CHAPTER II — CONSUMPTION 



ABSTRACT ^ 



Because twna and tunalike fishes are produced from a renewable natural resource 

 that thus far has produced bountifully, supply exerts a lesser influence on the ec- 

 onomics of the tuna industry than does demand as reflected by conslwptfon. consum" 

 er demand is of pronounced importancej so that an appraisal of fish consumption in 

 general and of tuna and tunalike fishes, in particular, is worthtyof consideration, 



Per CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF ALL FISHERY PRODUCTS HAS NOT CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY 



SINCE 1909. Abundant supplies of meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, aio other protein 



FOODS IN THE UNITED STATES HAVE BEEN A LIMITING FACTOR IN THE DEMAND FOR FISHERY PRO* 



oucTSo Technological improvements have resulted in a greater percentage of the catch 



BEING CAN?«D, AND IN MORE RECENT YEARS, QUICK-FROZEN, GAINED FISH REMAINS THE MOST 

 important processed fishery product both in value and IK QUANT ITYo ThE TWO LEADING 

 CANNED FISH PRODUCTS, TUNA AND SALMON, SHOW DIVERGENT CONSUMPTION TRENDS, TUNA CON- 

 SUMPTION HAS BEEN INCREASIN3, WHILE SALMON CONSUMPTION HAS DECLINED, A GROWING PRO- 

 PORTION OF THE CANNED TUNA MADE AVAILABLE TO AMERICAN CONSUMERS COMES FROM FROZEN 

 A^D CANNED IMPORTS, 



Of THE CANNED PRODUCTS PRODUCED BY THE TUNA INDUSTRY THERE HAS BEEN A DECLINE 



in t>€ volume of solid pack and an increase in the chu^«< and flakes styles. this 

 trend is expected to continue, 



American consumers, on the whole, are accustomed to tuna cawed in oil, and tuna 

 canned in brine has not yet made significant inroads in sales to household consumers. 



On THE OTHER HAND, THE INSTITUTIONAL MARKET HAS ALMOST ENTIRELY REPLACED THE OIL PACK 



with the imported brine pack, 



From the consumer point of view, there are only two varieties of canned tuna — 



WHITE meat (aLBACORE) AND LIGHT MEAT (SKIPJACK, YELLOWFIN, BLUEFIN AND LITTLE TUNa), 



The wwite meat of the albacore commands a premium on most domestic MARKETS. The more 



ABUNDANT LIGHT -MEAT SPECIES MAKE UP MOST OF THE TUNA PACK, INCREASES OR DECREASES IN 

 The USE OF THE RESPECTIVE SPECIES FOR WHITE-OR LISHT-MEAT PACKS IS EXPECTED TO BE DE- 

 TERMINED PREDOMINANTLY BY THE AVAILABILITY OF EACH SPECIES IN THE RAW STOCKS, THE 

 MARKET FOR CANNED TUNALIKE SPECIES WILL BE SUPPLIED L/IRQELY BY FOREIGN PRODUCERS, 



The No, i can predominates in the tuna canning industry. Most processors do 

 not anticipate any marked change in present use of can sizes, 



East coast pack?, although relatively small, are as acceptable as west coast 

 packs when raw stocks from the same sources are used. it is not expected that the 



geographical POINT of PACKING WHO. INFLUENCE THE CONSUMER INSOFAR AS THE QUALITY OF 



comparable species is concerned, 



Among institutional users, canned bonito in oil or brine, mostly imported, 

 has met with overwhelming acceptability. 



In QENERALp CONSUMERS APPEAR TO RECOGNIZE THE DIFFERENT STYLES OF PACKS OF CANNED 

 TUMA ALTHOUGH THEY MAY NOT BE GENERALLY AWARE OF STANDAfiSS WITH RESPECT TO ORIGINAL 

 QUALITY OF FISH OR FILL OF CONTAINER, 



37 



