1128 
and 1.28 in 1967; groundfish and ocean perch fillets and blocks were at 0.74 pound 
per capita in 1936 and rose to 1.79 pounds per capita in 1967. 
The decrease in relative and total use of saimon ean be attributed to failing 
supply. There just was not as much salmon available in 1967 as there was in 
1936. On the other hand the trend away from cured fish and the trend toward 
canned tuna, shrimp of all sorts of preparations, and frozen fish sticks and 
portions represents definite changes in food habits. How much of this is attribut- 
able to convenience in form, convenience in price, changing packaging and mer- 
chandising patterns, is not known. 
For the most part those fishery products that are increasing sharply in use are 
new product forms which have been developed by innovative entrepreneurs, 
catch on, and are merchandised hard. 
Tuna started out as really a scrap fish for which there was no consumer’s 
market in the United States in any form. It still has no consequential sale in the 
United States in any other form than canned, although in Japan it is consumed 
in large volume in many other forms (raw, dried, half-dried, as an ingredient in 
fish sausages, cakes, etc.). Canned tuna has been sold hard in the United States 
from the very start. There have always been heavy advertising, promotional 
and field selling costs relative to product price. Over the 60 years of the trade 
it has moved steadily from more or less regional sales by small canners to more 
and more consolidations into regional and then national sales by a few larger 
firms, to take advantage of national advertising, ete. 
More than 50% of total tuna sales are now in the hands of three firms, and more 
than 75% in the hands of six firms. The marketing budget is high and merchandiz- 
ing is still by the hard sell. The industry spends not less than $30 million per year 
in marketing cost. Many attractive new tuna products have been developed over 
the years and also sold hard at much cost—such as tuna pies, tuna and noodles, 
tuna spreads, spiced tuna, dietic tuna, tuna baby food, etc. One by one they have 
been tried, bloomed, wilted, and either died or dropped to a steady low level of 
acceptance—with chunk-style light meat canned tuna staying in the lead, and the 
more costly canned white meat tuna keeping a fairly steady pace in the market. 
It is obvious that when a housewife wants a can of tuna she wants it straight, 
and will then fix it up into some other dish to her taste and not that of a salesman. 
Tuna in brine has been merchandized very heavily for fifteen years and has a 
marked tariff differential over tuna in oil. Nevertheless, tuna in oil has continued 
to dominate the market and in recent years tuna in brine market has been 
shrinking. Despite extensive merchandizing it is obvious that most American 
housewives want tuna canned in oil. 
Shrimp sales have gone through something of the same pattern as tuna but 
more so. Up until quite recently shrimp sales were heavily institutional (restau- 
rants, ete.,) and production and sales were in the hands of many firms. Such 
sales are not much affected by brand or advertising, and market promotion has 
been more on an industry wide basis for a long time than has been the case with 
tuna. In recent years there has been a good deal of consoiidation into larger pro- 
duction units and a greater development of direct consumer sales. Just recently 
quite large firms have begun to enter the field, advertise national brands heavily, 
and thus move toward national distribution. This is being accompanied now by 
a flurry of introduction of new products using shrimp as a component. 
The growth in consumption of ground fish in the United States has been truly 
astounding. In 1939 the whole product weight available to the United States 
market (ground fish, ocean perch, and other fillets and steaks) was 141 million 
pounds and by 1967 it was 522 million pounds. If this is multiplied by 3.3 to 
convert it back roughly into round weight equivalents, the increase in dock side 
weights needed to supply the market with these preducts would have been 465 
million pounds in 1939 and 1,723 million pounds in 1967. This market is still 
growing steadily and 1966 was its year of record to that time (as it was with 
canned tuna and shrimp). There was a slight drop off in 1967 due to temporary 
market perturbation. 
Once again this growth has been marked by the development and hard selling 
of innovative products reasonable in price, constant in quality, convenient to the 
user, and widely distributed. The sharp freezing of fish started the ball rolling 
and permitted the flow of good quality merchandise into the interior after Worid 
War I. The sharp freezing of fillets came next, reducing shipping costs and 
improving convenience. Then came the standard frozen fish block, where the 
skinned and boned fillets were sharp frozen in blocks that could be shipped con- 
veniently ito anywhere, stored conveniently until needed, and then sawed (still- 
