ABOUT LOBSTERS 139 



are whittling them down. But lobstermen in general seem 

 to have very little real interest in the buyer's situation and 

 his problems. If suddenly all buyers went out of business, 

 the lobsterman would find himself up to his ears in lobsters, 

 and no place to sell them. Remember that a buyer often 

 has to purchase lobsters when he doesn't want to, and sell 

 them at prices that are too low. If he doesn't do this, he 

 could not prevent a glut of lobsters— and still lower prices. 

 And the buyer would lose his clientele of lobstermen. 



This is not to imply that the middlemen's profits are too 

 high or too low. In making such a judgment, one should 

 consider returns on invested capital in relation to the returns 

 on invested capital in other comparable industries. If the 

 returns are comparable, the needed capital will be attracted, 

 and there will be more buyers to bid for the lobsters. 



Startling evidence that the lobster industry is not ad- 

 vancing as it should is based on this statement on farm 

 practices: More full-time workers were engaged in 1953 

 in marketing farm products than in producing them. During 

 the last twenty years, the number of workers in agriculture 

 has gone down about 30 per cent, while the number in mar- 

 keting may have increased by as much as one-third. 



Compare this with the lobster industry. Has the num- 

 ber of men required to catch 1,000 pounds of lobsters been 

 appreciably reduced? It does not seem likely. Then, can 

 one deduce that the science of lobster catching is standing 

 still? A common complaint in the industry is that there are 

 too many lobstermen, and nobody makes a good living. If 

 improvements in fishing can be devised, then fewer men 

 can catch as many lobsters as before, and make a better 

 living. 



Another angle in marketing is to find new markets. Take 

 crabs, for instance. Can the market for crabmeat be in- 

 creased? Some people prefer it to lobstermeat, and the same 

 gear that catches lobster can catch crabs. Could a lobster- 

 man increase the dollar value of his day's haul by fishing 

 for crabs also? Already this marketing is being practiced by 

 some lobstermen. 



