392 



MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



The meaning of all this, for our purpose here, is that as long as the 

 supply of fish is adequate (as it is in cod and haddock) and the catch can 

 be quickly increased as by making more trips with little or no increase in 

 unit cost, when the prices of competing foods rise, causing improved demand 

 for fish, the fishermen immediately catch enough more fish to supply the 

 increased demand with little if any advance in price, rather than sell the 

 same amount of fish as before but at a higher price. In following the short- 



CCNTS PCR 16 



POUND 



(COD-H«DOOCK 



«N0 



COMPeTINO 



rooo) 12 



v 



coo- HADDOCK PRODUCTION 





co(v«:ting food price 



MCLllONa 

 Of POONOS 



(coo-haooock 

 proouctiom) 



PtRCCNT 



(cost or 



LIVINO 



iNoex) 



I9M 1939 



Fig. 13. The producers' annual average price of cod and haddock (in terms of fillet weight), 

 compared to -the annual production of cod and haddock; the average price of competing foods 

 (beef cattle, hogs, and eggs) in terms of dressed weight and pounds; and the cost of living 

 index for food. Plotted to logarithmic scales in order to provide an accurate comparison of the 

 relative changes in values. (Harrington, 1946). 



term responses of price to catch (Fig. 12), the fishermen are led to produce 

 more fish over the long term when demand is greater and more fish is nec- 

 essary from trip to trip to bring about the short-term reactions in price, 

 and vice versa. The over-all resultant for the fisherman is that when prices 

 of competing products are high, they catch more total fish for which they 

 receive little, if any, increase in price, but more total money. On the con- 

 trary, when competing meat and egg prices decrease, demand for fish in 

 the market "softens," i.e., less fish from trip to trip will depress prices, and 

 fishing becomes less attractive; some fishermen quit fishing, those which 

 remain work less, catch fewer fish and sell them at somewhat but not greatly 

 reduced prices and receive less total money. The volume of meat and eggs 

 is relatively constant from year to year, but their prices, as Herrington says 

 and our curves show, are more variable and tend to determine the volume 

 and gross income of fish production. 



