As can be expected of the several price series forming part 

 of the same price stinicture, there is a high degree of relationship 

 between the data. An inspection of the graph appears to indicate that 

 changes in retail prices in several instances have lagged somewhat be- 

 hind changes in the wholesale series. 



This comparison is not based on identical sizes and grades 

 of shrimp, since the retail prices are based on a variety of sizes and 

 species. However, the comparison does give a general indication of 

 trends and of the close relation in price movements in the different 

 levels of distribution. 



Fi3ure VIII - 27 shows that wholesale prices in any one year 

 averaged from 65 to 76 percent of retail prices over the period from 

 19^0 to 195'+ • Ex-vessel sharing prices expressed in terms of retail 

 prices during the same period ranged from 39 to U5 percent. Again, 

 this is a rough comparison based only on Boston and New York City 

 retail prices. It gives some general idea as to sharing of the con- 

 sumer's dollar for shrimp sold in northeastern United States cities. 



Comparisons of Wholesale Price Indexes 



The wholesale price indexes of fresh and frozen shrimp com- 

 puted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics have been compared with whole- 

 sale price indexes of other foods. Figure VIII - 28 compares frozen shrimp 

 with all foods. The ups and downs in the shrimp index are in sharp 

 contrast to the virtually straight, slightly slanting line represent- 

 ing the index of all foods. The absence of violent fluctuations in 

 the latter series is explained by the fact that individual components 

 of the series changing in opposite directions cancel each other out. 



The comparison of the frozen shrimp wholesale index with the 

 frozen fish wholesale index reveals a close relationship between the 

 two series (see figure VIII - 29). The same can be said of a compari- 

 son between the wholesale price index of fresh shrimp and the wholesale 

 index of fresh processed fish (see figure VILE -30). The graphs of 

 the two series for all frozen and for all fresh fish, because of off- 

 setting price variations for individual species, are characterized by 

 greater smoothness than the corresponding series for shrimp. 



Two additional figures comparing wholesale price indexes for 

 frozen shrimp with meat and processed poultry, respectively, are shown 

 below. The relationship between shrimp and poultry prices is not 

 clearly established, the data sometimes moving in the opposite, then 

 again in the identical direction. Between shrimp and meat prices an 

 inverse relationship appears to have existed over the period for which 

 data have been plotted (see figures VIII - 31 and VIII - 32). 



13U 



