336 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



It follows from the above, perhaps oversimplified, considerations that 

 increases in the per capita consumption of one product or class of products 

 must have the general effect of causing a decrease in the consumption of 

 some other products of a similar or equivalent class. 



In dealing with the economics of fish products in a national or regional 

 dietary our main concern is the share in the limited total that can be sup- 

 plied by fish products, which, being animal flesh and fat, compete, so far as 

 we know, as the full nutritive equal, with meat, poultry, game, eggs, and 

 perhaps cheese. The position that fish occupies in the dietary is fixed by 

 a great number of determinants which dictate how much, where, when, and 

 by whom, fish is purchased in competition with meats, etc. Many factors, 

 such as price, national, racial, or religious customs, palatability, availability, 

 appeal to the eye of the shopper, familiarity, convenience of preparation, 

 and many others, determine not only how much of all kinds of fish collec- 

 tively (as of any other kind of food) will be sold, but relatively, how much 

 of each kind. Any improvement in any of these determinants with respect 

 to, say, fish, expresses itself in greater demand and more sales. More sales 

 up to a point result in lower cost per unit of handling, making possible still 

 lower prices and still further increases in sales until no further increase in 

 volume handled will result in lower costs. Increases in sales could be ex- 

 pected to work back to the fishermen, who would then receive more total 

 money for their larger catch. The dealers would handle more fish and make 

 more money and under the pressure of competition would be obliged to pass 

 part of the savings to the fishermen and part to the trade. The larger reward 

 attracts more fishermen from occupations ashore, and more investments in 

 boats. The increased number of fishermen and boats divide the increased 

 revenue, so that individually they are perhaps not greatly bettered, but the 

 total revenue to the fishing community is increased. 



Regional and National Dietary Pattern. The gross composition of na- 

 tional or regional dietaries is dictated by customs and habits which are 

 historically made by factors of economic geography. Examples are Italian 

 paste foods, tomato sauce, cuttlefish, squid, tuna and olive oil; German 

 sauerkraut, sausages, and pork; Mexican maize, meat and pepper dishes of 

 Indian origin; Dutch cheese; English roast beef and cabbage, Newfound- 

 land potatoes and "Nev/foundland turkey" or codfish; Chinese bamboo 

 shoots and soya beans. The origin and historical reasons for many of these 

 are known, some are lost in the ancient past. Some of our present forms of 

 food are hangovers from primitive methods of preservation — smoked and 

 salt-cured meats and fish, cheese, wine, pickles, etc., the liking for which 

 still persists long after the need for them Jhas been outmoded by better 

 methods of preservation, such as canning, 125 years old, and refrigeration, 

 75 years old. Many of the food habits have become fixed by religious cus- 



