468 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



to the consumer, and particularly the prices of other competing foods, such 

 as meats, poultry, eggs, etc., for comparison. 



It would also probably be well worth while to conduct some systematic 

 inquiry among the fishermen to ascertain the determinants of what they 

 actually do, the extent of their awareness of market conditions, their respon- 

 siveness thereto, and their interpretations of what their best interests are. 



While North Carolina does not appear to possess great resources in large- 

 volume food finfish, it is fortunate that what it does possess appears to be 

 rather in the invertebrates as delicacies than in finfish as competitive bulk 

 items of food. The principal invertebrates are shrimp, crabs, clams, scallops, 

 and oysters. 



The oyster has long been an important resource of the State and is still 

 among its most important potentials. Even with its long-continued decline 

 and the rapid rise of the shrimp, the oyster still slightly exceeds the shrimp 

 in value in the whole country. Although North Carolina's production of 

 oysters is now a minor part of the national total, there is no doubt that the 

 State is favored as a potential producer of oysters. Its waters are nearly 

 free from starfish; there is no difficulty in obtaining a set of spat, and the 

 rate of growth of oysters undoubtedly exceeds that of the more northern 

 States. 



The indications contained in this report suggest that the decline in the 

 relative position of the oyster in this country is, at least in part and perhaps 

 an important part, due to economic rather than biological factors. An 

 organized program of biological research is already in progress. It is rec- 

 ommended that the oyster industry also be made the subject of a special 

 economic study of both production and marketing. The study should include 

 costs of production, employment and wages of labor, mechanization, and 

 the competitive aspects oi marketing. 



In scallops, the whole Atlantic seaboard is passing through a crisis which 

 everyone hopes is temporary. The scallop has been an important item in 

 North Carolina; for a brief period (1928) the State led the country in its 

 production. Although the abundance of the scallop may eventually be re- 

 stored, there is a danger here that it may lose its market momentum and 

 never be able to regain its place even if it returns in abundance. During the 

 late war business houses continued to advertise products which they could 

 not make, in order to prevent as far as possible loss of momentum. The 

 diamond back terrapin lost its market momentum with the coming of pro- 

 hibition in 19 18, and on the repeal of prohibition in 1933 it had been for- 

 gotten, a new generation had come on and the terrapin did not regain a place 

 in the market until after the Second World War. The effect of epidemic scares 

 can have such an effect on oysters. Since the scallop is an article of undoubted 

 delicacy of appeal and one of the State's important potential fishery assets, 



