

                            FOOD FROM THE SEA

               It was an average March morning on the Pacific Coast.
          The steady drizzle of rain that cut through the blackness
          was occasionally caught by the gusting wind and driven
          upward in swirling eddies across the windshield of the
          battered pickup truck that bounced along the rutted road.
          The pickup ground to a stop in front of the boat basin
          coffee shop, and a commercial fisherman named John Andersen
          went into the coffee shop to take his place at the counter
          beside others of his kind who take their livings from the
          sea.

               The talk at the counter was flowing and easy.  Mostly
          the fishermen talked about the market for their catches,
          about fishing conditions. "Going out today, John?" one of
          the men asked John Andersen.

               "I'd better go out," he replied.  "That commercial
          credit company in Portland has $85,000.00 invested in that
          new boat of mine, and they'd like to see me out there every
          day."

               From the other end of the counter came the question,
          "What's it like on the bar?'

               "Can't tell yet," replied the first man.  "I'm going
          to drive down to the beach at daylight and look it over."

               John Andersen ate quickly, paid his check and left the
          coffee shop.  "John going out today?" asked the fisherman
          at the end of the counter.

               "John goes out every day, unless the weather service
          announces gale warnings."

               "Not much use," volunteered another, "with the market
          like it is.  Only one buyer buying anything today, and he's
          got limits."

               From the end of the counter.  "They're probably buying
          cheap crab from up the coast."

               This is a scene that is repeated seven mornings a
          week, throughout most of the year.  From late fall to
          August, most of the fishermen are crabbing, a few dragging
          for bottom fish.  Salmon season began in June last year,
          but this year the month of June is scheduled for
          elimination because, say the fish biologists, the salmon
          population is dwindling.

               For the people who wonder "what ever happened to free
          enterprise in America," this is it.  Virtually every
          fishing boat that goes to sea from the ports of the Pacific
          Coast is owned by one man, who manages and operates his
          fishing business.  Many of these men are heavily in debt.
          Most of them who borrow money to go into fishing on their
          own do so with little more security than their own
          reputations and backgrounds in commercial fishing.  This
          means that the average boat-owner spends about five years
          working on someone else's boat -- or maintaining an
          extremely small or part-time operation -- before he will be
          considered a good credit risk in the eyes of commercial
          lenders.  Most boat-owners prefer to keep their operations
          moderate in size to avoid the high overhead of "going big."
          A few three-man crews will be pulling crab pots on these
          March mornings, but two-man crews are more the rule than
          the exception.

               On this particular March morning, John Andersen went
          out to six fathoms to pull his crab pots.  Six fathoms is
          not a particularly peaceful area of the sea on a gusty
          March morning, and it was fortunate for John that at least
          one other fisherman left port that morning, to pull pots at
          fifteen fathoms.  By four o'clock that afternoon, with
          five-hundred pounds of crabs for which there was a doubtful
          market, John Andersen was pulled by his friend into port
          with a broken rudder.

               A small matter -- about $500.00 of insured damage and
          two days of lost time is no big thing.  If there had been a
          twenty-minute delay before his friend had tied onto him,
          John Andersen, his boat, his catch and his helper would
          have been beached.

               These are the men that supply America with seafood.
          Despite their perils -- both physical and financial -- few
          of them would consider leaving the sea.  They have their
          own organizations, purportedly for help in establishing
          fair market prices, but the buyers usually get their own
          way.  Yet, fishermen's groups make no concerted marches on
          Washington, D. C.  to better their conditions.

               The food that these men harvest from the unwilling sea
          is the tastiest, purest and most nutritious that you can
          buy in U. S.  markets and restaurants today.  And,
          considering its high ratio of protein-to-fat, as well as
          its high ratio of useable portion-to- waste, it is by all
          odds the least expensive.

               The variety is impressive:  Several varieties of cod,
          sole and snapper take their place in the ships' holds along
          with -- in season -- halibut, tuna and crabs.  The most
          popular fish with the buying public (and usually the most
          expensive) is the silver salmon and the king salmon, taken
          generally between spring and fall from the ocean, where
          they migrated as fingerlings from the coastal rivers; but
          many fishermen themselves prefer the "bottom fish" for
          eating.

               Although the harvesting of most species is regulated,
          only the hatching and rearing of fingerling salmon is
          man-managed.  But from the time these fingerlings enter the
          ocean, the hand of man is not present, until the salmon,
          weighing up to 40 pounds, ends its life in the hold of a
          fisherman's boat.  This means that the great majority of
          fish "harvesting" is wild harvesting; that is, the
          fisherman goes to sea with his experience, his knowledge
          and his luck -- and in a relatively few cases,
          sophisticated and extremely expensive sonar devices that
          will detect schools of fish under certain favorable
          conditions.  It also means that the harvested product has a
          sweet, clean taste that assures you of its wholesomeness.
          It is also reassuring to know that, on the West Coast, many
          of the coastal rivers originate in wilderness areas, and
          extremely few that flow through populated areas come into
          contact with industrial wastes.

               Apart from crabs and the majority of shrimp that reach
          U. S.  markets, the harvesting of most shellfish is done by
          farming methods, always under strictly regulated
          conditions.  The great delicacy of farmed shellfish is
          probably the oyster.  Tourists -- and local people as well
          -- flock to the fish markets along the West Coast when
          oysters are available, but the bulk of this harvest finds
          its way into supermarkets on traditional "fish days."  A
          surplus of fresh oysters is a marketing problem unknown to
          shellfish farmers.

               Whether the harvesting is wild or domestic, fishing as
          an occupation is an activity far removed from the knowledge
          of the average man.  Fishermen themselves are, in their own
          eyes, not too unlike any other U. S. small businessman, but
          since they ply their trade on the mysterious sea, few
          people outside their immediate families really have more
          than a superficial understanding of fishing; and fewer yet
          know anything about the processing and marketing of fish.

               As successful as fish processors have been throughout
          the years in getting their product to the markets, new
          methods of handling seafood may prove even better than
          methods of the past.  There is now some packaging using
          modified atmospheres to increase the shelf life of fresh,
          refrigerated fish.  These controlled atmospheres contain
          high concentrations of carbon dioxide, together with
          nitrogen and oxygen.

               Fish is often recommended as a substitute for beef and
          pork in the diets of cardiovascular patients, as well as
          for persons who want to Lose weight while maintaining a
          viable intake of protein.  In the book, Composition of
          Foods, the United States Department of Agriculture gives
          the following information:

     ONE POUND FILET OF SOLE       ONE POUND ROUND STEAK, 86% LEAN,
                                        11% FAT, WITH BONE
     ________________________      _________________________________
     0% refuse                     3% refuse
     358 calories                  863 calories
     75.8 grams protein            88.5 grams protein
     3.6 grams fat                 53.9 grams fat

               In the diet of any person who is not expending large
          amounts of energy, a high ratio of protein to fat is
          desirable for the renewal of body cells.

               Surprisingly, fishermen and their families are avid
          consumers of seafood.  Usually, the sea gives up its bounty
          in enough variety to please every palate, but when certain,
          select varieties are in short supply, what is available
          will be "high-graded" to the fisherman's table.

               Perhaps this could be called a fringe benefit in a
          business short on fringe benefits and long on perils.
          Perhaps.  But as one fisherman put it, there is one fringe
          benefit more important than the rest:  "I'd never stop
          fishing. I'm doing what I like to do."