APPENDIX IV APPENDIX IV 
Frozen fish may be moved from the producer's own cold 
storage to a public one at or near the port, and from there 
to an inland cold storage, or it may be sold directly from 
the port. Apart from some transport by rail, almost all fish 
is distributed by truck. 
DOMESTIC USE OF FISH PRODUCTS 
Fish may reach the consumer by a variety of routes. The 
port merchant may send the fish directly to a retailer or 
caterer, he may send it to an inland wholesale market, or he 
may have his own inland depot for local distribution. 
The price of fish reflects the market condition more 
than the fishermen's costs. The price per pound the customer 
pays is on the average four times the price per pound the 
fisherman receives. The processing and distribution phase ac- 
count for the difference. 
Nearly all fresh fish is sold at auctions normally con- 
ducted by the trawler firms or by an agent employed by them. 
Fish frozen at sea and chilled fish from vessels that have 
Signed an agreement with a processing firm to take some or 
ali of their catch” are usually sold by contract. 
Herrings are sold by auction after a sample of the 
vessel's catch has been inspected. Some shellfish, notably 
Norway lobsters, may be put up for auction but a large por- 
tion of the catch bypasses the auction and is sold directly 
by private bargain to the processor or distributor. 
Most of the British catch is chilled, frozen, smoked, or 
canned for human consumption. Consumption of fish in the 
United Kingdom has steadily decreased. Before the Second 
World War, per capita consumption was 26 pounds, but in the 
1960s the figure was down to 20 pounds. Consumption was 
under 18 pounds including 2 pounds of imported canned fish, 
during the mid-1970s. Comparable figures for other protein 
Foods ane): 7 pounds Of meat, iss pounds "Ors poullitiaya.S5 
pounds of eggs, 55 pounds of milk, and 13 pounds of cheese. 
A little more than 4 percent of the household food ex- 
penditure is spent on fish. According to the Organization for 
Economic Cooperation and Development Review of Fisheries, 
the estimated use of the 1974 United Kingdom fish catch was: 
355 
