20 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 9 



headless shrimp and ocean perch fillets were 

 down. Frozen stocks of crab meat, lobster 

 tails, and scallops were above ayear earlier. 

 Stocks of canned pink salmon from the new 

 season pack were up substantially from a 

 year earlier, and there was some increase 

 in stocks of canned ch um and coho salmon. 



Note: This analysis was prepared by tlie Bureau of Commercial 

 Fisheries, U. S, Department of the Interior, and modified from 

 that published in the August 1966 USDA issue of the National 

 Food Situation (NFS-117). 



PRICE INCREASE IN 1965 MODEST FOR 

 FISHERY PRODUCTS- -HIGH FOR MEAT : 



In 1965 the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

 Consumer Price Index, commonly referred 

 to as the "cost-of-living index" increased 1.7 

 percent from the previous year. Many of the 

 400 or so goods and services priced in the 

 index contributed to this overall increase. 

 However, much publicity has been given to 

 the fact that one of the five major categories-- 

 food--contributed most to the overall in- 

 crease in the Consumer Price Index. Most 

 of the gain in food prices can be attributed to 

 the rising cost of meats, poultry, and fish. 

 Prices of those commodities rose 7 percent 

 from 1964 to 1965. Only during the shortages 

 in 1951 and 1952 have prices for meats, poul- 

 try, and fish averaged higher than in 1965. 



Carrying the breakdown even further, 

 pork had the largest gain in the red meats 

 group averaging 13.8 percent higher in 1965, 

 while beef and veal averaged 4.8 percent 

 higher. Retail prices for poultry in 1965 in- 

 creased 3.1 percent. The price increase for 

 fish was the least of all--only 2.0 percent 

 higher from 1964 to 1965. For each of these 

 commodities, price gains were most pro- 

 nounced during the last half of 1965. 



What caused these sharp gains in 1965 

 corapared with the relatively low prices which 

 prevailed in 1964? Pork prices were up 

 14 percent over 1964 as a result of a 6^- 

 pound cut in per capita supplies. For sev- 

 eral years, pork prices had remained rel- 

 atively low. Retail beef prices, responding 

 to the generally tight meat supplies and 

 strong demand, increased an average of 5 

 percent in 1965 even though per capita beef 

 supplies were down only slightly. Despite 

 substantially increased broiler supplies, 

 retail prices averaged 3 percent higher in 

 1965. Prices for fishery products joined 

 meat in the general advance during 1965 by 

 increasing an average of 2 percent. 



125 

 120 

 115 

 110 

 105 

 100 



I I I I I I I 



I I I I I I I I 



POUlTRYj 

 BEEF a VEAL 



-iy< — ^y- 



V- 





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^ — l-4-.i.. .ji. l.l.l, 





1966 



Consumer price index. 



When April 1966 prices are compared 

 with year earlier prices, meat prices rose 

 more than fish prices--an 18-percent in- 

 crease for meat as against a 5-percent in- 

 crease for fish. The increase in meat prices 

 accounted for nearly all of the 6 percent in- 

 crease for total food. Pork led the rise with 

 28 percent, followed by beef and veal with 9 

 percent, and poultry with 8 percent. 



For the remainder of summer 1966, it was 

 conjectured that fish sales could benefit from 

 continued high beef and pork prices. Retail 

 prices for fishery products generally decline 

 during the summer months due to the sea- 

 sonal increase in supplies. (U. S. Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries, Branch of Current 

 Economic Analysis.) 



W- ^-r^=i 



Maryland 



FISHERY LANDINGS AJ^D TRENDS, 1965: 



Landings of fish and shellfish at Maryland 

 ports in 1965 totaled 86.6 million pounds 

 with an ex-vessel value of $13.2 million- -an 

 increase of 22 percent in quantity and 13 per- 

 cent in value as compared with 1964. Blue 

 crabs, oysters, menhaden, and soft clams 

 accounted for 68 percent of the 1965 catch. 



Crabs : Hard blue crab landings totaled 

 32.0 niillion pounds in 1965, an increase of 6.8 

 million pounds. This was a record -high year 

 for hard crabs - -the previous record was 31.6 

 million pounds landed in 1930. Crab ex -vessel 

 prices varied from a high of $10abarrel in 

 April to $4 a barrel in August for picking crabs. 



