CRAYFISHING TROUBLES

Evening Star, Issue 23351, 22 August 1939, Page 11

CRAYFISHING TROUBLES

THE MERCHANT S VIEWPOINT ANSWER TO KARITANE PROTEST “ A guaranteed price is all very ■well, but who will guarantee it?” said a local merchant this morning, discussing the representations made to Mr Nordmeyer, M.P., by Karitane fishermen on Saturday night. That there were good markets for crayfish was right up to a point, but there were important qualifications. The North Island and Australian markets insisted on fish at least lOin in length, and even with a 9in restriction operating these larger fish represented only a quarter of the quantity supplied by the Karitane boats. This left by far the greater part—the small fish, that were hard to dispose of—to be absorbed by the comparatively small South Island market. Moreover, this market was exceptionally well supplied. Kaikoura, Akaroa, and Moeraki practically filled the requirements of Christchurch and the smaller towns in the north, and crayfish . were found in numbers throughout the island. NO DECREASE IN PRICE. “As far as restrictions are con- ' cerned, this is a matter between the Marine Department and the fishermen, and I have no desire to discuss this aspect,” he continued. “ But as the matter of prices has been mentioned, it is as well to say here that they have been increased, and not decreased as was asserted. We have all of last season’s prices and weights tabulated to show that IJd was paid out last year, and the offer this year is practically equivalent to IJd.” Ho explained that the, offer was 10s a hundred pounds, and that the odd pounds were reckoned at a penny farthing. Suggestions had been made that a price of Ifd had been promised, and it seemed strange that no objections were lodged when the price up to the beginning of last week was 3d and more a pound. “As far as we.were concerned, no seasonal price was ever contracted. We simply made an offer which was accepted for the time being. No period was ever discussed, but the price ruled as long as possible.” This merchant further maintained that in no case yet had the price been reduced after a promise had been made. Towards the close of last season, however, it had been necessary to ask for a curtailment of supplies owing to the approaching hot weather. TROUBLES OF THE MERCHANT. A most unfortunate aspect of the matter was that the fishermen made no attempt to appreciate the difficulties of the merchant. Before he could increase his offer to the fisherman, he had to make the alteration acceptable to thq retailer. The question of waste was a big factor in the determination of prices. Last week, for instance, out of » consignment of nine bags of crayfish, one and a-half had had to be rejected as being smaller than the regulations permitted. These fish were paid for, and the loss was not the fisherman's. Dead fish, and fish that were unsaleable fwing to being crushed or broken, formed a percentage of every consignment, and these, too, were paid for. Gear is provided for the men by the merchants, and although the men repay out of their earnings if these are sufficient, this service has to be taken into consideration from the merchant’s * point of view. RESTRICTIONS DOUBLEBARRELLED. The restrictions about which the men were complaining had increased the merchants’ expenses,' in that every fish had to bo graded, and every fish of which the length was doubtful had to be actually measured. Besides the extra work involved, there was a considerable increase in the amount of rejects. “ Taking into consideration the fact 1 that we have been faced with a price increase in everything necessary to handle the crayfish, it is surprising that we have been able to offer even a small increase to the fisherman,” he continued. Only a few years ago the ruling price had been from 6s to 7s a hundredweight, and this had increased steadily to the present figure of 10s a hundred pounds.