ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 305 



trade-marks, public acceptance promoted by advertising, ownership of 

 sources of materials, easy accessibility of capital and credit, and numer- 

 ous others, which make it difficult for newcomers to establish effective 

 competition. 



The extractive industries generally have fewer protections; they extract 

 the products of nature from the earth, soil, and water; the products are 

 usually not identified with any particular producer, are sold in bulk with 

 little or no advertising or special good will, and without benefit of patents, 

 brands and trade-marks. Generally, one man's produce of a given grade is 

 as good as another's; the quantity produced is in equilibrium with demand 

 at prices, which yield small margins of profit, if any, per unit — often no more 

 than a wage for those engaged. 



Yet in all the three extractive industries other than fisheries there is at 

 least the protective advantage of private ownership of the sources. Property 

 rights in farms, forest lands, and mines are widely respected and protected 

 from trespass by public authority. The requirement of an amount of capital 

 at least equal to the value of the land is a further limitation on the amount 

 of competition, which makes possible a profit on capital investment. 



Fishery Sources not Privately Owned. The sources of fish are not privately 

 owned or controlled but, subject to public regulation, are free for all with 

 a few exceptions where, as in leased oyster bottoms, the lessee's rights are 

 often little respected and public authority often fails to protect them ade- 

 quately. The compensation of labor in fishing is generally not wages but a 

 share in the catch. The main characteristic which distinguishes fishing from 

 all other producing industries, both manufacturing and extractive, is its 

 communistic nature, that is, the common- or non-ownership of the source- 

 and a sharing of the catch. 



The effects of this determinant run through the entire structure of the 

 fishing industry. We deal here briefly with the more important of them in 

 the catching of fish. 



a. Minimal Requirement of Capital. Capital investment corresponding to 

 the ownership of agricultural land is not required in the fisheries. The 

 fisherman is not tied by investment in, ownership of, and residence on, the 

 ultimate source of his product as the farmer is tied to his land. Where the 

 farmer is under practical necessity to plant his acres regardless of prospects 

 for a slow-growing annual crop which must be planned long in advance of 

 the market, the fisherman with relatively small investment in movable boats 

 and gear is free to make quick decisions to fish more or less or not at all 

 where he is, or to go elsewhere. He is also free to make quick changes in 

 tools and methods and to seek different fishes. Fisheries production is there- 

 fore highly mobile and elastic in contrast with the rigidity of agriculture. 

 As a consequence of this fact, the fisheries are highly sensitive and quickly 



