ii8 ALONGSHORE m 



to sell all they catch in one market, if they 

 could. 



To criticise the methods of disposing of fish in 

 reverse order: 



( 1 ) Private sales are at best only a means of 

 picking up odd small sums on what would not 

 otherwise be sold. And fishermen, if they are 

 fishing, have no time for hawking. 



(2) Fishmongers and hawkers expect some- 

 thing like 100 per cent profit for carrying fish up 

 the street and selling it. They sometimes make 

 as much as 150 or 200 per cent, and will not as 

 a rule buy unless they foresee 50 per cent. And 

 hawkers by no means always pay up the amount 

 they have agreed. 



(3) The fish buyersusually act merely as agents 

 for larger buyers, who themselves distribute the 

 fish or send It to some central market. Each of the 

 several m.iddlemen takes his pickings, of course. 

 If the buyer should lose on his speculation, he is 

 not above asking the fisherman to accept a less 

 price than was agreed upon, and practically the 

 fisherman is obliged to do it. If, on the other 

 hand, the speculation is very successful, then 

 the fisherman hears nothing about It, and has no 

 means of finding out. Informal rings among 



