460 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



consumer inland is not between strictly fresh fish at the shore and frozen 

 package fish at his home; it is rather between none or what the trade can 

 supply as "fresh" fish, on the one hand, and as frozen branded product on 

 the other. To the steward of the restaurant at, say, the Carolina Inn at 

 Chapel Hill, the purchase of 50 or 100 pounds of fish, involving $15 or $20 

 for a Friday menu is not a matter of great importance as such; nor is it a 

 matter of great importance which of a dozen kinds of fish he serves; it is, 

 however, a matter of great importance that whatever kind it is, and whether 

 from Gloucester, Palm Beach, or Morehead City, it arrive on time without 

 fail, and be of a quality that is acceptable to his guests, so that, at the last 

 minute, he will not have to shop locally to meet an emergency and print 

 a different menu. A truck from Southport or Morehead City with fish caught 

 yesterday would no doubt be welcome if it could be depended upon without 

 fail, but weather has its influence and fish are not always abundant at the 

 right place and time, and trucks cannot arrive at each of the restaurants, 

 hotels, and retail outlets in North Carolina on Thursday afternoon for 

 deliveries of 25 or 50 pounds of fish. As things are, the steward at the hotel 

 feels safer to fill out the return card printed order blank for a shipment 

 of some kind of fish from Baltimore or Norfolk. 



It will be obvious from the above brief consideration that in North Caro- 

 lina, dependability is first in order of importance, quality is second, and 

 price is third; everybody in the distributing mechanism from wholesale dis- 

 tributor to retailer and restaurant steward is concerned with establishing a 

 dependable source of supply. It is perhaps the greatest economic weakness 

 of the entire fisheries establishment of North Carolina that it has been and 

 is now unable to offer the trade of its own State even the minimum of 

 dependability. Near proximity in miles to the coast is of relatively little 

 importance in competition with trunkline railroads running north and south 

 which can bring standardized packages of even fresh fish products into 

 the State from distant points. 



Airborne Seafood Marketing. The ease with which seafoods lose their 

 prime flavor and appeal, and the importance of the esthetic motive in the 

 choice of foods suggest that airplane transport could be of great value in 

 the fisheries. The subject has been explored in detail by Larsen, Reitz, and 

 Burgum at Wayne University, Detroit (1948) East-west airlines extend 

 from Elizabeth City, Morehead City, and Wilmington into and beyond the 

 middle and western parts of the State. Whether costs are such that they could 

 compete for the North Carolina market and whether, if they could, the 

 local and seasonal fluctuations would still leave a large unsolved problem 

 of distribution, will all require a more detailed analytical study than this 

 general Survey. 



Standardizing and Grading. Not mentioned above in the rank of desir- 



