POSSIBLE NEW USE FOR OYSTER LIQUORS

It was brought to the attention of the Bureau's Pascagoula Fishery Technological Laboratory that large quantities of highly-nutritive natural juices, expressed from oysters when they are steamed prior to shucking, are lost each year in the shucking plants. In an effort to utilize this juice, an acceptable canned oyster stew using the juice, milk, and oysters has been developed. A major technological problem was surmounted in the prevention of curdling when the canned stew was sterilized in the retort. This was accomplished by careful control of the quantities of salt and protein used in relation to the processing times and temperatures. This development may have significance because, at the present time, soups containing quantities of milk are not normally marketed in a canned unfrozen state.

CLUE TO CAUSES OF ODOR IN FISH OIL

Workers at the Hormel Institute, Austin, Minn., under a contract with the Bureau, have developed a new approach to the problem of chemistry of fishy odors. Two fish oils, one having a strong fishy odor and one a bland odor, are under investigation. The one having the fishy odor was found to contain about 200 times as much nitrogen as the other. The form in which the nitrogen occurs is now under investigation. If, through this research effort, a solution to the development of undesirable odors in fish oil can be found, a much broader marketing base may be available for this important industrial fishery product.

THE FISH PARASITE ARGULUS LATICAUDA AS A FORTUITOUS
HUMAN EPIZOON

In June 1955 I was called upon to remove a foreign object from the eye of a 10-year-old boy who was suffering intense discomfort. The irritant, a parasitic copepod, was moving vigorously about on the surface of the eyeball. The copepod persistently resisted dislodgment, but was finally detached and preserved for identification. According to his account, the patient had been struck while swimming open-eyed in the clear inshore waters of the Tred Avon River (average summer salinity, 12 0/00) off Oxford, Maryland. Several days later while crabbing across the river from Oxford, I captured a toadfish, Opsanus tau, which bore several argulids externally. These copepods were also preserved.

The argulids from human and fish were tentatively identified as Argulus laticauda, an ubiquitous ectoparasite of North Atlantic fishes. This identification was confirmed by Dr. David G. Causey of the University of Arkansas. Numbers of toadfishes are present in these inshore estuarine areas and it seems likely that the copepod had been attracted to the first moving object after accidental dislodgment from its normal fish host.

Although a single occurrence of this nature is of little general parasitological or medical consequence, it is believed noteworthy as a rare record of a parasitic copepod occurring on a human, albeit temporarily. (Contribution No. 77 from the Virginia Fisheries Laboratory.) — WILLIAM J. HARGIS, JR., Virginia Fisheries Laboratory, Gloucester Point. Virginia.

(Reprinted from The Journal of Parasitology,
February 1958, vol. 44, no. 1, p. 45.)

AVERAGE AGE OF VESSELS IN TRAWLER FLEET EXCEEDS 20 YEARS: The number of otter trawlers landing regularly at the Boston Fish Pier has been declining steadily in recent years and the average age of the vessels is increasing due to the slow rate of replacement. As of September 1, 1958, the fleet of large, medium, and small otter

trawlers fishing out
of Boston totaled 72
vessels and the aver-
age age was 20.8
years. The fleet of
large and small
trawlers has declined
steadily since the end
of World War II, but
the fleet of medium
vessels has increased
slightly in recent
years, according to
a study by the Boston
Market News Service.

At the beginning

Fig. 1 Typical Maine-built medium-size otter trawler.

of World War II many fishing vessels were requisitioned by the Armed Forces for use as small patrol boats, subchasers, and small transports. As the war progress

Fig. 2 Unloading catch from a large otter trawler at Boston Fish Pier. since 1953. Only two vessels have been added

ed, shipyards were able to meet
the needs of the Armed Forces
and due to the shortage of protein
foods materials were made avail-
able for fishing-vessel construc-
tion. During this 1942-45 period,
9 large and 15 medium otter trawl-
ers were added to the Boston fleet
of trawlers. During the 13-year
period, 1946-58, only 7 large and
7 medium otter trawlers were
added to the Boston fleet.

The large otter trawlers fishing out of Boston as of September 1, 1958, consisted of 28 vessels with an average age of 18 years. The oldest (three) vessels were built in 1928 and the newest (one vessel) was added in 1952. No new large otter trawlers have been added to the Boston fleet since 1950.

The fleet of 36 medium trawlers fishing out of Boston with an average age of 19 years in 1958 increased from 33 vessels in 1957 to 36 vessels in 1958. Many trawlers of this size claim Gloucester and New Bedford as a home port, but land regularly at the Boston Fish Pier. Some observers predict that the Boston Fish Pier in the future will be dependent on these medium trawlers for fish supplies. Vessels of this size group (1) are cheaper to build; (2) have crews of 10-12 men as compared to 15-17 on large trawlers; and (3) are more economical to operate because of the limited catches per boat on the fishing grounds within a practical range (about 600 miles). The oldest medium trawler was built in 1900 and the last addition was made in 1957. The increase in the number of medium trawlers has not been due to new construction, as only seven vessels were added between 1946 and 1958. The increase merely indicates that a number of trawlers have left the Gloucester ocean perch fishery and the New Bedford flatfish or scallop fishery for the haddock fishery out of Boston.

The oldest trawlers in the present fleet at Boston are the small or under 50gross ton class--as of September 1 this fleet of 8 vessels had an average age of 39 years. The oldest small trawler was built in 1890 and the newest addition was made in 1944. Vessels of this size are limited to inshore waters and, as a rule, will fare better fishing out of Gloucester for whiting, out of New Bedford for yellowtail flounders, or out of either port for varieties used for reduction or animal feeding.

Large otter trawlers generally are over 150 gross tons; medium trawlers, 50150 gross tons; and small trawlers, under 50 gross tons.

California

AERIAL CENSUS OF COMMERCIAL AND SPORT FISHING CONTINUED (Airplane Spotting Flight 58-15): The inshore area between Carmel and Trinidad Head was surveyed (August 17-19) from the air by the California Department of Fish and Game Cessna 3632C to determine the number of pelagic fish schools, sport fishermen, and commercial salmon trollers in the area surveyed. Fog hampered scouting more during this flight than on any previous flight this year. The area from Monterey to San Francisco and from Trinidad to Usal were adequately surveyed but only half of the area between San Francisco and Usal could be surveyed.

Pelagic Fish: Anchovy school groups were located in the same areas of the coast as on the last flight with the largest concentrations occurring in Monterey and Half Moon Bays.

The schools were much larger than on previous flights; in fact, some schools in Monterey Bay were of such large size and irregular shapes that a count of schools was impractical. Some schools up to 2 mile in length would have equaled the abundance of hundreds of schools as they appeared in early spring. Since area (sq. ft.) determinations were not made, a subjective estimation of the abundance of anchovies would indicate a similar number as on the previous flight, except inside Humboldt Bay where schools were observed for the first time this year.

Fog prevented scouting the offshore section of Monterey Bay where schools of sardines were re

ported by commercial fishermen. No sardine or mackerel schools were observed on this flight.

Commercial Salmon Trollers: Only two commercial trollers were observed in Monterey Bay and fog prevented an adequate census of the area from Fort Bragg to Cape Mendocino where most of the fleet was operating.

Sport Fishermen: The striped bass run was continuing along the beaches from San Francisco to Monterey. Greater catches were reported from the more southern area of the run from Half Moon Bay to Monterey. Aerial counts of surf fishermen on this flight demonstrated a relatively greater surf-fishing intensity in this area, especially in Monterey Bay.

ARTIFICIAL REEFS ESTABLISHED: Half a dozen old street cars, heavily ballasted to prevent their movement on the ocean floor during storms, were dumped in 60 feet of water off the California Redondo-Palos Verdes coastline during September 1958 to form the third artificial fishing reef experimentally established by the California Department of Fish and Game in its Ocean Fish Habitat Development Project started in June 1958.

The old street cars, weighing about six tons each, were donated by a metal salvage company. A tug and barge from the Long Beach Naval Shipyard transported them from Terminal Island to the dumping site.

The new artificial reef was created in an area where diving surveys by biologists of the Department had shown the ocean floor to be almost barren of fish and plant life or other shelter for fish.

The sunken street cars are intended to attract many of the marine organisms on which game fish feed, and in turn to provide food and shelter for game fish. Kelp will be transplanted on the new reef to further enhance the area's fish habitat.

Diving surveys have shown that 20 old auto bodies dumped earlier this summer in an area of barren ocean floor off Paradise Cove, near Malibu, are already attracting large numbers of game fish including kelp bass, sheep-head, and several species of perch. Another such artificial reef was created by dumping large artificial rocks in an area off Huntington Beach.

The Department's Ocean Fish Habitat Development Project, being carried out with Dingell-Johnson Act Federal Aid funds, will be continued for at least three years. The program's future will depend on the results produced by the pilot projects.

EXPERIMENT PLANNED WITH KOREAN FISH: The Associate Professor of Fisheries at Humboldt State College, Calif., has been given a permit by the California Fish and Game Commission to import and experiment with the eggs of a small salmonlike fish from Korea called the "ayu."

The Professor told the Commission he will use the State College fish hatchery for experiments in culture of ayu eggs to be sent to him from a colleague in Korea. If the experiments are successful, he said he will request authority to attempt establishing this species in one or more of Northern California's coastal rivers.

The Commission recommended approval of the request after learning that the ayu will not compete with native species. The ayu is primarily a plant feeder and will not become a predator in California waters.