A total of 394 miles was scouted during which time 110 schools of sardines and 20 unidentified schools were counted. A large number of school groups was present in a small area near Bluff Point. Other species of pelagic fish were scarce and no schools of mackerel or anchovies were positively identified. Except for one lampara net haul, all samples of sardines were collected with the blanket net. Sardines were readily attracted to light and tended to remain near the surface calmly milling in a compact group. Over two-thirds of the blanket net sets made on sardines produced 50 or more fish. Some catches up to 3,000 fish a haul were made. Approximately 6,500 live sardines were delivered to the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries at San Diego. A total of 968 sardines was preserved for studies ashore. Several specimens of barracuda and black sea bass were collected for other investigations. A limited amount of effort was expended on colored-light experiments. A red 150-watt surface floodlamp was used in conjunction with a white 1,500-watt lamp. After attraction with the white light, it was turned off and the red light turned on. Sardines came closer to the surface or disappeared when the red light was turned on. It was apparent that the red light was not of sufficient intensity to hold the fish; therefore, this phase of the experiment was terminated. A more favorable reaction was observed when a Diesel fuel torch was used in the same manner as the red light. The net was not as visible as under the white light. Several sizable catches of sardines were made by setting the net under the torch. Sea-surface temperatures ranged from 60.4° F. at Punta Baja to 79.00 F. at San Juanico Bay. Temperatures from 680 to 720 F. prevailed over most of the areas covered. Bathythermograph and reversing thermometer casts were made on stations where depths were greater than 10 fathoms. Cans--Shipments for Fishery Products, January-July 1958 Total shipments of metal cans during January-July 1958, amounted to 62,978 short tons of steel (based on the amount of steel consumed 'in the manufacture of cans) as compared with 73,968 tons in the same period a year ago. Canning of fishery products in January-July this year was confined largely to tuna, salmon, and Maine sardines. Packs were below average for shrimp, mackerel, and sardines during the first seven months of 1958. Note: Statistics cover all commercial and captive plants known to be producing metal cans. Reported in base boxes of steel consumed in the manufacture of cans, the data for fishery products are converted to tons of steel by using the factor: 23.0 base boxes of steel equal one short ton of steel. Consumer Studies MOTIVATION SURVEY OF CANNED FISH PREFERENCES: The U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries has awarded a contract to a Philadelphia firm to conduct a motivation survey covering special aspects of household consumers' preferences for canned fish and shellfish. The basic objectives of the study will be to ascertain the homemaker's decisionmaking processes affecting the purchase of canned salmon, tuna, sardines, and other canned fishery products. Respondents will be asked to furnish detailed answers to inquiries about why they buy or do not buy these canned fish items; whether they buy on impulse; how shoppers are motivated by advertisements; preferences for size of can, type of package, and kind of oil used in certain canned fish products. The survey will also examine the influence of income on buying habits and price or other motivating factors affecting preference for domestic versus foreign canned fish. The study involves personal interviewing of homemakers in each of three urbanized areas: Boston, Mass., Detroit, Mich., and Birmingham, Ala. The contract calls for a probability sample of 875 households and a minimum of 700 completed interviews in each of these urbanized areas. The survey will use depth probing to elicit useful answers. Questions of the open-end type will be followed by appropriate nondirectional probing questions to obtain the fullest response. The project is being financed by funds provided by the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1954. STUDY OF INSTITUTIONAL CONSUMPTION OF FROZEN PROCESSED FISHERY PRODUCTS INITIATED: A study of frozen processed fish and shellfish consumption in institutions and public eating places in 10 selected cities has been initiated by the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. A contract for $57,000 has been awarded by the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, to Crossley, S-D Surveys, Inc., of New York City. The survey will be financed from funds provided by the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1954 to increase production and markets in the domestic fishing industry. Since the mass feeding industry is among the best of all potential markets for frozen fishery products, the Bureau proposes to obtain information through this study which will benefit the fishing industry in finding ways to diversify and increase the use of fish and shellfish in these establishments. The cities involved in the survey are Atlanta, Ga., Chicago, Ill., Cleveland, Ohio, Denver, Colo., Houston, Tex., Los Angeles, Calif., New York City, Omaha, Nebr., Portland, Ore., and Springfield, Mass. They have been selected because they are fairly well distributed geographically and account for a good proportion of the consumption of frozen fish and shellfish by mass-feeding establishments. "Mass-feeding" establishments include: (1) restaurants, cafeterias, and eating places in hotels, (2) eating places in schools, dormitories, industrial plants, and office buildings, (3) hospitals, prisons, and other similar public and private institutions, and (4) department stores or drugstores serving food, lunchrooms, etc. The survey is scheduled for completion within 10 months. Federal Purchases of Fishery Products DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PURCHASES, JANUARY-AUGUST 1958: Fresh and Frozen Fishery Products: For the use of the Armed Forces under the Department of Defense, 1.6 million pounds of fresh and frozen fishery products were purchased in August by the Military Subsistence Market Centers. This was lower than the quantity purchased in July by 45.8 percent and 23.6 percent less than the amount purchased in the same month a year ago. Table 1 Fresh and Frozen Fishery Products Purchased by Military Subsistence Market Centers, August 1958 with Comparisons for the use of the Armed Forces Note: Some local purchases are not included in the data given. Actual total purchases are higher than indicated, but it is not possible to obtain local purchases. Fisheries Loan Fund LOANS THROUGH SEPTEMBER 8, 1958: As of September 8, 1958, a total of 476 applications for fisheries loans totaling $17,090,490 had been received since the inception of the Fisheries Loan Program. Of these, 252 ($6,476,791) have been approved, 151 ($4,481,670) have been declined, 31 ($1,446,589) have been withdrawn, and 42 ($3,857,519) are pending. As several of the pending cases have been deferred indefinitely at the request of the applicants and collections have been increasing, sufficient funds have been available to process all other applications. Congress recently increased the loan fund authorization from $10 million to $20 million but has not yet appropriated the additional $10 million. The following loans have been approved between July 14, 1958, and September 8, 1958: New England Area: Margaret E. Sinegra, Gloucester, Mass., $3,666; Aadland Fishing Corp., New Bedford, Mass., $43,463; Boat Laura A, Inc. New Bedford, Mass., $58,400. South Atlantic and Gulf Area: Landon J. Alario, Golden Meadow, La., $18,250; Wendell H. McGill, Naples, Fla., $32,000. California: Larry Fitzpatrick, Eureka, $12,500. Pacific Northwest: Roy Furfiord, Westport, Wash., $30,000. Alaska: Hans E. Jacobsen, Juneau, $4,300. Fur Seals ALASKA FUR-SEAL MEAL PRICE HIGHER: Bids for the purchase of the furseal meal produced by the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries during the sum mer of 1958 on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, were opened on September 26. The accepted bid, offered by a New York City firm, specified a unit price of $1.67 per prɔtein unit. Although the offering of about 323 tons of meal was smaller than the 374 tons sold in 1957, the return to the Government from this year's sale will exceed the revenue obtained for last year's production. This year's sale totaled about $35,000 as compared with $30,780 for 1957 when a unit bid of $1.25 per protein unit was accepted. Georges Bank DIVERS ATTEMPT TO SOLVE RIDDLE OF MIGRATING SAND RIDGES: During a special oceanographic research project, which got under way when the survey ship Hydrographer sailed from Boston on August 4, 1958, oceanographers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, U. S. Department of Commerce, attempted to unravel the mystery of the apparent migration of underwater sand ridges on Georges Shoal about 120 miles off Cape Cod. The project also included measurements of the currents at the edge of the continental shelf 600 feet beneath the surface. Recent surveys of Georges Shoal revealed a change in position for the elongated underwater sand ridges that cross the crest of this offshore bank. This apparent movement may be the result of more accurate surveying methods, adopted since the last survey 26 years ago, but Bureau oceanographers are confronted with other information which suggests actual movement of the ridges, some of which are 4 miles long, up to 40 feet high, and rise to within 20 feet of the surface. Although the strong currents existing in the area (nearly 3 knots) uphold this theory, systematic sampling and visual observations have never been possible. During the survey, two scientists who are experienced aqualung divers, will attempt to solve this mystery. Armed with movie cameras and colored dyes the divers, working in 40 feet of water, planned to inject the colored dye into the submerged ridges and photograph the movement on color film for future study in the office. Their underwater activities also include sediment samplings from specific parts of the ridges. This research in the shadow of Texas Tower No. 2, is of obvious importance to the Coast and Geodetic Survey which is charged with charting the bottom topography of our coastal waters. During the second week of the project the 165-foot Hydrographer moved to a position at the edge of the continental shelf (approximately 41°00' N., 66°28′ W.) where instruments, suspended from two buoys placed ten miles apart, were to be used to check the currents on the ocean floor near the edge of the shelf. There is speculation among oceanographic authorities that currents along the outer edge of this underwater plateau should be stronger than those closer inshore, but actual measurements are lacking. Besides answering an academic question, these ocean bottom current measurements will provide data on an important technical problem now facing this country, the role of bottom currents in transporting and dispersing any atomic contaminants that might find their way into the sea. Three torpedo-shaped current meters were to be suspended from each buoy. The meters were to be near the surface (15-foot depth), mid-depth, and as close to the bottom as practicable. They were to measure the direction and velocity of the currents' movement at the three levels for both stations. This information is automatically radioed to the Hydrographer which will be standing by between the two stations. Georges Shoal is the shallow crest of the more extensive Georges Bank whose inshore edge is only 60 miles east of Cape Cod and Nantucket. The bank extends eastward to the edge of the continental shelf where the bottom slopes to a depth of 1,000 fathoms (6,000 feet) in a distance of only 7 miles. It covers an area of about 15,000 square miles inside the line, which is referred to in nautical terminology, as the 100-fathom curve. Georges Bank, which includes about 5,000 square miles of water, shallower than 30 fathoms (180 feet), has become famous as a fishing ground for vessels out of Boston and other New England ports. The shape of the sand ridge formations, which are the subject of this research, was first determined during a survey of the banks in 1931-32, but their presence was overshadowed by the discovery of several submarine canyons, 900 to 2,600 feet deep, along the eastern fringe of Georges Bank. The ship Hydrographer is no newcomer to the Georges Bank area since it took part in the 1931-32 survey and in 1957 it began a resurvey of the area. Great Lakes Fishery Investigations LAKE SUPERIOR FISHERY SURVEY CONTINUED (M/V Siscowet Cruise 5): Studies were conducted in the Isle Royale area of Lake Superior by the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries research vessel Siscowet during Cruise 5, between August 18-27, 1958. Stations were established at (1) Rainbow Cove, (2) north of Thompson's Island, (3) Siskiwit Bay, (4) southeast of Menagerie Island, (5) south of Mott Island, (6) northeast of Gull Island, and (7) in Amygdaloid Channel. Gill nets with graded mesh sizes from 1 to 6 inches were set at each station. Water temperature, bottom, and plankton samples were also taken. Because of rocky and uneven bottom, trawling was attempted only in Siskiwit Bay and Amygdaloid Channel. One 15-minute trawl tow in Siskiwit Bay took about 150 pygmy whitefish in 100115 feet of water. The only other fish caught were 12 slimy muddlers. Two 15minute tows made in Amygdaloid Channel took only 6 slimy muddlers. Catches in the gillnets varied within the location and depth of the set. The set made in Rainbow Cove 2-6 fathoms of water took 66 menominee whitefish, 47 longnose suckers, 4 lake trout, 7 herring, and 3 burbot. Three nets set north of Thompson's Island took 45 lake trout, 14 herring, and 6 chubs. Four nets in Siskiwit Bay at depths of 43-45 fathoms yielded 146 chubs and 17 lake trout. Four nets off Menagerie Island in 62-86 fathoms of water took 104 chubs and 3 siscowets (Salvelinus namaycush siscowet). With a large sample of chubs it was possible to make positive identification of the three species--Leucichthys hoyi, L. kiyi, and L. zenithicus. Hoyi were taken at depths from 25-70 fathoms. Kiyi were taken at depths greater than 42 fathoms. They were most abundant in the deepest net set at 78 fathoms. Zenithicus were taken from depths of 26-78 fathoms but were most common in the deeper nets. Nine gill nets set south of Mott Island took 431 chubs (262 L. zenithicus, 105 L. kiyi, and 64 L. hoyi) and 3 lake trout. A gang of 10 nets set northeast of Gull Island were on an extremely uneven bottom. Depths varied in the set from 7-42 fathoms, with one net covering a depth range of 17 fathoms. This gang took 77 lake trout, 39 chubs (35 L. hoyi, 4 L. kiyi), 11 herring, and 7 burbot. Three nets set in Amygdaloid Channel and left two nights because of high winds took 141 herring, 16 longnose suckers, 14 lake trout, and 9 burbot. An additional set was made north of Thompson's Island for chubs. Lake trout made up the larger percentage of the catch. Bathythermograph casts were made from the Apostle Islands to Isle Royale. The surface temperature 10 miles northeast of Outer Island was 61.2° F. and from there it dropped continuously over the entire distance to Isle Royale where it reached 54.70 F. Temperatures below 30 feet were consistently 390-40° F. Commercial fishermen in the Isle Royale area reported schools of herring near the surface throughout the summer whereas this situation has not occurred in waters adjacent to the Apostle Islands. The fact that surface temperatures are higher in the Apostle Island region may account for the lack of surface schools of herring during the summer. Bottom samples in the Isle Royale area showed mainly bed rock or silty bottom types. Few bottom organisms were found. * SURVEY OF FISH POPULATIONS IN WESTERN BASIN OF LAKE ERIE CONTINUED (M/V Cisco Cruise 9: Otter trawling in 9 areas in the western basin of Lake Erie and one area in the central ba.sin off Lorain, Ohio, was continued by the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries research ** vessel Cisco from September 9-22, 1958. Adult yellow perch and sheepshead continued to predominate among the larger fish in the catches. Youngof-the-year of yellow perch, alewife, gizzard shad, sheepshead, and white bass were common to abundant in most of the catches. The young fish had at |