in 1940 and in 1950. The distribu- 

 tions, in percentages, for the 2 

 years were as follows: 



Received by— mo 1950 



Rail freight 19. 5 4. 



Rail express 13.5 11. ft 



Motor carrier 54.8 75.1 



Vessel (landings at 



wharves) 12.2 9.3 



100. 100. 



The modern refrigerated truck 

 has gained the bulk of the fresh and 

 frozen fish traffic, with the excep- 

 tion of long-haul carload shipments 

 from the Pacific coast. Rail freight 

 retains such shipments, most of the 

 shipments of canned fish and of 

 bulky commodities such as fish 

 meal, and relatively small shipments 

 of fresh and frozen fish. 



More important than the shift 

 between carriers is the impact of 

 rate increases on the prices received 

 for fishery products. Wlien trans- 

 portation costs go up, how much of 

 the increase can be shifted to the 

 consumer through increases in re- 

 tail prices, and how much must be 

 borne by the producer through 

 reduction in net income, depend 



largel}'' on the elasticity of the de- 

 mand for the product affected. 

 The less elastic the demand for a 

 commodity, the more likely it is 

 that increases in transportation 

 costs can be shifted to the consumer 

 without a significant decline in sales. 

 Since the elasticity of demand for 

 fishery products has not been fully 

 determined, it is only by experience 

 that one can judge how much of the 

 increased costs can be shifted to the 

 consumer. At first, the whole bur- 

 den of rate increases is generally 

 borne by the fisherman and dis- 

 tributors. 



The statistics developed in this 

 report cover recent changes in the 

 cost to the fishing industry of trans- 

 portation for their products as re- 

 flected by changes in rates for the 

 different modes of transportation. 

 The rate indexes show that the 

 three principal agencies transport- 

 ing fishery products have increased 

 their rates in the period studied by 

 disparate amounts. These indexes 

 will be kept current by supplements 

 published in the Commercial Fish- 

 eries Review of the Fish and Wild- 

 life Service. 



