FISHERMEN TO MEET

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30767, 3 June 1965, Page 16

FISHERMEN TO MEET

Dissatisfied With Payment (N Z Press Association) AUCKLAND, June 2. Auckland fishermen will hold their biggest meeting for some years when they meet tomorrow morning to discuss the refusal of wholesalers to pay more for catches. The Fishermen’s Association president, Mr W. Jennings, said all boats would be coming into port. He expected more than 100 men at the meeting. It was called after a breakdown in talks yesterday between fishermen and the Wholesale Fish Merchants’ Association on the men’s demand for a better price for their hauls. The fishermen claim they have not had a basic rise since 1954. The fishermen are believed to be seeking a flat rate of fid a pound for snapper and tarakihi, instead of the present sliding scale which gives them an average return of about 4}d. Whole snapper was selling in Auckland shops today at Is 8d per pound, snapper fillets at 2s 8d and skinned fillets at 3s 7d. Mr R. M. Brebner, secretary of the Wholesale Fish Merchants’ Association, said the association had refused the men’s demands yesterday “because we felt they couldn’t justify an increase.” He refused to comment further. He is also genera) manager of a company, which, with its subsidiaries, controls most of the 45 to 50 fishing boats operating from Auckland.