ECONOMICS OF THE FISHERIES 381 



Production and Population. The curve of total production of all food 

 fish of the seven regions of the United States, if completely smoothed from 

 end to end, would almost exactly parallel the curve of population of the 

 United States; accordingly, the curve of production per capita of popula- 

 tion (bottom line) if completely smoothed would be a horizontal line. These 

 facts indicate that notwithstanding widespread fears to the contrary, the 

 fisheries of this country as a whole have been able to afford and continue 

 to afford a production increasing in pace with the growth of the population. 



When the two parts of the production curve are separately considered, 

 i.e., from 1887 to 1922, and from 1922 to 1940, it is seen that production 

 relative to population declined in the earlier period and rapidly increased 

 during the latter period, with a turning point at about 192 1 or 1922. This 

 behavior of the total production curve conforms to well known events in 

 the history of the industry. Throughout the earlier period fish were marketed 

 either salt or otherwise cured, or if fresh, were shipped whole on ice and 

 marketed under many impediments. Salt fish lost its appeal, and all fish 

 were increasingly at a disadvantage in competition with many other foods 

 more attractively prepared, packaged, and marketed. The year 192 1 marks 

 the beginning of filleting, attractive packaging, refrigeration, and the entry 

 of chain stores and the opening of the mid-west to the merchandising of 

 fishery products. A sharp turn for the better came in that year. 



The total money value in actual current dollars for the total production 

 of food fish increased, as did also total value in dollars of constant (1926) 

 purchasing power; however, the two curves of actual and constant money 

 values are much closer together in the later than in the earlier period, 

 indicating that the increase in the total value of fish in dollars was in part 

 cancelled by the diminishing purchasing power of the dollar. In the United 

 States, production has not only followed and continues to follow the growth 

 of population, but has done so, at least up to 1940, at diminishing real prices. 

 The top pairs of curves in Fig. 5 for the United States and Fig. 6 for the 

 Atlantic-Gulf regions both show that actual annual average prices of all 

 food fish were about the same from 1920 to 1940 as they were from 1887 

 to 1908. In the latter chart, the population curve is that of the 28 States east 

 of the Mississippi River including Louisiana, and the District of Columbia. 



Average actual prices were slightly higher during the late period only for 

 a brief postwar period in the early and middle '20's before postwar vessel- 

 building and expansion caught up with the new demand brought on by 

 filleting, freezing and chain store merchandising and increased population. 

 When they caught up, prices began and continued to decline. These obser- 

 vations relate to actual prices; when money values and prices are translated 

 into purchasing power for all commodities or for all foods it is seen in 

 Table 14 that at no time subsequent to World War I could a unit quantity 



