1940: Fisheries

The fisheries of the world annually yield 35,000,000,000 pounds of fishery products, valued at $759,000,000 to the fishermen, according to the most recent tabulations of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The annual yield by countries of the North American continent and adjacent islands is about 6,200,000,000 pounds, valued at $132,300,000. Of this the United States' fisheries contribute 4,300,000,000 pounds, worth $93,800,000.

The United States' fisheries are prosecuted commercially along the Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific, and Alaskan coasts; in the Great Lakes and Mississippi River; in other interior lakes and streams navigable to fishing craft; and in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands of the United States. The fisheries in continental United States and Alaska employ 130,000 fishermen, 5,200 vessels, 33,000 motor boats, and 37,000 small boats and skiffs. Shore operations in fish-packing plants and in the water transport of fishery products employ 90,000 people, while some 300,000 others are engaged in allied industries, such as boat building, can and box making, rope and net manufacture, and the like.

General Situation.

During 1940 the economic condition of the domestic fishery industry improved, largely because of higher prices received as a result of curtailment in the catch of several important species of fish. The decreased landings on the Atlantic coast were caused mainly by a strike of fishermen operating out of Boston, Mass., during the early part of the year. In addition there was a strong demand for other species of fish, such as canned salmon and sardines by England. Because of the smaller pack of canned salmon in Alaska, mainly of red salmon, and a reduction of warehouse stocks of canned salmon in the hands of packers, the price situation was further improved. In view of these developments the prices of other fish also moved up appreciably, for example, halibut on the Pacific coast.

Notwithstanding the higher price level for some species of fish, other units of the fishery industry experienced difficulty in effecting the orderly movement of fish from ports of production to consuming centers. To aid in improving this situation the United States Government provided a fund to the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior for conducting work to increase market facilities for fishery products, under the provisions of Public No. 363 of the 76th Congress. In addition the Service expanded its market news work to include radio broadcasts covering price and supply information for fishermen and others in the industry and programs to inform consumers as to species of fish in the local markets, 'best buys,' and other useful information which would enable housewives to purchase and use fish in a more economical manner. The cooperation of over 100 radio stations was obtained on this work. In an effort to assist the fishery industry in Alaska to make fuller use of the fishery resources of the Territory, the Fish and Wildlife Service established a technological laboratory at Ketchikan. This began operations during December.

The Federal Government, through the Fish and Wildlife Service, sponsored a study of the distribution or abundance of king crabs off the Alaska Peninsula, and methods of capture and canning. The work was carried on by the use of a crab-fishing vessel and a mother ship, on board which was installed a cannery. Operations were conducted off the south coast of the Peninsula during the late summer and fall. A second expedition, consisting of two fishing vessels and the mother ship, will operate off the north coast of the Peninsula in the spring and early summer of 1941. If this exploratory work shows that a commercial venture is feasible, private firms may be encouraged to enter the fishery. At present it is conducted by Japanese enterprise, much of the canned product eventually being marketed in the United States.

The cod fisheries off New England, Canada, and Newfoundland continued to yield an enormous supply of fish. The take of codfish in this region amounts to about 1,100,000,000 pounds annually. The yield during 1940 approached this figure, although the fishery was prosecuted mainly by vessels from neighboring countries and Portugal, as the war allowed only partial participation by several of the warring countries that sent expeditions to this region in 1939.

Important species of fish in the aquatic harvest of the United States, from the standpoint of volume, are pilchard (sardine), salmon, menhaden, sea herring, haddock, mackerel, cod, tuna and tunalike fishes, shrimp, oysters, and halibut. These usually make up about 80 per cent of the catch. The entire catch includes 160 species or groups of species.

Pilchard.

This fish, caught off the Pacific coast, is the basis of a large sardine-canning industry in California and is used for reduction into meal and oil at plants in Washington, Oregon, and California. During the season ending March 1940, there were 3,135,000 standard cases of sardines packed in this section — a 22 per cent increase over the previous season. A considerable portion of the pack was marketed in England. The output of meal amounted to 83,000 tons; of oil, 17,390,000 gallons. The catch of pilchards during the early months of the 1940-41 season, which opened Aug. 1, was considerably less than a year ago because of a strike lasting until early October. After fishing recommenced, however, the industry operated at a high level for the remainder of the year.

Salmon.

This fish is the basis of a canning industry on the Pacific coast from Oregon to the Bering Sea. The great bulk of the United States' pack is canned in Alaska. There the production during the 1940 season, according to preliminary reports, amounted to 5,043,000 standard cases, compared with 5,263,000 standard cases, valued at $34,441,000 in 1939. The pack of canned salmon in North America in 1940, according to preliminary reports, amounted to 6,797,000 standard cases, compared with a pack of about 7,530,000 standard cases in 1939.

Menhaden.

This fish is taken along the Atlantic coast south of Cape Cod and in the Gulf of Mexico. It is used for reduction into meal and oil. In 1939 production amounted to 68,800 tons of meal and scrap, valued at $2,460,000; and 6,005,000 gallons of oil, valued at $1,623,000. Observations indicate that the 1940 output of these products was somewhat larger than in 1939, as the production of oil through the first three quarters of the year amounted to 2,965,000 gallons, compared with 2,560,000 gallons for the same period of 1939.

Sea Herring.

The Maine sardine-canning industry is based on this fish. In 1939 the pack there amounted to 2,155,000 standard cases, valued at $6,912,000, the largest pack on record. In 1940 the pack was considerably less because the run of herring did not come up to expectations. Through the first three quarters of the season the pack was only about 50 per cent of normal.

Haddock, Cod, Rosefish, Pollock, and Whiting.

These species, taken on the fishing banks off the North Atlantic seaboard and in the inshore waters, form the basis of the fresh and frozen packaged-fish industry. Their combined pack as packaged fish in 1939 amounted to 108,393,000 pounds, valued at $9,600,000. Production in 1940 was about normal.

Mackerel.

This species is found along the North Atlantic coast, where it is marketed mainly as fresh and frozen fish, although part is canned; and off California, where it forms the basis of an extensive canning industry. The catch along the North Atlantic in 1940 exceeded that for 1939 and approached the landings in 1938. Through the first three quarters of the year, landings at the important New England ports amounted to about 17,000,000 pounds (10,000,000 pounds for the same period of 1939). The peak of the season is in late summer. The output of canned mackerel on both coasts in 1939 was 889,000 standard cases, valued at $2,589,000. In California, the pack for the first ten months of 1940 amounted to 914,000 standard cases (530,000 cases during the same period of 1939). In New England considerable activity was evidenced in the canning of mackerel during 1940. The pack exceeded the previous year.

Tuna and Tunalike Fishes.

These fishes are taken in Pacific waters off Washington, Oregon, and California and south to the equator. They form the basis of a large canning industry on the Pacific coast. Quantities taken off the New England coast are canned in Massachusetts. In 1939 the pack on both coasts amounted to 3,643,000 standard cases, worth $20,080,000, the largest pack since the inception of the industry in 1909. In California the pack amounted to 3,421,000 standard cases in 1939, valued at $18,811,000. In 1940 the tuna fishery was prosecuted so intensively that the pack doubtless exceeded that of the previous year. In California alone the pack reached 3,436,000 standard cases by Oct. 31 (3,039,000 standard cases for the same period of 1939).

Shrimp.

The main production areas for this shellfish are along the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Most of the catch has been canned, but each year now larger quantities are being marketed in the fresh and frozen condition. Production of canned shrimp in 1939 amounted to 1,215,000 standard cases (20,500,000 pounds), valued at $5,354,000; frozen shrimp, to 12,118,000 pounds. The pack of canned shrimp in 1940 was smaller as it had amounted to only about 751,000 standard cases by Nov. 23 (950,000 standard cases to about the same date in 1939). The pack of frozen shrimp in 1940 greatly exceeded that of 1939 for, by Nov. 15, it had reached 14,450,000 pounds.

Oysters.

Oysters are the most universally distributed aquatic food resource taken in the United States, for they occur in every seacoast state from Massachusetts to Texas, inclusive, on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and in all the Pacific coast states. The North Atlantic oysters are marketed mainly in the fresh, shucked condition, while those taken in the south Atlantic and Gulf sections are used chiefly for canning. Large quantities of eastern oysters are transplanted to California where they mature, but do not reproduce. Seed oysters from Japan are planted in Washington and Oregon, where a large volume of the mature oysters are used for canning. This oyster does not reproduce in the waters of these States. During 1939 the production of canned oysters in the entire United States amounted to 617,000 standard cases, valued at $2,431,000. The production in 1940 did not vary much from 1939.

Halibut.

The principal halibut fishery of North America is located off the Pacific coast from Oregon to the Alaska Peninsula. It is prosecuted by the United States and Canada. In the interests of conservation this resource is regulated according to the terms of a convention between these two countries. A maximum annual take, or quota, is established each year under the terms of the convention. When the combined catches by fishermen of the two countries reach this quota the fishery is closed for the year. By treaty arrangements the fishery opens in the spring each year sometime from February to April. In 1940 the season opened on April 1, and the quota was reached by Sept. 26, a month earlier than in the previous year, making it the shortest season in the history of the Pacific halibut fishery. By the close of the season the landings at ports in the United States and Canada had amounted to 50,800,000 pounds, compared with 49,400,000 pounds in 1939. Notwithstanding the larger landings the fishermen received more money, for prices averaged about 18 per cent higher than in 1939, ranging on a monthly basis between 9 and 12 cents per pound. Practically the entire catch is marketed fresh or frozen. In 1940, however, a cannery was established in Seattle, Wash., which canned this species.

Whaling.

During recent years various countries of the world, notably Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Norway, and the United States, have shown renewed interest in the whale fishery. Operations are conducted mainly in the Antarctic seas. A convention has been concluded between 26 powers of the world to conserve this fishery, the United States being a party. During the 1939-40 season one whaling factory ship from the United States conducted operations in the Antarctic region, and during 1940 one land plant for whale reduction was operated on the Pacific coast in California. The production by the factory ship was about 3,000,000 gallons of whale oil. In 1939 whale products on the Pacific coast amounted to 471,000 gallons, valued at $148,000 and $18,300 worth of whale meat and bone. The output of whale oil on the Pacific coast in 1940 was much less than in 1939, production totaling only 49,000 gallons through the first three quarters. No whale factory ship from the United States had begun operations in the Antarctic for the season 1940-41 up to the latter part of the year.

Fish Landings at Certain Important Ports.

During the first three quarters of 1940 the vessel landings of all kinds of fish at the principal New England fishing ports of Boston and Gloucester, Mass., and Portland, Me., amounted to 275,250,000 pounds, valued at $7,839,000 (293,116,000 pounds, valued at $6,933,000 for the same period in 1939). Principal species landed at these ports are haddock, cod, rosefish, mackerel, pollock, whiting, and flounders.

During the first three quarters of 1940 the volume of fish handled at Seattle, Wash., amounted to 39,446,000 pounds, valued at $3,121,000 (36,655,000 pounds, valued at $2,481,000 during the same period of 1939). Species of importance at Seattle are salmon, halibut, flounders, crabs, and 'lingcod.'

Frozen Fish.

During the twelve-month period ending Nov. 15, 1940, there were 202,000,000 pounds of fishery products frozen (178,000,000 pounds during the previous twelve-month period). On Nov. 15, 1940, there were 98,000,000 pounds of frozen fish and shellfish in cold-storage warehouses of the United States compared with a five-year average of this date of 85,000,000 pounds. Principal species frozen are cod, haddock, pollock, halibut, salmon, rosefish, shrimp, and whiting.

Foreign Fishery Trade.

Unusual activity was recorded in the foreign fishery trade of the United States during 1940 with the exports exceeding the imports. This favorable balance was due mainly to the large amounts of canned salmon and sardines shipped abroad and to a decline in the imports from Norway, chiefly canned sardines and cod-liver oil.

Fish Consumption.

The per capita consumption of fish in the United States is about 13 pounds annually. This compares with an annual per capita of 20 pounds in Canada, 39 pounds in Denmark, 44 pounds in England, 52 pounds in Sweden, and 64 pounds in Japan.