individually owned but operated as part of a processor's or wholesaler's 

 fleet, or tney may be owned and operated by a processor. Under these 

 basic forms of contr\3l a large number of different arrangements are 

 found. In the State of Florida there are, in addition to the indepen- 

 dent fishennen who owns his boat and hires his crowj the fish-house 

 whicn owns a fleet of vessels, individual OBmars vho own one or several 

 boats, wholesalers who own boata, processors who control vessels owned 

 by the fishermen, and processors who own the vessels in their fleet. 

 Finally, there are absentee owners who have their boats managed by a 

 fisn packing house, captain, wholesaler, or firm specializing in boat 

 management. 



There is little basic difference between the operating pro- 

 cedures of the individually oimed and operated boat and of the boat 

 which is individually owned but operated as pairt of a fleet. In general, 

 the owner of a fleet-affiliated vessel has authority over his own vessel 

 to almost the same degree as he would were he not affiliated. 



The fleet operator may at times ask him to go to waters he does 

 not particularly care for, or is not accustomed to fish, or may ask him 

 to increase the length of his trip, or to decrease the amount of idle 

 time at the docks. In most Instances, such requests are in the interest 

 of both the fleet and boat owner and create antagonism only when the 

 boat owner is less ambitious than the fleet operator feels he ought to be. 

 In Brownsville, Texas the majority of boats are fleet affiliated, and 

 the prevailing sentiment is that a boat is independent because of the 

 fleet's rather than the boat owner's choosing. 



An affiliated boat is required to land its catch at the fish- 

 house operated by the fleet controller. When circumstances warrant 

 tne landing of the shrimp at a port other than the home port the boat 

 OTmer is freed froia this obligation. 



The larger processing establishments, canneries, fish houses, 

 and freezer-breaders often own and operate their own vessels as a 

 fleet. In many instances, the processing establishments own some 

 boats and have other boats affiliated with them. 



In most instances the crew complement on a processor-owned 

 vessel snares in the receipts from the catch of the vessel in much 

 the same manner as on an owner-operated boat with the exception that 

 the ovmer's share accrues to the processor rather than to the owner- 

 operator. The incentive to produce can, therefore, be likened to 

 that motivating the piece worker in industry. In several locations, 

 canneries employ some crews on a year-round basis at a fixed annual 

 salary, but the motive to maximize production is far less compelling. 

 In such circumstances the canneries are principally concerned with 

 offering full-time employment to experienced crew members who can 

 fish for oysters in the off-season. The desire on the part of the 

 canners to stabilize production throughout the year may be sufficiently 

 great to outweigh considerations of efficiency. 



10^ 



