THE RETAIL FISH MARKET: SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR 

 EQUIPPING AND CONDUCTING IT. 



By Arthur Orr, 



U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. 



The following paper has been prepared from observations 

 made and data secured by the writer in extensive travels made 

 during the past two or three years as an employe of the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries. The writer has had no experience 

 in the fish business and hence, in this paper, presents only what 

 he has observed and what has been told to him by men of actual 

 experience. He has had the benefit of the criticisms and sug- 

 gestions of several fish dealers of national repute, to whom a 

 rough draft of the paper was presented. He believes there is a 

 vital need for a publication on this subject, and hopes that some- 

 day some one who is much better qualified than himself will 

 prepare a paper which will more adequately meet the needs of 

 the situation. 



At first blush it might seem that the methods of displaying 

 and vending fish in retail shops do not affect the fishermen. But 

 when it is recalled that the fisherman's prosperity depends wholly 

 upon the purchases of the individual consumer and that the 

 amount of fish purchased by the consumer depends wholly upon 

 the character of the appeal which is made to him by the retailer 

 and the satisfaction which he experiences from his purchase, it 

 will readily be seen that the retail market is a very vital factor in 

 the commercial fisheries. Hundreds of people are attracted to 

 fish markets by pleasing window displays, purchase fish which 

 have been properly cared for by the dealer and which are delivered 

 to them in good condition, take them home and enjoy them, 

 and return to the shop again and again to purchase more. 

 Thousands of others, not so fortunately situated, buy fish from 

 careless dealers who have kept the fish in unsanitary receptacles 

 or who have been too saving of ice and thus give their customers 



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