the wholesale and retail levels higher than the other 

 four shellfish products and, therefore, diminishes 

 the crab fisherman's share to the lowest rank. 



The fisherman's share for shrimp (peeled) is next 

 highest after live American lobsters. Ex-vessel 

 prices of both products have increased faster than 

 their retail prices, which tends to increase the 

 fisherman's share over time. 



Variation Over Time 



The fisherman's share in the finfish market varied 

 considerably during the last 22 yr since 1950. When 

 we examine the historical series of the fisherman's 

 share in groundfish products," greater shares of 

 around 40% (Table 1) are found during the early 

 1950's. This could be attributed to the lower market- 

 ing costs owing to less services involved, cheaper 

 materials used in packaging, and lower freight rates. 

 At the harvesting level, on the other hand, less effi- 

 cient methods in fishing were practiced in earlier 

 years before the rapid transition to trawling and the 

 extensive use of electronic equipment, such as fish- 

 finders, depth indicators, and automatic steering. 

 The unit cost at the ex-vessel level was, therefore, 

 raised while prices at the retail level stayed stable in 

 competing with imports. 



During the period 1954-65, the fisherman's share 

 in groundfish products was depressed somewhat in 

 certain years. The downturns during this period al- 

 most coincide with the recession years 1954-55, 

 1960-61, and 1964, when ex-vessel prices dropped 

 more noticeably than retail prices. 



The rise of the fisherman's share in groundfish 

 products to above 39% after 1966 could be explained 

 by the following: 1) the rapid growth in the size and 

 sales of supermarkets since 1963 (Appendix Tables 1 

 and 2) has lowered marketing costs; 2) centralization 

 of purchases by chain stores has tended to reduce 

 invoice costs; and 3) increasing imports of fish 

 products has exerted more pressure on retail prices 

 than ex-vessel prices in the domestic market. 



Ex-vessel prices are more influenced by the sup- 

 ply from the stock in the sea than by the demand in 

 the retail market. For the 5 yr, 1967-71, the landing 

 quota for haddock in Georges Bank has been re- 

 duced from year to year because of the increasing 

 deterioration of haddock stocks. Ex-vessel prices 

 increased from 12.9 cents a pound (drawn weight) in 



■ The series under other products are not complete enough to 

 cover the compar;thle period. 



1967 to 32.4 cents a pound in 1971, an increase of 

 26% a year. Retail prices on the other hand, in- 

 creased from 80.2 cents to 136.7 cents a pound (fillet 

 weight) during the same period, an increase of only 

 14% a year. As retail prices of haddock increased to 

 a certain height, consumers began to switch to 

 flounder and cod. This switch, therefore, put a ceil- 

 ing to haddock retail prices as ex-vessel prices con- 

 tinued to rise. The result was that the fisherman's 

 share in the haddock market during the 5-yr period 

 increased drastically; his share in the flounder mar- 

 ket declined distinctly; and his share in the cod 

 market, only slightly. 



The fisherman's share in the retail market for can- 

 ned tuna has been increasing at the rate of 0.31% a 

 year while that in canned pink salmon declined 

 0.22% a year since 1950. Reasons discussed in the 

 next-to-last section apply here as well. 



During the 13 yr, 1959-71, the fisherman's share 

 for shellfish increased in three products — sea scal- 

 lops (2.2% a year), live American lobsters (14% a 

 year), and frozen raw peeled shrimp (0.5% a 

 year) — and declined in blue crab meats (-0.7% a 

 year). 



The fisherman's share in the shrimp market 

 showed a distinct upward trend following the pattern 

 of consumption. Shrimp consumption increased at 

 the rate of5.6% a year during the 4 yr, 1968-71, while 

 retail prices after adjustment to constant value 

 stayed stable. As ex-vessel prices, after value ad- 

 justment, continued to increase during this period, 

 the fisherman is bound to get a bigger share in the 

 retail market. 



Ex-vessel prices of sea scallops and live American 

 lobsters increased faster than retail prices over the 

 years since 1959. The increase has raised the 

 fisherman's share in these two products in recent 

 years. 



The decline in the fisherman's share in blue crabs 

 is attributed to a different reason. Blue crab meat 

 processing is labor intensive, and its costs increase 

 more rapidly than the expenses in harvesting. See 

 Table 3 for the change of fisherman's share in all fish 

 products. 



Comparison With the Farmer's Share 



The weighted average of the fisherman's share 

 was 47.4% of shellfish retail prices in 1971, com- 

 pared favorably with 38% of the farmer's share in the 

 market basket of 63 food items compiled by the U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture in the same period 



