Changes come to U.S. fishing industry

Press, 12 June 1978, Page 16

Changes come to U.S. fishing industry

By JOHN HUTCHISON in San Francisco

With foreign fishing vessels banned from operating within 200 miles of the American coast, some sharp changes are developing in the industry, some of them unexpected. The restriction has most noticeably removed Soviet, Polish. Japanese and Korean fleets from waters they formerly harvested with great skill and high technology. The Russians operated large factory ships, often within sight of shore, hauling immense nets which swept in catches many times larger than American vessels can handle. Although there is no indication that the California industry plans vessels and methods on the Soviet scale, there is evidence of expansion by the industry and the promise of new prosperity.

“A combination of events has brought American fishing to the brink of a boom,” writes Marshall Kilduff in a newspaper article in San Francisco. He said it could happen only if the fishing industry outgrows its backward habits and modernises its methods. One early consequence of banning the foreigners is an increase in American catches. A San Francisco boat recently landed the largest catch ever seen here — 48 tonnes of sole. Sole currently retails at $3 per pound and higher.

But the foreigners not allowed to fish are beginning tn buy into American fishing firms. Their investments provide money to improve and

enlarge the vessels and processing facilities. The Japanese already control most of the Alaskan industry. Now the Soviet Government is reported to have invested .in a large fish processing firm in the state of Washington. And a Korean businessman has purchased a half interest (for $500,000) in a San Francisco fish processing plant. Enterprising foreigners and very large new market opportunities may stimulate rapid expansion of West Coast fisheries to reverse the general downward trend of fishing. The volume of fish landed at Californian ports is only about half what it was in 1936. the peak '■■ear. The state is not self-sufficient in fish and markets here offer frozen fish from as far away as Greenland and Brazil.

The foreign fishermen took huge catches off the American West Coast of fish not eaten here — hake, pollock, squid and sablefish among them. The overseas market for these fish is now open to Americans who can break awav from their traditional fishing patterns. The conservative fishing establishment of San Francisco, predominantly Italian, does not view the influx of foreign investment cheerfullv. Some old families are angry that one of their clan sold to a Korean for whom they have unkind words. Rumours of dark intent abound around the harbour. Some fear that foreigners will buy American boats, turn

them over to collaborative American captains and hire low-paid foreign crews. There are also reports that American fishermen will be allowed to sell their catches directly to foreign factory vessels inside the 200-mile limit. Balancing these unsettling speculations is the optimism of some observers who think the industry may be entering a new, prosperous era.

San Francisco, with its famed Fisherman’s Wharf, enjoys the image of a fishing port, but its fishing industry is not impressive. The “wharf” is mainly a backdrop for tourist attractions—a tiny, rundown harbour for small local craft, surrounded by busy restaurants. Much bigger fishing enterprises operate from San Diego and Los Angeles, home ports for large modern tuna vessels which range southward to the coasts of Ecuador and Peru where they are regarded with the same antagonism which has been directed in California toward the Russians. Well to the north of San Francisco, several small Californian cities operate fishing ports much more modern and elaborate than San Francisco's.

Such facilities may come in the near future to San Francisco. A project is under study to expand the fishing harbour, at a cost of nearly SISM. Such a development would give employment to 1000, and an honest name again to Fisherman's Wharf.