ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 343 



population beef, pork, lamb, etc., may arrive in carload lots by railway and, 

 being relatively less perishable, may be held in large lots in cool rooms and 

 locally distributed in large trucks, whereas fish, to the extent of not more 

 than 15 per cent as much, must be delivered in small lots and disposed 

 of immediately because of the greater perishability and because this small 

 quantity, as we have just seen, is concentrated at a peak on one day a week. 

 In small towns and villages the volume may be too small to be delivered 

 economically at all. 



d. Shrinkage in weight is commonly overlooked, but it may and often does 

 amount to 10 per cent or more between landed and retail weights of whole 

 fish, and must be allowed for between the successive dealers. Finfish are 

 soft and lose weight very readily when handled, or when pressed down 

 under ice in boxes and barrels. Loss by shrinkage is minimized in fish shipped 

 as fillets; in fact, when brined, as they usually are in this country, fillets pick 

 up four per cent or more of weight in the brine bath after they are cut. 

 The washing or blowing of shucked oysters adds to their weight. 



e. Spoilage. The loss of fish by spoilage in process of distribution is un- 

 doubtedly greater than that of meats. Losses must be and are reflected in 

 the final prices in the long run, regardless of who is chargeable for them in 

 a particular case. The jear of loss is perhaps a more potent deterrent than 

 realized loss, especially in summer when all dealers minimize purchases to 

 their estimates of sure sales rather than run the risk of loss on goods that 

 might have to be carried over a week-end. In some products, a little pressure 

 on a merchant by fear of loss sometimes promotes volume of sales, but in 

 the case of fish, fear of loss seems to have the contrary effect of causing 

 him to avoid the risk. Meats, of course, are carried over with little risk. 



f. Credit Losses. Theoretically at least, a good case could be made for 

 the proposition that credits should not outlive the goods on which they are 

 extended, i.e., no credit should be granted on perishable fish which are 

 either sold and consumed or spoiled and dumped, and cannot be repossessed, 

 within a few days after shipment. Nevertheless, such credits are commonly 

 extended, often 30 days, or tenth proximo, or indefinitely, resting only on 

 the general credit rating of the dealer. In times of depression fish dealers 

 and restaurants usually have little equipment, inventories, receivables, or 

 other assets of value. Hotels are notoriously slow pay and the average life 

 of the independent retail establishment is short. Credit losses, like those 

 caused by spoilage, must be in the end provided for in the cost of distribution 

 and reflected in final prices. 



g. Excess Weights Shipped. In the case of whole fish, and oysters, clams, 

 etc., in the shell, the shipping weights are excessive in proportion to the 

 edible parts. Meats are always shipped dressed. Whole fish, on the average, 

 are probably not over 40 per cent edible, and often less, as filleted by 



