■because of the limited amount of information available for these two 

 areas. 17/ In Region II, costs failed to recede with prices in 195^, 

 resulting in heavy losses to the operators. It is possible that the 

 two vessels for which comparable data are available for the three years 

 are not sufficiently representative of operations in this area. More- 

 over, the data may show that these operations which involve loOti^er trips 

 and are substantially more costly, are particvilarly vulnerable during 

 periods of market depression, 



A region by region comparison of the data reveals at a glance 

 that Rsgion III enjoys a significant cost advantage over the others. 

 This advantage is offset to a large extent by the lower prices received 

 by the fishermen. The fact that a large proportion of the catch in this 

 area is made up of the smaller shrimp used by canning and drying plants 

 explains this difference in average receipts. This is demonstrated by 

 table IV- 29 which contains a detailed comparison of the elements of costs 

 in the four regions. 



In the above classification of costs, a distinction is made 

 between trip and boat expenses. Trip expenses, in connection with boat 

 operations, rouglily correspond to the term commonly referred to in manu- 

 facturing coat statements as direct or variable expenses, i.e. costs 

 which vary in direct proportion with operations. Boat expenses in con- 

 trast, would be equivalent to indirect or fixed expenses of production, 

 i.e. costs which cannot be controlled in the short run. 



Region III, table IV-29, shows a cost advantage, both with 

 respect to trip and boat expenses. The lower boat expenses are easily ex- 

 plained in terms of the shorter distance to fishing grounds of ports 

 in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The cost of insurance per pound 

 of shrimp taken in Region III in 1954 was less than one cent as compared 

 to approximately two cents in Regions I and IV, and over three cents in 

 Region II. The more modest investment in boat and the lesser hazards 

 and lesser wear and tear on fixed capital, characteristic of inshore 

 operations, is reflected in lower interest and depreciation costs. 



17/ No usable data \-jere collected for the year 19^2 in Region I. 

 In Region II complete information for all three years could 

 be obtained only for two vessels. 



192 



