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Software Vault: The Gold Collection
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Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
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FOODSEA
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1993-01-04
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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."