not usually involved in canning and therefore often com- 

 pete onlv for the best-quality fish for freezing. However. 

 most fish are purchased by long-established processing 

 companies or their agents. Between 1973 and 1977 these 

 processors, who are involved in canning as well as fresh 

 and frozen sales, accounted for 95 percent of the pur- 

 chases of raw salmon."' 



Processing roughly doubles the landed value of fish 

 catches. In 1980. the wholesale value of processed prod- 

 ucts produced exceeded $400 million, as shown in Table 

 13-2. Some $290 million, more than 70 percent of the 

 total, was accounted for by salmon products. This 

 includes .some fish nnported from the United States for 

 processing in Canada. Roe-herring production accounted 

 for 10 percent of the total, but production in 1980 was 

 only about half the level of precedmg years because of a 

 lengthy strike. 



Table 13-2 Value of fish products produced on the 

 Pacific coast 



Mfiolesale value in 1980 



salmon 

 canned 

 fresh 

 frozen 

 roe 

 other 



total 



roe-herring" 

 roe 



spawn-on-kelp 

 frozen for roe 



total 



food and bait hemng 

 frozen for food 

 bait 

 herring by-products 



halibut" 



other groundfish 

 shellfish and invertebrates 

 other species 



TOTAL, all products 



$403.9 



too 



■* Value of roe-hemng production in 1980 was low because of a strike. 

 The average in the preceding eight years was $70 million. 

 *■ Includes halibut landed by Canadian fishermen in U.S. ports. 



Sourec: Compiled from Fisheries Statistics of British Columbia 1980 . 

 Economics and Statistical Services. Fishenes Management. 

 Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Vancouver. 1981. 



In recent years the number of enterprises serving the 

 fresh market has increased considerably; and the volume 

 of .saltnon processed into fresh or frozen products has 

 increased, while the volume canned has declined some- 

 what. Tlie number of roe-herring processors has under- 



OTHER INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES 163 



gone a dramatic rise and fall, from 21 in 1975. to 42 in 



1979. down to 17 in 1980. 



Recent fluctuations in numbers of salmon and Toe- 

 herring processors and buyers have been triggered mainly 

 by changing market circumstances in Japan. The major- 

 ity of those that entered and exited were sinall firms, and 

 they had little effect on the general pattern of control in 

 the processing industry. 



Industrial concentration Processors range from small 

 specialized firms to the large integrated operations that 

 produce most fish products. A small number account for 

 most of the production, however. (A recent stud\ indi- 

 cated that the three largest firms (excluding cooperatives) 

 accounted for more than half of all salmon purchased.") 

 But a significant portion of the catch never enters the 

 market: in the salmon and hemng fisheries, the landings 

 recorded by vessels owned by processing companies, by 

 members of fishermen's cixiperalives and by others who 

 have made advance commitments to buyers are not sub- 

 ject to arms-length transactions. 



The industry originally consisted of a large number of 

 canneries scattered along the coast near major fishing 

 grounds, but it is now consolidated into a few large pro- 

 cessing facilities near the major population centres, with 

 only a few plants in remote coastal locations."* As this 

 geographical realignment took place, ownership of the 

 industrv became concentrated in the hands of a few large 

 integrated operations. 



The degree of corporate concentration in the process- 

 ing industrv' is indicated in Table 13-3, which shows the 

 salmon and herring roe production accounted for by the 

 largest prcxlucers. TTie industry is most concentrated in 

 the canned salmon sector, where the 4 largest firms 

 account for 82 percent of the total output. Concentration 

 is much lower in fresh salmon processing, and has been 

 decreasing as this sector has grown in recent years. The 4 

 largest firms processed less than 40 percent of output in 



1980. down from 57 percent 5 years earlier. Concentra- 

 tion in herring roe production appears almost as high as 

 in canned salmon, but the figures shown for 1980 exag- 

 gerate this because a strike that year interrupted supplies 

 to many firms. 



Table 13-3 Share of production of salmon and herring 

 products accounted for by the largest firms 



in 1980 



salmon 



fresh 



frozen canned 



all 

 products 



(percent of all production) 



two largest 



firms 

 four largest 



firms 



23 



54 



68 



49 



herring 

 roe 



70 



84 



39 63 82 62 



Source: Unpublished data from the Department of Fishenes and 

 Oceans. 



