FISHY BUSINESS!

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 49, 6 May 1942, Page 4

FISHY BUSINESS!

THE complete absence of fish on the local market may be largely due to. the fact that it is the off season for this favourite food commodity, but it does not explain the matter away entirely. No doubt the natural shrinkage would be seasonable up to a point, but the fact remains that we in Whakatane have to face up to the ridiculous fact that before we can obtain our share of the bountiful supply of natural food off our coasts we must conform to the viscious demands of a monopolised system of retailing. From enquiries it is ascertained that the whole of the fish supply to this port is bottlenecked for the benefit of a single concern which is able to dictate the entire borough sale without let or hindrance from shoppers or fellow operators. Fish at the present time is unprocurable we are told—for over a month the story has been the same. It is impossible to prove otherwise, and while we do not seek to deny it we feel that its absence has served a good purpose in directing public attention to the monopoly which prevails. By what right these singular powers were endowed or granted we have not the slightest idea, and we fail to see why such a, valuable commodity could not be thrown on the market like everything else that stands up to clean healthy competition. Why every fishmonger in a seaside town such as Whakatane should be subservient to a single paramount firm which draws a royalty on every pound of fish landed at the local wharf is beyond comprehension and, the sooner an open sale is instituted the better for shoppers and retailers alike.