410 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



prosperous condition if more attention were given to the freezing of 

 fish, especially during market gluts when the runs of fish are at their 

 height. 



Atlanta, Ga. — ^In the fisheries trade, this city might be considered 

 primarily as a consuming center rather than a place of production, 

 assembling, or distribution of fresh and frozen fishery products. 

 This ma}^ be observed by the fact that no productive commercial 

 fishery is located near by, and only 8 per cent of the fishery products 

 received during 1927 was reshipped to points outside the metropolitan 

 area. 



During 1927, fish dealers in Atlanta received 5,070,000 pounds of 

 57 varieties of fresh and frozen fishery products, with a wholesale 

 value of about $862,000, from 15 States and 1 Canadian Province. 

 Of this amount, only 387,000 pounds were reshipped. The remainder, 

 amountmg to 4,683,000 pounds, was consumed within the metro- 

 politan area of Atlanta, which in 1927 had an estimated population 

 of about 325,000. Thus, the annual per capita consumption of fresh 

 and frozen fishery products in this area is about 14 pounds in the 

 round or 11 pounds of the edible portion. This compares favorably 

 with the per capita consumption of fish for the entire United States, 

 which averages about 15 pounds annually for all forms of fresh, 

 frozen, cui-ed, or canned fishery products. 



The bulk of the trade (80 per cent) is based on mullet, croaker, 

 red snapper, sea trout, and Spanish mackerel, listed in order of 

 importance. Fifteen other products constitute 15 per cent of the 

 trade, and 37 products make up the remaining 5 per cent. 



The five wholesale establishments engaged in handhng fresh and 

 frozen fishery products in Atlanta are located in the downtown 

 section near the Union Depot. Some have spur tracks connecting 

 with the main-line railroads. 



There are no public cold-storage plants in Atlanta where fish 

 can be stored or frozen, although private plants are operated by 

 some wholesalers. These can accommodate about 250,000 pounds 

 of frozen fish. 



Indications are that consumers in Atlanta desire fresh fish and 

 accept the frozen article only when the fresh is not available. No 

 doubt, this has tended to retard the erection of cold-storage plants 

 or the installation of facilities for freezing or storing fishery products 

 at existing cold-storage plants. Educating consumers to the merits 

 of properly frozen fish may increase the sales of such products. 

 This, in turn, may stabilize the trade, as it has done in various 

 other cities. 



In 1927, Atlanta had only 12 retail fish stores that handled fishery 

 products daily. In every case these stores handled other products, 

 such as poultry, meat, fruits, vegetables, or groceries. The fish 

 trade was confined to Friday and Saturday, which days accounted 

 for 69 per cent of the week's trade. In addition to the regular retail 

 fish stores there are a large number of grocery stores that make a 

 practice of handling fishery products on one or more days a week. 

 Fulty 50 per cent of the grocery stores in Atlanta carry on such a 

 business. 



