WIDER MARKET FOR FISH

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 49, 27 August 1917, Page 6

WIDER MARKET FOR FISH

"A better system of marketing and distributing fish," reports the Chief Inspector of Fisheries, " would undoubtedly result in a large increase in the quantity of fish brought'in by the present fishermen, for the Department has had ctear evidence, placed before it during tho past year, where fish merchants have systematically restricted the quantities of fish they would take from. ■ fishermen; and also information from one port where the Fishermen's Union restricts the quantity of fish each boat is allowed to send to the local wholesale market." -So it appears that, where their own pockets are concerned, fishermen's unions as well as fish merchants are not greatly troubled by altruistic scruples about the cost of living. But the remedy is less an thical than a practical one, and the Chief Inspector covers it fairly well when he advocates- a better system of marketing and distribution; which, o£ course, ■would include curing, chilling, railway carriage, and the various other links in ■the chain which, from time to time, we havo stressed. Everything that tends to .preserve the fish, and to cheapen and expedite its transport, increases the market, mi i'&mdmß tbs prodtistiofi! Whan -Auckland enterprise, lad latterly

by the municipality, accomplished the remarkable development at that port in trawling—there are now five steam trawlers operating from Auckland—it only solved one portion of the problem, that portion being Auckland's. Thanks to the trawlers' large hauls from "the prolific trawling-grounds which exist about two hours' steam from Auckland," and thanks to "the keen competition between the municipal fish market and the private firms," the price of fish there, reports the Chief Inspector, "has been greatly reduced, and the people of Auckland are now able to get a plentiful supply of fresh fish at a reasonable price." Bat this very improvement, this cheapening of fish in Auckland, put a number of less effective fishermen out of action. And other remarks in the Chief Inspector's report make it clear that Auckland ,fish merchants, despite municipal competition, are still restrictionists.

What has happened is that the trawling competition has been too much for many of the smaller fishermen, both in Auckland itself and in the neighbouring districts. In Auckland, since the lower prices arrived, "the line and net fishermen have not been able to compete with the trawlers, and consequently most of them have had to dispose o£ their boats and seek other employment." Again, Kaipara, which is in touch with Auckland by railway, reports abundance of fish, " but there is considerable fallingoff in the quantity of fish taken owing to the trawlers on. the Auckland fishing grounds supplying the market with all kinds of fish in very large quantities. . On account of the decrease in the demand for Kaipara fish for the Auckland market, more than half the fishermen have given up fishing and have taken to other employment, the number of fishing boats licensed for the year being 23, as against 40 in 1916." A cheap Auckland market drove out these fishermen, and yet other parts of the North Island would gladly have taken their fish, and would have paid a bit more for it, if there had been a system of transport, by rail or otherwise, capable of delivering the fish at the point of consumption cheaply and in a wholesome condition. Thames, another of the provincial suppliers of the Auckland market, did make a partly successful attempt to find an outlet in Wellington. Concerning Thames, the Chief Inspector reports that good catches have been the" rule, but the fishermen were " unable to find & market for all they could catch, and the Auckland merchants frequently limited the quantity which they would take. Considerable quantities of flounders have been sent to Welling-

ton market through the summer. The fish were carefully cleaned, chilled, and packed in ice, and reached Wellington after a 48 hours' train journey in splendid condition." Unfortunately, Thames fiah do not always reach Wellington in that condition, but there is no reason why they should not, if chilling and transport and distribution'are properly attended to, which is.a. matter concerning the Railway Department as much as anyone else. The point is that if, through the competition of trawlers, there is an overspill from Auckland, consumers further south should benefit by it. To encourage the should benefit by it.

In order to encourage the smaller fishermen, the Chief Inspector (Mr. L. P. Ayson) advocates State advances on boats, gear, etc., and urges them to use the purse-seine, as "by this method fish can be taken in very large quantities and at small cost in comparison to trawling." Dear benzine, though it probably has not driven a single motor vehicle off the Hutt-road, is proving a heavy warburden on some of the launch owners, and the Chief Inspector indicates that there is some danger that this class of food-winner, whose efforts have tended to keep down the cost of living, is now in danger of himself falling a victim to the trawl-competition combined with the higher cost of everything. While a system;of State advances would be useful if judiciously administered, it is probable that the best way to assist the fishing industry is to help it to reach wider markets, and by doing that the interest of the public is serv«d at the same time.