240 



MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



tion to the supplementary emplojnment offered to fishermen by the seaweed 

 market, the work is often a family affair. Men gather seaweed while women 

 and children spread it to dry. In some localities, women and children gather 

 seaweed that washes ashore. 



Since seaweed is a raw material for a more valuable product, its value 

 to the State is not represented by the sum paid fishermen each year for raw 

 material. Each ton of dry seaweed, assuming a yield of only 15 per cent, 

 produces about 300 pounds of agar. With the market value of agar at about 

 four dollars per pound (September, 1947), the value of the product derived 

 from each ton was $1,200. 



As long as the market price of agar exceeds $2.00 per pound, one agar 

 factory can operate profitably in North Carolina under present economic 

 conditions, assuming that supplementary raw material can be obtained 

 elsewhere to permit year-around production. On the basis of quantities 

 obtained in previous years, it would appear that from 150,000 to 300,000 

 pounds, dry weight, of seaweed can be gathered in North Carolina each 

 year. However, reliable predictions of abundance of seaweed cannot yet be 

 made for North Carolina. The total abundance of seaweed varies from year to 

 year, and at the same time individual species vary independently of each 

 other. 



Of great importance to domestic agar producers is the future outlook 

 on competition from Japanese agar. Prices paid in the United States for 

 imported agar from 1925 through 1941 and for domestic agar from 1942 

 through 1946 are given in Table 3. 



TABLE 3 



Highest and Lowest Prices Paid in the United States for Japanese Agar Annually 

 from 1925 through 1941 and for American Agar from 1941 through 1946 



Lowest 



Highest 



Lowest 



Highest 



1936 



$ .60 



$ •gs 



During the first four months of 1947, Japanese agar registered a low of 

 $2.00 per pound, followed by a price rise in the summer to $3.85. During 

 the first half of 1949, the price ranged substantially above $3.00. By mid- 



