436 



MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



Table 27 shows distribution of fishermen, quantities and values of their 

 product, the number of dealers, etc., among the three geographical regions 

 and for the whole coastal region of the State. 



TABLE 27 



Geographical Distribution of Production and Fishermen; 

 Average 1936-1940, inclusive; Dealers, 1945 



* Virginia line to and including Pamlico River and Outer Bank to Ocracoke. 

 t Pamlico, Craven, Carteret and Onslow Counties. 

 t Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick Counties. 



Not only is the State physically cut up badly by sounds and rivers into re- 

 gions among which there is very little interchange of fish, but seasonally also 

 the product is so distributed that scarcities in some regions cannot be made 

 up by abundances in others. The spring migrations of anadromous fishes 

 in the northern section, i.e., shad, alewives, striped bass, etc., cannot eco- 

 nomically be used to fill in the off-season in the Morehead-Beaufort region. 

 This combination of unfortunate circumstances brings about the existence 

 of a very large number of producer-dealers, each one handling the produce 

 of a small number of fishermen during a limited season, and at a small 

 amount of money value, making for general inefficiency and high costs, 

 as we shall see later. 



The small scale of operations makes mechanization of operations im- 

 practicable, and also discourages the manufacture of by-products; it also 

 makes it impracticable for any one shore dealer to offer to the retail trade 

 of the State and the other near-by southern States a continuous and de- 

 pendable supply of the natural assortment of seafoods available in the 

 State, to carry on aggressive sales promotion and development of consumer 

 markets, or to compete with those dealers (in Norfolk, Baltimore, etc.) 

 which offer not only State but out-of-State products. 



Such an operation might conceivably be conducted at some central point, 

 such as New Bern, Greenville, or Washington, which could draw on all 



