Mr. DINGELL. The subcommittee is very grateful for your excellent statement.

The Chair notes the presence of the Senator from Rhode Island, the Honorable Claiborne Pell. Senator, the subcommittee welcomes

you.

STATEMENT OF HON. CLAIBORNE PELL, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

It is a pleasure to comment again on the many positive values which I feel S. 2720 holds for the well-being of this country. In order to avoid taking too much of the time of the committee, I would like to ask your accord that my statement on the floor of the Senate, Wednesday, June 29, 1966, on fish protein concentrate be included in the record of this hearing.

This statement in substance reviews the thoughts of many food scientists and others in various parts of the world in favor of whole fish flour. It also elaborates on the potential of the Point Judith, R.I., area as a site for a fish protein concentrate demonstration plant, and includes a prospectus on this subject prepared jointly by several Rhode Islanders expert in the fields of agriculture, oceanography, and fish catching and processing. I refer specifically to Dr. James W. Cobble, dean of the University of Rhode Island College of Agriculture; Jacob J. Dykstra, president of the Point Judith (R.I.) Fisherman's Cooperative, Inc.; and Dr. John A. Knauss, dean of the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.

In summary, Mr. Chairman, I would like to reaffirm my strong support of this bill. Also, I would like to recommend publicly that upon its passage, a demonstration plant be designated to be set up at Point Judith, R.I.

Mr. DINGELL. Thank you for your views, Senator.

The Chair is now happy to recognize Mr. Donald L. McKernan, Director of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Department of the Interior.

STATEMENT OF DONALD L. McKERNAN, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; ACCOMPANIED BY E. RAY PARISER, PROGRAM LEADER, FISH PROTEIN CONCENTRATE PROGRAM

Mr. McKERNAN. Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I would appreciate having Dr. Ray Pariser, who is in charge of this program in the Bureau, with me at the witness table.

Mr. DINGELL. You may do so.

If there is anyone else you wish to assist you, please introduce him. Mr. McKERNAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I appreciate the opportunity of appearing before this committee on this very important subject this morning.

I have a rather lengthy statement, and if the Chair wishes I could put it in the record and very briefly summarize it, and thus allow more time for questions, if you would like.

Mr. DINGELL. I think that would be quite appropriate.
Without objection, so ordered.

(The statement follows.)

STATEMENT OF DONALD L. MCKERNAN, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

Since 1961 the Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, has been engaged in research and development of an inexpensive, stable, wholesome product of high nutritive quality, hygienically prepared from fish, in which the protein and other nutritive materials are more concentrated than they were in the original raw material. In the early days of our program, the product we then had was commonly referred to as fish flour and then later, as the product was further developed, and seeking a more descriptive term, the product has come to be known as fish protein concentrate (FPC).

A definition of this product which we now call FPC would include products of varying characteristics ranging from tasteless, odorless, light colored flour-like materials, to coarse meals having a fish taste and odor, to highly flavored dark colored pastes or powders resembling meat extracts.

In the five years that have elapsed since the initiation of this program, there has been considerable progress made leading from bench-scale experiments, involving a few ounces of raw material, to tests in a model-scale unit in which many hundreds of pounds of raw fish were processed. We are now at the stage where pilot plant operations are necessary to test and confirm a number of engineering concepts, to demonstrate to the U.S. fishing and food processing industries the practicability of FPC manufacture and the versatility of the product, to produce sufficient quantities of FPC for largescale feeding and storage tests, and to initiate feasibility studies for the creation and development of markets for FPC-supplemented foods.

In our Departmental report to the Committee on H.R. 14268 and four other similar bills, we indicated that the present status of our program would justify the construction and operation of one experiment and demonstration plant. Our program thus far has demonstrated the safety and wholesomeness of a solventextracted product from hake belonging to the Merlucciidae and Gadidae families. including the silver hake, the white hake, the squirrel or red hake, and the Pacific hake. Studies leading to the extension of the solvent process to other families of schooling fishes are now underway and when they are completed, additional plants may be needed. At the present time, however, the operation of a single plant can be justified in this program. The Departmental report, therefore, recommended the enactment of H R. 14268.

We view the Department's program for the production of fish protein concentrate as an effective means of increased utilization of the fishery resources off our coasts to the betterment of the economics of our fishing industry, and we view the construction of an experiment and demonstration plant as a necessary part of that program. It is responsive to the remarks of the President to the Congress in his "Food for Freedom" message on February 10, when he said: "The wonders of modern science must also be directed to the fight against malnutrition. I have today directed the President's Science Advisory Committee to work with the very best talent in this Nation to search out new ways to develop inexpensive, high-quality synthetic foods as dietary supplements. A promising start has already been made in isolating protein sources from fish, which are in plentiful supply throughout the world."

In order to survey the progress that has been made in the conduct of this program and especially to indicate the need for the construction of a demonstration plant for the production of FPC in sufficiently large volume to satisfy the present needs, we will discuss briefly the raw material resource available in U.S. coastal waters, the origins and objectives of the Bureau's FPC program, especially the results of an accelerated program that was initiated 19 months ago at the direction of Secretary Udall. Our report will conclude with an account of our immediate program needs and our future research plans.

The resource

Although there is not complete agreement, marine biologists estimate that the seas of the world could annually sustain a catch of 400 to 500 billion pounds of fish-a very real potential for supplying critically needed sources of animal protein. Tragically, about 85 percent of this potential supply is now going to waste. This is true despite the fact that nearly every inhabited coastal area has some sort of fishing activity.

Systematic efforts to farm the seas have lagged far behind land efforts. Yet the seas, today a vast reservoir producing animal protein, might with

pisciculture techniques provide us with even more protein than we can now estimate.

As an important part of the global picture we must turn our attention to the resources found in the seas around our own U.S. shores, emphasizing especially the available resources of hake and hake-like fishes. These are of particular interest at present since it is these fish that will, most probably, gain initial acceptance by the Food and Drug Administration for use as raw material for the manufacture of FPC.

Starting in the northeast corner of our country, we think of the great fisheries off New England. Our cod fishermen went "down to the sea in ships" during the days of sail. Their hardy and productive exploits form a colorful chapter in the early history of our country. As eating habits changed, dried cod production fell off and other fish took over as fresh or frozen forms. One of the most spectacular advances was that of the redfish. Once considered a "trash fish," its use under the name “ocean perch” increased dramatically, and a yearly production of over 200 million pounds was achieved by 1950. Certain biological evidence leads fishery scientists to believe that large, almost untouched reserves of these redfish may exist outside the areas now fished.

A fish now only partially used by man either directly for food or indirectly for the manufacture of animal food is the silver hake or whiting, (Merluccius spp.) and the red hake (Urophycis spp.) In the New England area there are four species potentially readily available for the manufacture of FPC—M. bilinearis and albidas and U. chuss and tenuis.

The red hake (U. chuss) and the silver hake (M. bilinearis) are seasonal migrants, moving inshore during the warmer months of the year and offshore in the colder months. This temperature relationship is spelled out in some detail in the attached appendix.

Figure 11 (appendix) refers specifically to the red hake. This species moves inshore in April, appearing in concentrations first off Martha's Vineyard and shortly thereafter around Block Island. During the period April through June small and medium otter trawlers average better than 5,000 pounds per hour of dragging. During the summer months relative abundance falls off (the fish are dispersed) to about 2,000 pounds per hour. In September they begin to congregate again prior to the offshore migration and the catch per hour rises again to levels comparable to those obtained in the spring.

The red hake is also taken within the Gulf of Maine and appears to be a separate stock. They appear later, reaching peak abundance off Cape Cod in early summer, at which time the small and medium trawler catch averages between 3,000 and 4,000 pounds per hour. As these fish move northward they are dispersed and available at much lower catching rates.

The silver hake also a migrant species reaches peak abundance on the southern New England grounds late in the summer (see fig. 10 of appendix 1). At this time the catch per hour averages 3,000 to 5,000 pounds per hour. On Gulf of Maine grounds silver hake arrive much earlier and are steadily harvested through the summer months at the rate of about 2,000 pounds per hour.

The local industrial fishery has depended almost entirely on silver hake and red hake. Two areas, Point Judith offshore and No Man's Island, both southern New England grounds, seem to be consistently productive for most of the year. Fishing trips are mostly 2-day trips. For each of 5 years when the industrial fishery was very active, these grounds produced an average of about 100 million pounds annually of silver and red hake during the period April throughg December.

A flexible fishery, capable of extending the season by fishing offshore during the winter months could radically increase the amount landed by fishing these and other stocks. It must be noted here that the U.S.S.R. is moving into this offshore area in force at the present time.

There are as yet essentially unexploited stocks of these species and others in the area between the Hudson Canyon off New York and the Virginia Capes.

To summarize, for the period April through December, raw material for FPC would be available in inshore southern New England at catch rates averaging about 4,000 pounds per hour (small and medium trawlers). Early and late in the season these catch rates are considerably higher for short periods of time. Depending upon the intensity of the U.S.S.R. efforts on the same species, one can expect to be able to take considerably in excess of 100 million pounds per year in such a fishery. If the fishery can be extended to immediate offshore grounds and grounds farther to the east and west, the available resource is at least three times as large.

Great resources also exist off our Middle and South Atlantic coasts. Stocks of red hake could yield 100 million pounds per year; Atlantic herring 50 million. Species not now directly used for human food are termed "industrial fish." An estimated additional 100 million pounds per year of these could be caught along the Atlantic Coast.

The Gulf of Mexico is an enclosed sea whose productivity is enriched by the millions of tons of silt and dissolved nutrients washed into it each year from the Mississippi and other rivers. Part of the fertile soil from our Great Plains States ends up here. It can be partially reclaimed by harvesting the marine animals feeding on the nutrients contained in it. Completely unused stocks in the Caif of Mexico, with their estimated annual potential poundages, include thread herring, 2 billion; anchovies, 1 billion; scaled sardines, 100 million; butterfish, 100 million; little tuna, 500 million; industrial fish, 200 million: round herring, 500 million. Of the fish now caught, many are thrown back because markets for them do not exist at present.

Crossing the Mexico peninsula brings us to the Pacific coast. Here lie enormous stocks of anchovy and jack mackerel, now only partly used. Fishery scientists believe the annual anchovy catch could be increased to 1 billion pounds, while that of the jack mackerel could be increased by 130 million. Besides these, completely unused stocks include saury and dogfish with potential yearly yields of 100 and 54 million pounds, respectively.

Concerning the availability of Merluccidae and Gadidae in the northeastern Pacific, the following are the species with commercial potential: the Pacific hake (Merluccius productus), Pacific truecod (Gadus Macracephalus), pollock (Theragra chalcogrammus), and the smaller cods-tomcod (Microgadus proximus), Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida), and saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis). Although the latter three species may provide supplemental production in localized areas, they do not appear to be in sufficient quantities to yield large scale production for FPC. Thus, species suitable for potential use in FPC include the Pacific hake, truecod, and pollock.

Truecod is now utilized extensively by U.S. and Canadian fishermen as a food fish species. Although it does represent a potential source the high demand for Pacific truecod makes it doubtful that this species would be landed for FPC production. Pacific Truecod is abundant in the eastern Pacific from Destruction Island off the State of Washington to the Bering Sea, while pollock are abundant in the northeastern Pacific from southeast Alaska to the Bering Sea.

Pacific hake is generally found from Baja, Calif., to southeastern Alaska. It is abundant along the Continental Shelf in depths from 30 to 100 fathoms during the spring, summer, and fall months, and a resident population is known to occur within Puget Sound. Pacific hake, is generally found in areas in close proximity to shore and within easy operational range of existing fishing boats. The rate of capture, utilizing the newly developed Cobb pelagic trawls, is sufficiently high to allow large-scale production at relatively low cost, under $30 a ton.

Preliminary estimates by Bureau biologists of the Seattle Biological Laboratory in 1964 placed the maximum sustainable yield of hake off Washington and Oregon at 100,000 to 150,000 tons per year or an equivalent of 4 to 6 million daily 10 gram (80 percent protein) rations of FPC for 360 days. This would, therefore, be sufficient to supply about 3 to 4.5 million children with enough protein to upgrade adequately their daily ration with animal protein. Although there is no reliable information as yet on the extent of hake populations resident in Puget Sound, a Bureau biologist has estimated the resource at about 5,000 tons.

Too long have the fisheries of our 50th State been confined to the traditional salmon, halibut, and herring. Off Alaska is a vast shallow body of waterthe eastern Bering Sea. Here, in a few short years, Japanese and Soviet catches have skyrocketed to over 2 billion pounds per year of such species as cod, pollock, flounder, sole, and king crab. Except for the crab, these cannot now be profitably harvested by American fishermen. A new outlet for fish, such as fish protein concentrate, could drastically change this situation. Even among the "traditional" Alaskan fisheries, an estimated 24 million pounds of herring could be caught each year. The catch of sablefish (now incidental to halibut fishing) could be increased.

In our circumnavigation of the coastal areas of the United States, we have probably overlooked many possible sources of marine food. Even those we have found, however, are impressive. Fisheries specialists have estimated that the annual U.S. catch could be 28.5 billion pounds over five times the 1959-63 average of 5.1 billion pounds. Much of the estimated 23.4-billion-pound increase

would be in species not now taken by domestic fishermen or presently captured in limited volume compared to the size of the resources. Nearly 40 percent of the additional catch would come from waters within 3 miles of the U.S. coast and from interior waters, while about 25 percent would be taken within 3 to 12 miles of the U.S. coast. Atlantic and Gulf waters would supply over 50 percent of the increase; Pacific, about 38 percent; and lakes, streams, etc., 12 percent.

The five Great Lakes amount to inland seas, with possibilities for additional food fish harvests. During the last few decades production has been characterized by decline of the lake trout and increases in alternative species. Current United States and Canadian catches total about 100 million pounds per year. There are great possibilities for increases, however, in such species as the alewife. This has recently become so abundant as to be considered a pest by fishermen, not because it does not have good food potential, but because its demand on the U.S. food fish market is negligible.

Although not overwhelming in relation to national production, our river fisheries in such great systems as the Columbia and Mississippi-Missouri are not to be overlooked as fishing sources. Possibilities for increased yields are particularly good where power and irrigation dams have created vast artificial lakes and reservoirs. Research is now underway in an attempt to realize this potential for food sources. Successes with fish stocks in the reservoirs of the Tennessee River Valley Authority have shown that this can be done.

It should be noted that these estimates of increased potential catch are predicated on sound resource conservation practices and represent the maximum sustainable yield.

ORIGINS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE BCF FISH PROTEIN

CONCENTRATE PROGRAM

To evaluate accurately the Bureau's endeavors and to understand fully the origins of the Bureau's program, a complex background of considerations must be appreciated.

World food supplies.-In every newspaper, magazine, or scientific publication, we are made aware of the fact that there exists a serious conflict between the population explosion (from which this country is not excluded) and food deficiencies, especially insufficiency in animal protein. I will not belabor this point because I think it is well known. Let me say, however, that compounding the danger of this conflict is the fact that our world picture undergoes very rapid change in many directions. To illustrate the rate of change that is taking place. even within these last 2 years, I would like to remind you that in August of 1964 the prediction was made that within about 30 years the present world population of 3 billion people would double. The predicition today is that by the year 2200 the inhabitants of the globe will number about 500 billion, which would make the population density of every continent equal to that of Washington, D.C. Even a curb in the population explosion by effective birth control meaasures, by widespread famine or by nuclear catastrophe could not prevent a great increase in the number of hungry people in the world.

We are witnessing today a trilogy of changes that have profound bearing on the harvesting of new food resources and thus on the concept of fish protein concentrate production. One of these changes, of course, is the demographic explosion that I have just mentioned and that I admit is beyond the grasp of my imagination. The other rapid change is the technological revolution that, among other benefits, makes it possible for fish protein concentrates to find their place in the world's larders. The third important and basic change that involves us here and which will aggravate the problem of adequate food supplies which we are facing, is what Harlan Cleveland, of the State Department, called "the revolution of rising expectations." This is a change that has brought the hope and expectations of better living standards and better food supplies to the furthest corners of the earth, and that is constantly forcing technology to satisfy these demands. One of the reasons why fish protein concentrates are so important in this context of change is the fact that our enlightened moral concepts leave us no choice but to provide the needed food, by newly developed techniques, in new forms, and from new sources. The most critical food shortage today, and for a long time to come, will be animal protein. Fishes are animals and, therefore, contain proteins that are equal, in their nutritive quality and amino acid composition, to the proteins of land animals such as beef, egg, or milk. Fish can and will therefore, take their full place in the human diet.

U.S. fishing industry.-Another important factor that was responsible for the initiation of the BCF fish protein concentrate program was the fact that the U.S.