Mr. Speaker. fishing was quite literally this Nations first industry. The early immigrants to New England and Virginia discovered they could not feed themselves with agriculture alone. and turned to the seas for basic and necessary food supplements. Our fishing industry not only prospered. but led the world. We remained the largest or second largest fishing Nation until the Korean war. Since that time. however. we have failed to keep pace. Our catches have declined dramatically as a proportion of the world catch. we have seen our fish stocks depleted. we import increasing proportions of our domestic fish consumption. our fishing communities are depressed. the size of our fleet is dwindling. and the sons of fishermen are leaving their hometowns and their families for more promising employment.
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