1 year or so, and also, I have made it my business in several places over the last 10 years to go in places where ordinarily you would expect fish to be running about the time they were spawning in which they were caught illegally after dark in large numbers and everything of that kind. I am firmly in favor of this bill. I don't want to be misunderstood. I think that we have too long neglected an acknowledgement of many of these fundamental facts, but I think your industry itself has a job, too, to participate actively in the way of discouraging and preventing and even outlawing practices that are very detrimental. Mr. REED. We have very stringent conservation laws in Maine. We do not think Senator DUFF. Some of these places where I have been had very stringent laws but, the trouble is, nobody enforced them. Mr. REED. Well, I think they are enforced up there. Senator DUFF. I think this is an enormously important matter. I think it has been too long neglected. I am completely in favor of this bil, but I think there is a whole lot of collateral things we have to do that are just as important as the provisions of this bill, if we are to restore our fisheries. In order to accomplish that, we must do away with the waste that has taken place in the past. Mr. REED. I think you are right; that is true in many instances. Senator DUFF. Do you have any questions? Senator MAGNUSON. No; no questions. Senator DUFF. Mr. J. Richards Nelson. STATEMENT OF J. RICHARDS NELSON, PRESIDENT, OYSTER GROWERS AND DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA, ACCOMPANIED BY DAVID WALLACE, OYSTER GROWERS AND DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA Mr. NELSON. Mr. Chairman, Senator Magnuson, the name is J. Rhards Nelson, president, Oyster Growers and Dealers Association of North America. Our association represents the oyster growers of the country. We have membership on the east coast and in the gulf and on the west been founded in 1908. Oysters are produced in 19 States in our councast also. We are the oldest trade association in the fisheries, having try. They were an important source of food for the early settlers, and they abounded in the brackish water bays along the entire east, west, and gulf coasts. The harvesting of them took place at such a rapid rate that even by the beginning of the 20th century depletion of many of the natural beds had already taken place. pleted. Oysters spawn during warm weather starting in the early Oyster farming came into existence as natural beds became despring in the gulf area and later farther up the coast with a normal have very few oysters today if it were not for oyster farming carried Incidentally, quite a number of the aforementioned States would and sperm in the water results in the production of microscopic larvae In oysters the sexes are separate and the chance mingling, date of mid-July in New England. on under water. of eggs that spend 2 or 3 weeks as tiny swimming animals. At the end of that period they attach themselves to some firm object and are then fixed for life, losing their powers of locomotion. The oyster farmer takes advantage of this and plants large quantities of cultch, usually empty shells, at the right period of the year, so that the larvae can have a clean surface to attach to. If setting is successful, the shells with the tiny oysters attached are usually transplanted to deeper, saltier water within a few months. It takes from 3 to 5 years to mature a crop for market and during that period the oyster farmer often transplants his crops 2 or 3 times. The annual production of oyster meat is about 70 million pounds. It is a high protein food, rich in vitamins and trace elements from the sea. It is a valuable source of food at all times, and particularly during periods of national emergency when protein foods are scarce. It is a crop that feeds on the tiny plant forms of the sea, which in turn gained their nutriment from the minerals that have leached from the land and would otherwise be lost to man forever. Oystermen are a hardy lot, accustomed to the uncertainties of farming under water. They never have asked the Government for a subsidy and do not ask it now. Underwater farming, like land farming, has its enemies. Some of these are known and can be successfully controlled. Others are not well known, and it is only through research that methods of control can be effective. Research is carried on to quite an extent by States that are oysterproducing States, and by the Federal Government, but the adequacy of this is not sufficient to do the job. The New England States, including New York, in the past 4 years have suffered a decline in oyster production in the neighborhood of 7 million pounds annually, according to the last statistics. As I say, the oyster meats amount to about 70 million pounds annually for high protein food. Senator DUFF. What was that figure 10 years ago? Mr. NELSON. I can't answer that offhand. Mr. Wallace, can you? Mr. WALLACE. It was approximately 10 million pounds more than that, but 30 years ago it was almost double that figure. Senator DUFF. In the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay area, which you have today, it isn't over 20 percent of what it was 20 years ago. Mr. NELSON. That is very true, Senator. Senator DUFF. To what do you attribute the cause of that, and what do you think can be done about correcting it? Mr. NELSON. The cause of decline is probably a fairly complex factor. You can't put your finger on any one thing. Of course we know that overfishing originally of natural resources was the original cause of decline. Senator DUFF. Don't you think that is the cause of the continuation of the decimation of these beds? Mr. NELSON. That is somewhat true. The oyster farming, however, is a method of counteracting overfishing in which seed is raised, planted, and farmed out as an upland farmer farms his crops. The industry in the State of Washington, for instance, is practically entirely a farming industry. Much of the seed is brought in from Japan and planted there, and without the oyster farmer the State of Washington would have a very small industry, but as a result of the oyster farm, it is quite an important industry and becoming more so. Senator MAGNUSON. We have a serious problem there, particularly in the Puget Sound, not in the Willapa area, with the pollution of pulp and paper. I think the importance of a bill like this is that it would give us more research, more good recommendations which could be made to the State legislature as to how to counteract the factors that are destroying or making it harder to farm oysters. Mr. NELSON. That is the point I was going to mention, Senator, that pollution of areas by trade wastes has taken away vast areas of natural beds that formerly were productive. Senator MAGNUSON. I think pollution in the Chesapeake has something to do with it, too. Mr. NELSON. Without any question, yes. Senator DUFF. Don't you think also trade practices have a lot to do with it? For example, on the west coast of Florida, where they used to have a great abundance of clams, they got to fishing for those clams with steamshovels. You can go down and see immense areas where there used to be a lot of clams, and there are none there at all. They even destroyed the seed. Mr. NELSON. That unfortunately is done where there is a free and common fishery and without any regulations. An oyster farm, however, counteracts that. Senator DUFF. Don't you think even for the benefit of the people in the business-irrespective of the public welfare-that there should be some interstate compacts for the purpose of arriving at what are good practices in many instances in this matter, and if you don't have those interstate compacts, I am very much afraid you are going to, in certain instances, at least in my knowledge, have a process of extermination in which there will be nothing for anybody. Mr. NELSON. I think that is true, Senator. I think the Atlantic. States Maritine Fisheries Commission is an important factor along those lines. Senator DUFF. I think that is one phase of conservation for the benefit of the people in the business which has never received even a fraction of the attention that it deserves, and where it is necessary to have very vigorous protection taken against the bootleggers if you are going to live. Mr. NELSON. Some of the decline spoke of is the result of a disas trous storm in November 1950 which destroyed a large percentage of the then existing seeds crops. Research is badly needed to determine how to replenish the seedbeds not only of New England, but of all the oyster-producing States whose production is also declining. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has marine laboratories in operation well equipped and excellently directed. Lack of adequate operating funds, however, has made it impossible for the service to assign scientists to research projects vitally needed by both the oyster and clam industries. They have not been able to tackle some of the very, very important problems that our industry needs in finding out what diseases and enemies here are causing a decline in the seeding of oysters. If this bill becomes law, it should be possible for those funds to be made available, and we think it is going to mean a great deal to the future of the industry. Our markets have been invaded by foreign frozen shellfish and this fact, combined with the lack of research on vital problems of domestic production, has made it increasingly difficult for our industry to survive. Bill S. 2802 would provide for needed research to stop the decline and strengthen an industry that produces a valuable protein food and spends more than half of each dollar of income for labor, giving gainful employment to many thousands of workers. Senator DUFF. Please give your address for the record. Senator DUFF. Thomas D. Rice. STATEMENT OF THOMAS D. RICE, SECRETARY, FEDERATED FISHING BOATS OF NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK, INC. Mr. RICE. Mr. Chairman, not wishing to submit any repetitious testimony, I would like to yield to the next witness. I feel that the testimony of Senator Saltonstall, Senator Payne, and the three witnesses on the fisheries committee have adequately covered the subject. Senator DUFF. Mr. Wayne M. Waller. STATEMENT OF WAYNE M. WALLER, MANAGER, BALTIMORE BRANCH, H. J. BAKER & BROS. Mr. WALLER. My name is Wayne M. Waller. I am manager of the Baltimore branch of H. J. Baker & Bros., who are importers, exporters, and brokers of heavy agricultural chemicals, which are used by manufacturers of fertilizers and animal feeds. For the 3 years preceding September 1953 I was director of the Byproducts Division of the National Fisheries Institute, with headquarters in Washington, D. C. I own and manage a general farm in Iowa; consequently, I have a broad and intense interest in the fishing industry and in our agricultural problems. One point I would like to bring to your attention is the fact that about one-third of the catch of our United States fisheries is utilized by agriculture, in the form of fishmeal and fish solubles which are used to enrich animal and poultry rations and make possible the highest efficiency in the feeding of these birds and animals. Obviously, an adequate, continuous national research program for fisheries is in the interest of our agricultural industry. The principal fishery feed products, as I say, are fishmeal and fish solubles. They are the richest natural sources of certain essential proteins and B-complex vitamins available to feed manufacturers. In addition, they are known to contain unidentified growth factors essential for the most efficient utilization of other nutrients in certain poultry and swine rations. Briefly, the fishery feed products seem to act as catalysts which stimulate maximum growth and reproduction when incorporated into many rations. The fishing industry markets its products without governmental assistance in the form of price-support programs or other Federal aid. I think it is significant that this industry has survived without the elaborate economic and technical assistance that has been extended to other basic producers of food. I also wish to point out that fishery products are not among the surplus food commodities which are today such a serious problem to agriculture industry and government. The intensity of competition in the market place resulting from the fast tempo of modern research makes it imperative that every industry be served by broad technological program. Our fishing industry is scattered along 6,000 miles of coastline, and consequently, its prob lems are so diverse that the industry cannot be expected to operate and finance the economic, biological and laboratory projects that are needed. It is my considered opinion that the financing of this program, as is provided for in S. 2802, is a long-overdue step in the right direction. The Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States Department of Interior has the specialized talent, some of the facilities and the experience to put into motion and carry out this research program. Thank you. Senator DUFF. Mr. Heydecker. STATEMENT OF WAYNE HEYDECKER, SECRETARY-TREASURER, ATLANTIC STATES MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION Mr. HEYDECKER. Mr. Chairman, Senator Magnuson, my name is Wayne D. Heydecker, secretary-treasurer of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. I ask your leave, Mr. Chairman, to file a letter from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in support of S. 2802, and to make two or three additional comments. Senator DUFF. Without objection it will be filed at this point. (The letter from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is as follows:) ATLANTIC STATES MARINE FISHERIES COMMISSION, Mount Vermon, N. Y., March 29, 1954. Re S. 2802 by Senator Leverett Saltonstall and 28 other Senators Chairman Fisheries and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, The Capitol, Washington, D. C. My dear Senator DUFF: This bill in its earlier form was approved by this commission at its 11th annual meeting in Boston in the fall of 1952. At that time, the commission voted unanimously to support the Kennedy bill, H. R. 6862 (then pending), or any substantially similarly measure for the same purpose. During 1953 a referendum vote of the executive committee approved the subsequent measure then pending in the Senate, S. 1731, and recorded such approval. Coples of the current bill, S. 2802, were distributed recently to all our commissioners, together with four questions relating to types of research activities that might be undertaken should S. 2802 be adopted, and whether we should arrange meetings to discuss such matters. The returns to such related questions are not yet complete, but relying upon the unanimous action of the commission in 1952 and the corollary action of the executive committee in 1953, and the trend of the replies received to date in 1954, the chairman of the commission has directed me, on behalf of the Atlantile States Marine Fisheries Commission, to request your favorable report on 8. 2802. To conserve the time your committee, we shall be brief. Our South Atlantic section, with the approval of our executive committee, has requested the allocation of $40,000 annually to permit the motor vessel Delaware of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to do much needed technological research in the coastal waters from Cape Hatteras to Key West during winter months when it is normally not operating out of Boston. Our commission, in the past, has also requested that Fish and Wildlife Service to undertake certain much needed biological and technical research projects in various areas of the Atlantic coast for which no funds are available or for which only merger funds exist. The fishing industry of the New England States has evolved a program which will be presented to you and which includes several special research projects which |