Although the recognition of responsibility came early, the Federal Government actually contributed little more than occasional surveys and sporadic collection of statistical records until after the first quarter of the present century. The first continuing Federal fishery program on the lakes was the biological research started in 1927 shortly after the collapse of the Lake Erie cisco fishery. The urging and cooperation of the States were a major factor in this start.

The fiscal support of the present Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Biological Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., was indeed meager over the first 22 years of its existence. The total annual appropriation, salaries and operating expenses combined, did not exceed $31,000, was as low as $11,000, and averaged less than $19,000. Especially trying to the biologists was their inability to undertake research on an effective scale through the 1940's when the sea lamprey was destroying stocks of lake trout in both Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

What this small group of scientists accomplished with so little is a record of which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service well may be proud. Let me point out also that much of the Service's early research could not have been completed without the generous financial support of the States and the hearty cooperation of the industry. This tradition of Federal-State-industry cooperation has never been lost. I am confident that the record of joint effort toward attainment of a common goal to be found in the Great Lakes region is without parallel in the Nation. The States have requested repeatedly and supported unfailingly a broadening of Federal programs in the Great Lakes. For more than three decades they have relied strongly on Federal officials for advice and counsel in fishery problems.

Federal biological research on the lakes gained its first financial support of consequence in fiscal year 1950. This support continued on a varying and uncertain basis until fiscal year 1957. Beginning in that year, funds for sea lamprey research and experimental control were obtained_under_contract between the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, established as one part of a treaty with Canada in 1956. Funds for other research still are included in the Bureau's budget.

Federal assistance to the Great Lakes fisheries other than biological research materialized slowly. A small-scale program of marketing was started in 1955, but it was not until the regional office of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries for the Great Lakes and Central Region was established in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1958 that even a start could be made in technology, gear development, and economics. Scant support made the programs in these disciplines largely ineffective at the start. They are better supported now but still far from adequate to meet the pressing needs of the Great Lakes fisheries.

I believe firmly that the historical neglect of the Great Lakes fisheries must come to an end and that we should meet, not merely recognize, the responsibilities of the Federal Government. These extraordinary bodies of fresh water lie in the heart of a rich and densely populated region. They can sustain large populations of desirable fish for the support of industry and the enjoyment of anglers. It is unthinkable that we should let them lie sterile and unproductive.

I shall not lay before you at this time detailed proposals for a Federal fishery program on the Great Lakes. Rather, I shall suggest the broad lines of attack along which we must move immediately and in adequate strength if a oncethriving industry is to be spared and the public allowed the full use and enjoyment of a priceless resource.

Our first major goal must be the early restoration of the stocks of valuable species in the three upper lakes. Ten years, or even 5 years ago attainment of this goal would have seemed fanciful. The sea lamprey had destroyed or reduced to low levels the choice species of Lakes Huron and Michigan and was making rapid inroads on the lake trout of Lake Superior. In the face of this catastrophe, we had no proven method of control.

The situation is changed. We now have a control method. Its effectiveness was demonstrated in 1962 when the numbers of sea lampreys in spawning runs were reduced to a mere 14 percent of the 1961 figure. Further experience and experimentation surely will increase this fine efficiency.

Much credit must go to biologists of what is now the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries for their years of patient research that culminated in this recent success. They are to be commended especially for the painstaking care and patience they exhibited as they ventured into the practically unknown field of selective toxicants. Untold thousands of tests finally uncovered chemical compounds which, used in proper concentrations, are lethal to lampreys but harmless to other fishes and to birds and mammals as well.

Laboratory tests were followed by field tests to learn better the action of the chemicals in the natural streams inhabited by larval lampreys and to develop proper field procedures. Finally came the grand experiment in which U.S. and Canadian biologists joined in the chemical treatment of all lamprey streams tributary to Superior, largest of the Great Lakes. The success of this experiment marked a monumental advance in the management of aquatic populations. Lake Superior has been the scene also of experiments to learn the feasibility of restoring lake trout stocks. The U.S. and Canadian Federal Governments, the Province of Ontario, and the States cooperated in the rearing, planting, and subsequent research on trout survival.

Federal fish hatcheries at Charlevoix and Pendills Creek, Mich., as well as State hatcheries at Marquette, Mich., and Bayfield, Wis., produced hundreds of thousands of high-quality lake trout yearlings annually for restocking purposes in Lake Superior. A new Federal hatchery at Jordan River, Mich., will help with the job in Lakes Michigan and Huron.

That lake trout stocks can be restored was demonstrated positively. Lake Superior is well along the road to recovery. A return to a good level of abundance of lake trout is anticipated within the next few years.

The experiments that succeeded so well in Lake Superior have provided the method for a similar restoration of stocks of valuable fish in Lakes Huron and Michigan. The question properly may be asked as to why we do not set out immediately to complete the work. The answer is simple. The present level of budgeting of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission is not sufficient to the task. I hold it a false economy-indeed, inexcusable-that we should permit this situation to continue.

The changed fish population of Lake Erie offers a problem for which no easy solution is apparent. Additional well-conceived and designed research on the widely fluctuating stocks and their environment could uncover principles most useful in the betterment of populations and the management of the fisheries. The industry needs immediate aid in achieving more profitable use of the presently plentiful supplies of smelt and yellow perch.

Broader and more intensive research is needed also on fish stocks in the three

upper lakes, particularly during the period of restoration. Unparalleled opportunities exist there for inquiry into the dynamics of aquatic populations. Technological research and development offer substantial opportunities for the economic betterment of the commercial fisheries. Some lines of work give promise of early return.

Fishery technology can increase dollar returns to the producer's pocket and still give the consumer a better product. The resulting economic gain benefits his income without placing additional strain on the stocks. Let me take the Lake

Superior lake herring, or cisco, as one example to illustrate the point.

The cisco, or lake herring, of Lake Superior is one of the tastiest food fish produced in the Great Lakes. The annual landings on the U.S. side typically are above 10 million pounds, and have exceeded 17 million, but a relatively small percentage of the take reaches the tables of consumers. Formerly, quantities of lake herring were salted, but this market had dwindled. Today the bulk of the catch is sold for mink food.

Three circumstances impede the profitable marketing of the Lake Superior lake herring. The take is highly seasonal; up to 90 percent or more of the annual catch is landed within a few weeks in late November and early December. The fish is so delicate that it cannot tolerate repeated handling, reasonable storage time, or shipment to distant points in the fresh state. No method of processing and freezing developed to date has been satisfactory. The flesh rapidly develops off-colors and off-flavors.

The development of processing procedures and equipment that will give frozen Lake Superior lake herring a shelf life considered normal for fish could improve the economic status of the fishery enormously. Placed on the market in a suitable state, this fish could compete successfully with the choicest. Badly overloaded and underequipped technologists of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in Ann Arbor are making a start on this complex and difficult problem. They should receive sufficient support to assure the earliest possible completion of the work. The yellow perch is another excellently flavored and plentiful Great Lakes fish that is not yielding proper economic returns to producers. The average landed price today is far below that of prewar years, and frequently it is so low that fishermen must suspend operations. If yellow perch could be more efficiently caught, processed, and stored at or near the point of production a steady supply could be assured to receptive retail outlets. The price to the producer could be 30-812-64

stabilized at a sound level. Processed and frozen yellow perch is an excellent product with a long shelf life. The industry lacks, however, the equipment and facilities to handle the fish. It needs technical advice and it may require direct aid in the form of loans and grants. In fact, assistance in finding capital may well prove to be the key to most technological advances in the Great Lakes fisheries.

What I have said about lake herring and yellow perch applies, of course, to a number of Great Lakes species.

Many other possibilities exist for increasing the income to producers through product development, including products for human consumption from such fish as the alewife and the smaller species of deepwater ciscoes now marketed as animal food.

Throughout the Great Lakes, fishermen need sound advice and practical demonstrations on the proper handling and refrigeration of the catch. Too frequently, poor quality is assured even before the fish are landed. Quality control must be stressed from the time of catch to the consumer's table. Broadening of voluntary Federal inspection of processing and packing plants should be encouraged.

The traditional gears of the Great Lakes are not satisfactory in many fisheries for production under the changed conditions of recent years. The development of new, more efficient, cheaper methods of taking fish are badly needed. When new methods and gears are developed, the fishermen must have sound advice in their use and on necessary modifications of vessels. Many will need assistance in obtaining capital for change in methods of fishing. Only a start has been made here; much remains to be done. The States are eager to have this work carried on, and have exhibited readiness to modify regulations to permit more efficient fishing. Exploratory fishing by Federal vessels, especially with new fishing gears, can provide fishermen with needed information on grounds and seasonal availability. Fishermen simply cannot afford to spend time in this searching.

Improvements in technology and in fishing methods and gear-especially those that contribute to a greater stability of supply and improvement of quality can ease greatly the task of marketing specialists who assist and advise the fishing industry in the orderly and profitable movement of their products. The Branch or Marketing of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries has done much worthwhile work in the Great Lakes region. Still, much remains to be done in the popularization of fish as a highly palatable and healthful food in homes, schools, restaurants, and institutions. Support to the Branch of Marketing in this work can pay high dividends.

Ignorance of the economics of the Great Lakes fisheries has been a great handicap in attempts to estimate costs and benefits from changes in the taking, handling, and processing of fish. Elementary but thorough cost studies are needed urgently for various fisheries and species from the time of catching to final purchase by the consumer.

Plans for the future should not overlook the orderly development of the recreational potential of the Great Lakes and their fisheries. Summer vacations on the shores and beaches can be attractive to growing numbers of people in warmer, southern climates and in the hot cities. Food and lodging, sales of automotive supplies and fishing equipment, rental of charter boats and sale of boats and motors, and many other sources of income based on the lakes and fishing are potentially, or actually available. The small attractive ports and the firm, high quality gamefish species are assets that can be developed and wisely used for decades to come.

My comments on program needs in Federal research and assistance for the Great Lakes fisheries have been brief indeed. More details were not required, since all segments of our Nation's fisheries have problems in common and the Senate has had them laid before it more than once.

I have confined myself to the Great Lakes fisheries because they are fascinatingly unique, and have a regional and national worth far greater than is commonly appreciated. What I have said about Federal neglect of Great Lakes fisheries holds for all, but I am confident that among our fisheries those of the Great Lakes are most neglected, yet offer a tremendous potential in the commercial, sport, and recreational fields.

We can ill afford to stand by and watch a valuable industry crumble. We need not suffer the economic loss, the unemployment, the depressed communities. We need not purchase from others the products we can, with little effort, produce ourselves. The time for assumption of our Federal responsibility for our fisheries does not lie in the indefinite future. The time is at hand. Neglect must end now.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a series of tables, providing data to substantiate my remarks, be incorporated in the Record at this point. There being no objection, the tables were ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

TABLE 1.-Production of all species for the Great Lakes fisheries by total volume, value, and price per pound for all lakes, Lake Superior, and the State of Michigan 1940-61 [Pounds and dollar amounts in thousands]