after his departtii^ from port a precipitous drop in prices will not 

 threaten to bankrupt him. The fishery may still sustain serious damage 

 even when the independent boat owner is financially strong enough to 

 weather the shock of a severe market setback. The individual crew 

 member, whose income depends on receipts for the shrimp landed, usually 

 does not have cash reserves and is forced to seek employment elsewhere. 

 This deprives the fisheiy of one of its principal assets, a trained and 

 efficient labor force. 



Of equally disastrous consequences to the industry as the loss 

 of a skilled labor supply is a phenomenon associated with ••good times". 

 Each announcement of the discovery of new shrimping grounds, and each season 

 of profitable operations, usually is accompanied by a huge expansion in 

 vessel operations. This must be attributed partly to an overenthusiastic 

 boat building program and partly to the influx of outside elements who 

 enter the shrimp fishery while business is good. 



The case stu<^ in the first part of this chapter dwelt on the 

 difficulties created by such a situation. There are measures that can 

 be taken whenever the conditions which were responsible for the 1953-195U 

 debacle threaten to reoccur. 



In general, the objective sought hy the industry is: to make 

 available to the public a high quality product at prices low enough to 

 encoTorage consumption, while at the same time permitting the efficient 

 producing unit to remain in business. An achievement of this goal is 

 impossible without the constant exercise of discipline on the part of 

 all segments of the industry. A healthy market situation cannot be main- 

 tained vmless production and prices stay at a level which simultaneously 

 protects the resource from harmful biological consequences, the fisherman 

 from losing his livelihood, and the processor and distributor from losing 

 his customers as the result of immoderate price advances. To prevent 

 biological and economic '•overfishing*', ways and means must be found to 

 curb the tendency to intensify fishing effort when the price level is 

 depressed, as well as the musiiroom expansion of operations usually 

 following in the wake of "good times". Signals presaging oncoming 

 troubles are not too difficult to recognize. They may include: unusually 

 large or meager runs of shrimp, accumulation of inventories beyond sea- 

 sonally justifiable levels, abnormal new vessel registrations, etc. Means 

 to combat short-sighted selfishness or ignorance of the economic con- 

 sequences of the individual's actions are much harder to devise. Volun- 

 tary self-control is desirable but unattainable in practical terms since 

 concerted action tends to conflict with the provisions of anti-tinxst 

 statutes and may ultimately harm the consumer. Regulatory measures by 

 state conservation agencies acting upon the recommendations of an 

 advisory body composed of all parties with an immediate interest in the 

 prosperity of the fishing industry show the greatest promise. The 

 creation of an organization of this sort was recommended in connection 



162 



