Fish Facts

Overturning the unanimous recommendation of the U.S. Tariff Commission, President Eisenhower last week rejected a plea by the New England fishing industry that he raise the tariff on groundfish fillets (i.e., boneless cuts stripped from pollock, cod, haddock, other bottom fish) and thus protect beleaguered U.S. ground fishermen against further imports (now 128 million Ibs. -annually, three times higher than in 1945), chiefly from Canada, Iceland and Norway. While fully aware of the domestic problem, explained the President, "I am ... reluctant to impose a barrier to our trade with friendly nations"--and especially with nations whose "economic strength is of strategic importance to us." Moreover, "I am not persuaded that [the tariff hike] would constitute a sound step in resolving [the domestic industry's] difficulties"--at the heart of which, Administration spokesmen have pointed out, are declining U.S. catches caused by such made-in-the-U.S. problems as overfishing in local waters and aging vessels.

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