Show sardine scarcity plagues pacific coast canneries MONTEREY CALIF the little sardine has become a big problem the problem is faced not only by the 75 million dollar pacific coast sardine industry with its 12 fish ermen and additional thousands of cannery workers but also by house wives farmers and scientists its effects reach even to the hun gry and starving peoples of europe and the far east the problem is the absence of the sardine from his usual haunts along the pacific coast catches of sardines have fallen drastically in the past few years from peak year totals of tons last year years s catch fell to a mere tons that means not only a vast re in the number of those fa millar tins of sardines on grocers shelves but an even greater deduc tion in the amount of oil and meal available oil from the sardine is used ex ten in such everyday feces cities as soap cooking fats and oils cosmetics high grade paints and varnishes glycerine and vita nuns mins why the sardines are missing is a mystery the best explanation as advanced by experts in the field is that over fishing played the most important part in the depletion experts couple that with two oth er factors I 1 poor spawning conditions 2 possible changes in ocean cur rents taking the fish on new un charted paths |