Marketing is affected by supply . . . 



So, the problems with marketing are there. But, 

 as Paul Allsbrook — one of several state officials 

 charged with promoting seafood sales — says, 

 "There's nothing you can put your hand on." 



There are, however, certain words that pop up 

 in conversation after conversation: supply, quality, 

 processing, labor, distribution channels and out- 

 lets. And, in general, federal and state agencies 

 working to boost seafood marketing are trying to 

 do something with the problems that stand behind 

 those words. 



Allsbrook is convinced that the solution to the 

 supply problem is processing. "North Carolina 

 does not have a sophisticated seafood industry. Our 

 big problem is our industry is not process-oriented. 

 . . . Let's harvest all these fish (when there's a glut), 

 freeze them, and sell them later." 



Processing, he adds, would also appeal more in 

 today's market. "The industry is not meeting the 

 market's demand in the way of preparation of the 

 product. . . It's just a matter of convenience that 

 people are buying frozen." 



At Sea Safari in Belhaven, Mae Reinhardt and 

 her associates decided to give processing a try. 

 They converted an old oil warehouse into a fish 

 processing and freezing plant and went into busi- 

 ness. 



Getting buyers to accept a frozen, filleted piece 

 of fish was a problem, as was getting the popular 

 fish. While the going was slow at first, Mrs. Rein- 



In this crab house, workers pick meat and pack it in 

 plastic containers which are then weighed 



In this newly-converted plant, finfish are filleted by 

 workers at individual stalls before being frozen 



hardt says larger restaurants are beginning to buy 

 from Sea Safari, and "the local restaurants are 

 beginning to accept it more," too. 



But supply is still a problem, despite the pro- 

 cessing. Though Sea Safari buys most of its fish in 

 North Carolina, it sometimes has to buy from New 

 York and elsewhere to get the popular species. 

 "There's been weeks we couldn't work because we 

 couldn't get anything to sell." What they can sell, 

 what restaurants mostly want, are flounder, blue 

 fish and trout. 



Mrs. Reinhardt stands by the decision to go into 

 freezing and filleting. "That's the direction," she 

 says, "the fish will be fresher." And, as the com- 

 pany grows, she hopes they'll be able to build up a 

 large enough backlog of frozen seafood to smooth 

 out the highs and lows of supply. 



Meanwhile, a Sea Grant research project this 

 summer will begin taking a look at finfish pro- 

 cessing. Dr. James Easley, NCSU School of Eco- 

 nomics and Business, says he hopes to begin to 

 answer the question, "Will processing pay?" 

 Easley will examine returns, how sensitive the 

 return is to the number of months a plant operates, 

 and prices. 



Sea Grant advisory agents are working on more 

 efficient gear for fishermen. And researchers at the 

 UNC Sea Grant Seafood Laboratory in Morehead 

 City are trying to come up with more and better 

 uses for fish — both popular and not so popular. 



