FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1936 vr 
The sale of fish by restaurants is rather large in the downtown areas, 
but in the outlying districts offermgs are somewhat restricted. It has 
also been found that the use of fish by public institutions in the area is 
not large. 
Considerable quantities of crabs are marketed 1 in the area. Most 
are produced by a cooperative crab fishermen’s organization with 
headquarters in San Francisco. 
MARKETING SHAD ON THE ATLANTIC COAST 
At the organization meeting of the Atlantic Coast States Shad 
Conference in February 1937, at Atlantic City, N.J., it was indicated 
by various State fishery officials present that the popularity of shad 
is waning and that this is adversely affecting the income of shad 
fishermen. In order to determine what steps might be taken to 
improve the situation, the Conference requested the Bureau to conduct 
a study of the marketing of shad along the Atlantic Seaboard. In 
compliance with the request, the Bureau undertook the study, assign- 
ing Fred F. Johnson, Assistant Chief of the Division, to the work. 
‘In bis report on the study, Mr. Johnson shows that the annual 
supplies of Atlantic coast shad have consistently decreased for the 
past 40 years. The most recent data, which are represented by 
composite statistics for the years 1934 "and 1935, show a catch of 
about 8,200,000 pounds. This is about one-sixth of the catch of 40 
years ago. Thus, one of the important problems in connection with 
this species is that of increasing the supply. To accomplish this, 
studies to alleviate the effects of stream pollution and obstruction 
and intensive programs of artificial propagation should be primary 
objectives of interested agencies. 
In addition to stressing the need for augmenting present supplies of 
this species, the report ‘includes, among other data, information on 
the natural history and culture of the shad, the wholesale trade, shad 
products, recipes, and boning methods. It also includes the results 
of a study conducted among operators of 95 retail stores, operators 
of 71 public eating houses, and 342 housewife consumers located in 
several Eastern cities. This latter study was designed to develop 
a comparison of the current popularity of shad with that of former 
years; the importance of the consumption of shad through retail 
stores and public eating houses; the factors adversely affecting the 
consumption of shad; the purchasing and dietary habits of consumers 
with respect to fish but with particular reference to shad; and allied 
considerations. 
The study brought out a number of interesting facts which include 
the following: (1) As the shad season progresses and supplies increase, 
the price fluctuates downward rapidly from the early season high 
prices, with some recovery in prices toward the end of the season; (2) 
the sale of shad is uniformly reported as increasing by public eating 
houses serving “absolutely boned’ shad. Public eating houses 
serving shad in other forms usually report increases; (3) decreased 
sales by retail stores more than offset increases in public eating houses; 
(4) while many retail stores will sell half shad or shad fillets, the 
practice is seldom advertised and unknown to most housewife con- 
sumers; (5) in many cities boned shad are practically unknown, and 
in all cities the sale is limited; (6) where retail dealers bone shad, the 
methods are usually so slow that the cost is prohibitive of any con- 
siderable sales; (7) shad can be completely and quickly boned with 
