All fish 

 Food 

 Meat 

 Poultry 



Fresh & frozen 

 flah fillets 



Figure 1. — Comparison of consumer prices (1967 = 100) among different food and fish products, 



1950-71 



share is commonly expressed as a percentage of the 

 product retail price. The wider the price spread, the 

 lower the fisherman's share. 



From dockside to retail the spread is composed of 

 margins at various levels. The difference between 

 the retail price and the cost of the product to the 

 retailer (or price paid to the wholesaler) is called the 

 retail margin. The difference between the price 

 charged by the wholesaler and the cost of purchase 

 from the processor is called the wholesale margin. In 

 the same manner the processor's margin can be es- 

 timated from what was paid at dockside and the price 

 received from the wholesaler. Prices at the four 

 levels were collected from each of the selected fish 

 products over the period 1950-71.- 



Purpose of the Study 



Each marketing level contributes some value 

 either by changing the form, place, or time utility of 

 the product. Through the various mechanisms of 

 exchange, each level gets its return for the value 

 added to the final product. Studying the contribution 

 of value and analyzing the operating costs at each 

 marketing level are the first steps in monitoring the 



- Retail prices of some fish products are not available for the 

 19.s0s. 



effectiveness of every sector of the fishery relative to 

 other industries. The ultimate objective of such a 

 study is to determine the causes of rapid price rises 

 so that actions may be taken to slow down this rising 

 trend. To serve as an intermediate objective, this 

 study is designed at this stage to: 



1. present estimates of the costs and profits com- 

 prising the margins for a number of selected fishery 

 products; 



2. encourage individual firms at each level to re- 

 view their own operations by comparing the mag- 

 nitude of their margins with that of national aver- 

 ages; and 



3. indicate areas where problems exist which re- 

 quire further studies. 



Detailed studies on marketing efficiency may lead 

 to ramifications of derived problems such that sup- 

 plemental inqueries would be deemed necessary. 

 Studies like labor-output and capital-output analyses 

 of fishing vessels and processing plants, efficient 

 size of plant, streamlining of distribution 

 mechanisms, efficiency of transportation and stor- 

 age facilities, and others could be pursued to reduce 

 costs in marketing fish products. 



Source of Data 



To calculate each of the margins of a price spread. 



