The weighted average share in these major groups 

 is estimated at about 36.6% in 1971. This means that, 

 on the average, for each dollar spent for fresh and 

 canned finfish products by consumers in retail food 

 stores, fishermen received about 37 cents and mar- 

 keting firms 63 cents. 



Fresh fillets are usually priced higher than frozen 

 fillets, not only because fresh supply is seasonal and 

 limited but also because their costs in packing and 

 transporting (usually shipped with layered ice) are 

 higher and losses in spoilage and shrinkage are 

 greater. In addition, prices of domestic frozen fil- 

 lets are depressed by lower cost imports. 



The fisherman's share in canned tuna retail prices 

 was greater than in canned salmon in all the years 

 since 1950. One reason for this was that the annual 

 supply of canned tuna at the wholesale level was 

 much higher than canned salmon (2.7 times greater 

 in 1971 ). The higher turnover rate tends to reduce the 

 overhead costs and thus the price spread of canned 

 tuna. Second, the salmon production season histori- 

 cally has been shorter than tuna, and the domestic 

 market for salmon is not supplemented by imports as 

 it is in the case of canned tuna." This results in 



" In 1971. about 341 million pounds in edible weight (or66%) of 

 total tuna supply in the United States were imported, whereas 

 there was a net export of 16.7 million pounds of canned salmon 

 and a net export of 25.2 million pounds of fresh and frozen salmon. 



higher storage costs for salmon and a greater risk of 

 price declines over the marketing period. All of these 

 factors limit the supply of salmon and, therefore, 

 help to raise the price spread of canned salmon. 



Variation Among Shellfish Products 



The fisherman's share in the retail market in 1971 

 was higher, in most instances, for shellfish than for 

 finfish. It was 77.9% for sea scallop meats, 54.6% 

 (1967) for live American lobsters, 49.9% for frozen 

 peeled shrimp, and 24.9% for blue crab meat (Table 

 2). The weighted average share in these products 

 was almost 47.4% in 1971. For each dollar spent for 

 shellfish products by consumers, fishermen received 

 about 47 cents and distribution channels 53 cents. 



Sea scallops are shucked prior to landing, while 

 American lobsters are sold live. In each case, there 

 is little or no processing beyond the harvesting level; 

 consequently, the fisherman's share is higher for 

 these products. In addition, reduced consumption of 

 the two products in recent years was associated with 

 a slower rate of increase in retail prices than in ex- 

 vessel prices. This further boosted the fisherman's 

 share in the consumer's dollar for these two shellfish 

 products. 



Blue crab meats are picked by hand. The high cost 

 of wages in the processing stage makes the prices at 



Table:. 



-Fisherman's share of consumer's dollar for shellfish products compared with farmer' s share of the same for beef, 



pork, and market basket of foods. 1959-71.' 



Retail prices of most shellfish products are not available for the years before 1959. 



Series discontinued since 1968. 



