A Panel Considers: "Sell up to Higher Profits" 



Arthur H. Frohman 



Chairman, Fish V Seafood Promotions Division, 

 National Fisheries Institute 

 John Mehos 



Vice President, The Liberty Fish & Oyster Company, 

 Galveston, Texas, for many years a leader in the shrimp 

 industry and one of the founders of the Shrimp Associa- 

 tion of the Americas. 

 Eric Turnill 



General Manager, Fresh and Frozen Division, B. C. 

 Packers, Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, and active 

 in the Fisheries Council of Canada. 

 Dr. Wendell Earle 



Director of Programs and Food Distributing, Cornell 

 University, Consultant to Jewell Tea Company. 



Arthur Frohman: The fish and seafood industry, America's 

 oldest industry, has gone through radical changes in the past 

 dozen or so years. Many of our products which are common- 

 place in stores and restaurants across the nation today were not 

 even known twelve or fifteen years ago. Fish sticks and por- 

 tions, just to name two. 



All this, plus changes in the sources of our products, have 

 resulted in revolutionizing our industry. We are today a na- 

 tional — yes, an international — marketing industry. It is for 

 this reason that we have planned for this session a panel report 

 designed to do three main things: 



1 . Analyze the industry as it is today from a marketing point 

 of view, in contrast to a dozen years ago. 



2. Project our thinking into the future insofar as marketing is 

 concerned. 



3. Present to you our thinking in terms of marketing potential 

 and profits for the industry, if we but take advantage of the 

 opportunities which are ours. 



All three of these areas have tremendous scope and reach, 

 and the task our panel has undertaken is therefore a difficult 

 one. However, I believe you will agree with me when they are 

 through that we picked panelists who are thoroughly competent 

 and who have the vision and knowledge to do the job. 



Johti Mehos: My part in this report is to illustrate the re- 

 markable changes which have taken place in our industry 

 during the past ten years or more, insofar as consumer products 

 go. In doing so, we are not forgetting the fact that markets 

 for fish and shellfish are developing in other countries — in 

 Europe, for example — but we are concerned here, today, only 

 with the United States. 



As Mr. Frohman pointed out, we have gone through some- 

 thing of a revolution in the fishing industry during the last ten 



to fifteen years. At one time, the bulk of our products was 

 marketed on the sea coasts. Relatively little was sold in the 

 middle of our country, where most of the population was still 

 not aware of the delicious products available to them. 



Today that is all changed. From one end of the United 

 States to the other, a wide variety of fish and seafood items is 

 found on menus of hotels and restaurants and other mass-feed- 

 ing establishments. American homes far from the Atlantic, 

 Pacific, the Gulf or the Great Lakes can select from any number 

 of products in the freezers, on fish counters of supermarkets 

 and other grocery stores. Yes, we are truly a national industry 

 today. 



To illustrate this: The dramatic increase in the retail value 

 of fish and shellfish products is highlighted when we recognize 

 that today this yearly value is $1.3 billion, whereas ten years 

 ago it was $900 million. This is an increase of $400 million 

 or 44 percent, an increase of nearly 5 percent each year. 



On the face of it, this increase in dollar value of our products 

 sold sounds fine, but we need to take another look. During 

 this same period, the expenditures for all food products in- 

 creased 60 percent, an increase half again as much as the 

 increase in expenditures for fish and seafood products. 



Still another point we need to keep in mind. Between 1953 

 and 1963, the population of the United States rose from 160 

 to 190 million people, up about 20 percent, which is partly 

 responsible for our increase in fish and seafood sales. 



The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries shows total supply just 

 about keeping pace with population increase. Our total sup- 

 ply of fish and seafood, including domestic catch as well as 

 imports, just about kept pace with population growth. 



Another change is the source of our raw materials. In 1953, 

 about 68 percent of our edible products came from waters 



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