance in the handling of certain labor problems. Another research study considered urban fish consumption in 1946 as compared with 1936; it assisted the industry in planning and directing fish distribution. Pending research on price relationship of fishery products in port cities will bring more light on the interdependency of prices at different production and distribution levels and on the interrelation of fishery price margins and the margins of other food prices.

Fluctuations in fish production in the United States and Alaska were given study in the interest of other governmental agencies, such as the United States Employment Service and the United States Public Health Service, both partly basing their own administrative policies on the results of this work.

Special research was done on "organizing and incorporating fishery cooperative marketing associations." Fishery Circular No. 22, referring to the subject matter, was revised. For the purpose of this revision, a survey of existing State laws on cooperatives was made, as well as of the literature covering the field of production and marketing cooperatives. Bookkeeping methods appropriate for cooperatives were studied and incorporated in the revised edition.

DIVISION OF ALASKA FISHERIES, SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES, 1947

In 1947 the Division of Alaska Fisheries continued its program for the management and conservation of the fisheries of Alaska to insure perpetuation of these resources at the highest possible levels of productivity. Activities in this connection included the accumulation of essential information concerning the fisheries; the formulation of regulations which, with existing laws, are designed to control the utilization of the resource; and the enforcement of these laws and regulations.

Fishery patrol operations were conducted along 10,000 miles of Alaska's coast line with the use of 9 seagoing patrol vessels, 20 smaller patrol boats, and 6 airplanes. A total of 163 persons and companies were apprehended for violations of the Alaska fishery laws and regulations, resulting in fines totaling $21,880 and jail sentences totaling 530 days, of which 500 days were suspended. Proceeds from the sale of confiscated fish netted the Government a total of $4,647.

The salmon fisheries in some areas in Alaska have shown unmistakable evidence of depletion in recent years due in part to unfavorable natural conditions, and in part to increased competition among fishery operators and an inadequate law enforcement program. A long-term rehabilitation program for the Alaska fisheries recently has been formulated and budget estimates providing for the initial steps in this plan are now before Congress for consideration.

In 1946, the last year for which complete information is available, products of the Alaska fishing industry totaled 318,996,727 pounds, having a wholesale value of $74,025,321. This represents a decrease of less than 1 percent in volume and an increase of about 25 percent in value as compared with 1945.

Only tentative figures are available for 1947, however, available information indicates a total volume of fishery products comparable to that for 1946, or roughly 320,000,000 pounds. Of this amount the canned salmon pack alone totaled 204,480,000 pounds, with a wholesale value of $85,000,000.

The Division of Alaska Fisheries also is directly responsible for the management of the Pribilof Islands fur-seal herd and for the welfare of about 500 resident