I Food wholesale hourly wage 



Meat 8e vegetable retail 



hourly wage 

 Canned & packed seafood 



processing hourly wage 



Gas fuel 



Electric machinery and 



Rent 



equipment 



r^ Motor vehicle & equipment 

 /• Paper product 



.;■/ 

 / 



_- Tires & tubes 



Petroleum products 

 Electric power 



Figure 15. — Prices inputs used by fish process- 

 ing and marketing firms (1950 = 100). 



all the functions involved in bringing each fish 

 product to the consumer market expressed in frac- 

 tions of a consumer's dollar (Table 11). 



Out of each dollar spent by the consumer during 

 1969-71 on fresh haddock fillets, a relatively high- 

 valued fish, the retailer grossed 17.8 cents: the 

 wholesaler, 7.23 cents; the processor, 18.55 cents: 

 and the fisherman, 56.4 cents. By contrast, in the 

 sale of frozen ocean perch fillets, which are low- 

 valued, the retailer retains 37.1 cents for each con- 

 sumer food dollar: the wholesaler, 15.5 cents: the 

 processor, 22.5 cents: and the fisherman, 24.9 

 cents. In general, market margins (except at the 

 harvesting level) tend to be proportionally higher 

 for lower priced fish products as labor and over- 

 head expenses are fixed for all products regardless 

 of their differences in value. Bv the same token. 



the consumer pays more out of a dollar for halibut 

 steaks at all levels except the wholesale level than 

 fresh king salmon steaks. Part of fresh salmon 

 steaks is shipped out by airfreight from Seattle by 

 the wholesaler. This tends to inflate the wholesale 

 margin of the products. 



When the dollar spent on fresh haddock fillets is 

 split according to costs paid at all levels, shown in 

 the lower part of Table 1 1, labor earned 32.3 cents, 

 operating expenses disposed of 27.1 cents, materi- 

 als and fuels cost 19.8 cents, capital costs used up 

 14.8 cents, and profits netted 6.0 cents. Net profit 

 differs by the four marketing functions. It is esti- 

 mated that the fisherman netted the most. 2.4 

 cents, while the retailer, the least, 0.3 cents. 



The distribution of consumer's dollar spent on 

 other fish and shellfish products included in the 



17 



