48 COllERCIAL FiaffiRIES REVIEW Vol. 13, No. 4. 



dressed inland fish and well over two million pounds of filleted inland fish. VJhite- 

 fish, yellow pike (pickerel), pickerel (pike), clscoes, and lake trout were the most 

 popular varieties. 



Shellfish : Canadian consumption of shellfish also expanded in I949 but most of 

 the increase was in shelled oysters imported frcm the United States. Altogether, 

 the total consumption of shellfish in Canada during 1949 was 1.5 million pounds 

 greater than in I948; the figure was 5.5 million pounds, as against about 4 million 

 in the previous year. 



Canned Fish: About 10 percent more canned salmon was bought by Canadian consum- 

 ers in 1949 than in 1948, partly no doubt as the result of an advertising campaign 

 to promote domestic consumption. 



Since year-end stocks of canned fish can only be estimated, precise figures are 

 not available but total domestic sales of canned salmon amounted to about 850,000 

 eases, or 41 million pounds, in 1949; and accounted for about 70 percent of all can- 

 ned fish sold. In the previous year about 66 percent was salmon. 



Production of canned sardines dropped from 850,000 oases (100: 3^ oz. ) in I948 

 to only 600,000 cases in I949 and, although export demand also dropped, a much smaller 

 amount remained for Canadian consumers. As far as can be estimated from available 

 sources of .information only about 4.5 million pounds were marketed in Canada, about 

 half as much as the estimate (possibly a little high) for the previous year. 



Chief among other canned fish items bought by the Canadian housewife are her- 

 ring and chicken haddies. Consumption of these products has not changed signifi- 

 cantly in recent years. The I948 surplus of chicken haddies was, however, bought 

 by the Fisheries Prices Support Board and distributed to charities and public in- 

 stitutions in 1949, somewhat raising that year's consumption of this item. 



The Canadian market also absorbed I3 percent more canned lobsters and clams 

 in 1949 than in 1948, the total being over three -million pounds. As far as clams 

 are concerned, however, both the crop and the pack were abnonually low in 1948 and 

 the higher figure for 1949 represents only a return to normal. Almost the entire 

 pack of clams is consumed in Canada. 



Cured Fish : Cured fish is relatively unimportant in the Canadian diet when 

 compared with fresh, frozen, and canned products. 



Preliminary figures for I949 indicate that consumption of smoked fish dropped 

 1.5 million pounds below the figure for the previous year. Ihe total was about 

 9 million pounds, made up largely of kippered herring, finnan haddies, and anoked 

 fillets of cod. 



Consumption of salted fish, on the other hand, advanced from less than 12 mil- 

 lion pounds in I948 to over 12.5 million in I949. As already mentioned, this does 

 not include substantial quantities salted by the fishermen and consumed in fishing 

 communities without entering regular commercial channels. A recent survey in New- 

 foundland, of which the compilation is not yet finished, shows that salted fish is 

 an important item in fishermen's diet in that province. The same is probably true 

 all along the East Coast. The same is true of pickled fish. Commercial sales of 

 tnis product have varied little in recent years. The I949 total was 5.5 million 

 pounds. 



fjOTE: FIGURES FOR 1949 INCLUDE NEWFOUNDLAND, WHILE THOSE FOR THE PREVIOUS YEARS DO NOT. 

 THIS DOES NOT SIGNIFICANTLY ALTER THE PICTURE FOR CONSUMPTION, SINCE NEWFOUNDLAND'S POPU- 

 LATION IS RELATIVELY SMALL: ABOUT 348,000 IN 1949. PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION IN THE TENTH 



