Basic HTML Version
August 1971
heads, entrails and all - even diseased,
contaminated fish - is repulsive to
many people. As far as thc developers
are concerned, the FPC concentrate is
not barmful. But they realize its accept–
ance as a food item in the developed
nations may be a long time in coming.
The
PLAlN TRUTH
Even in undernourished countries
there is a problem of consumer accept–
ance - especially where seafood is re–
garded as a rel ig ious taboo - to the
extent people would rather starve than
eat it.
Another problem is economic feasi-
EXPLORING THE OCEANS
-
above, artist's conception of a deep-diving
subma rine designed to gather large quontities of f ish f rom the oceon' s
lower levels.
Below, Seo- lo b 1 11 , important unde rsea research vessel, is shown os it
appeared recently for experime ntal dives off southern California.
Top
-
Seaonict; Below
-
Ambossodor Calloso Photo
21
bi lity. Gordon C. Broadhead, president
of Living Marine Resources, lnc. in San
Diego, told us: "Companies have gone
broke on 'in-the-sea' programs with
FPC. There simply is no market for it.
After all, who in the United $tates
wants to eat food made from a caneen–
trate of fish parts? Especially when
steak is available on supermarket
shelves."
If
FPC is to be distributed
widely abroad, someone must undertake
the cost of producing it. Surely the pov–
erty-stricken hungry who need food
cannot afford it. And why have to exist
on the protein from FPC? Steaks taste a
whole lot better.
Besides, the problem of fish avail–
ability st ill remains! After all , FPC
depends on a fish supply. Would tbe
ocean be able continually to supply
more and more fish for the continued
production of FPC in unlimitcd quan–
tities in order to feed a
contin11aliy
growing
world population ?
Other Would-Be Schemes
There are yet other proposals to
increase fish production. Sorne ideas in–
volve stimulating the natural food chain
processes in the sea.
This would mean increasing the
ocean's fertile areas. The analogy of
spreading unnatural ferti lizers on farm
lands is seen in this concept. It would
mean " forcing" the seas as man has
forced his farmlands.
It has been speculated that man could
stimulate sea plant and animal growth
by "fertilizing" the sea. However, John
D. H. Strickland, a biologist of the ln–
stitute of Marine Resources, University
of California, La Jolla, explained that
even
if
all the nitrogen fertilizer in the
world were dumped into the ocean, it
would improve the fertility of plant and
animal life in an arca no bigger than
the North Sea.
That small arca could not possibly
produce enough fish to justify such a
great expenditure on fertilizer. It merely
underscores what experts at an inter–
national conference at Moscow pointed
out: Even with the advances of science
and technology today, food resources of
the ocean still appear to be strictly
lim–
ited.
But, even the ocean food resources
available oow are at the merey of over–
fishing practices
AND -
to the great