SQUIRES ET AL : JAPANESE AND U.S. SABLEFISH MARKETS 



by 30% during this period. At the same time, real 

 ex-vessel prices for Alaska's longline and pot 

 catch (nearly all of which is exported) rose by 15%, 

 placing them at record highs. Thus the falling 

 exchange rate sent favorable price messages to 

 both U.S. fishers and Japanese consumers, i.e., sup- 

 pliers were encouraged to provide more fish for 

 export, while Japanese wholesalers were encour- 

 aged to buy greater quantities. It is prudent to 

 realize, however, that a reversal in the recent ex- 

 change rate decline would tend to produce the 

 opposite effect, sending unfavorable signals to both 

 groups. In such a case, the rising price of the dollar 

 would tend to lower Japanese offers for U.S. 

 sablefish, and, in turn, lower the willingness of 

 American producers to export, if not harvest. The 

 more expensive dollar and reduced supplies would 

 mean higher Japanese domestic sablefish prices, 

 which would reduce their demand for sablefish 

 imports. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We are grateful to Dan Huppert, David Whit- 

 marsh, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful 

 comments. Conversations with Robert Alverson, 

 Clint Atkinson, Pierre Marchand, and Lou Quirollo 

 are gratefully acknowledged. 



Food Res. Inst. Stud. 30: 



Hill. 



AND T. C. Lee. 

 John Wiley 



Am. J. Agric. Econ. 68; 



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