BOATS TO SAIL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 253, 24 October 1936, Page 10

BOATS TO SAIL.

FISHING DISPUTE.

VIRTUAL SETTLEMENT

MEN ACCEPT CONDITIONS

ONE FIRM STANDS OUT

A tentative agreement submitted from a conference of the wholesale dealers yesterday afternoon was acceptd by a meeting of Auckland fishermen this morning. This means a virtual end, for the time being, at any rate, of the dispute between the dealers and the fishermen, whose boats have been tied up in port for the past fortnight because the dealers would not guarantee them 2d a lb for snapper. The dealers have been discussing, during the past few days, a scheme for an agreement among themselves whereby competition and price-cutting on the Australian market could be eliminated, and the price there fixed at such a level as to enable them to pay at Auckland the price the fishermen demanded. The dealers' conference concluded yesterday afternoon, when only one dealer refused to acquiesce in the agreement to which the were willing to atlhere.

The proposals drawn up by the dealers in conference yesterday were submitted to a meeting of the fishermen at the Trades Hall this morning, and they passed the following resolution: "That this meeting of Auckland fishermen hereby affirms the conviction that, the poor return we receive for our labour is solely due to the .unregulated state of the fishing industry, particularly in regard to the export trade, and that we have become 'a chopping block for the conflicting interests of the whole service. Short of direct control of the industry by the Government, we regard the agreement now proposed between the wholesalers as a welcome development. We believe that it will tend to stabilise the industry and check the certain progressive depletion of the fishing grounds, while at the same time ensuring fishermen of a reasonable standard of living without unduly increasing the price of fish to the people. For these reasons we support the said proposed agreement, and, further, we are of the opinion that wholesalers who refuse to become parties to . the same, thereby lay themselves open to the charge of preferring to sacrifice the future of the industry as a whole to their immediate interests, since a continuation of the anarchic conditions hitherto existing spells more intense exploitation of the fishermen and ultimate depletion of the fishing grounds." A resolution was passed that all boats should go to sea with the exception of the boats belonging to the one firm which up to the present had refused to become a party to the agreement referred to in the previous resolution. It is understood that the boats will put to sea on Tuesday morning.