THE PRICE OF FTSH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17144, 25 April 1919, Page 7

THE PRICE OF FTSH.

AUOKLANO AND WELLINGTON INFLUENCE OF TRAWLING. The benefit derived by Auckland from the operations of the trawlers in Northern waters is seen in the prices at which fish is sold in this city, as compared with the prices ruling in Wellington, where there is at present a serious shortage in supply. Recent information from Wellington states that the price of fish has almost reached famine point, and dealers are urging that ] the Government should take up the matI ter of fish supply in a serious and prac- | tical manner. Never over-supplied with : fish, Wellington has reached that point where fish has ceased to compete against the high prices of meat, recent adverse weather conditions and holiday interference with the fishing industry having brought the supply almost to vanishing point. Wholesale fish dealers in Auckland state that there is-, at present a heavy demand from Wellington for supplies of flounder, bat the demand cannot always be met, owing to local requirements. In a recent statement Wellington fish retailers gave the following wholesale prices as ruling immediately after the Easter holidays. Haupuka, Is lb, an against 4d some time ago; moki, Is, formerly 3d; hake, weighing 4£lb, 6s, formerly 4d to !6d per lb; flounder Is retail. Conger eel was stated to be at a prohibitive price. The retailers averred that all fish was costing Is a pound. A comparison with local prices places Auckland in a much better position. Inquiries made yesterday resulted in the foli lowing information being given by wholei sale traders of fish:—Moki, 4d wholesale, i6d retail; hapuka, 4£d and 6d; schnap- ' per, 2d and 3£d; mullot, 3d and 4c; 1 smoked eel, ljd and 3d; flounder, 6d I and 8d; mixed fish, such as kahuwai, treI valli, etc., lid and 3d; smoked schnapper, l6d retail. These are approximately the , prices which rule hero during the winter j season from Easter to about November, ! the summer prices being about Id per lb I lower all round. I The catches being received just now I from the small boats are not very large, • owing, perhaps, to the distractions offered j the men by the Easter season, but the I trawlors' catches have been improving generally during the last month. The supply from the Kaipara fishing grounds has also been satisfactory, the municipal market alone having handled on an average 2000 dozen flounder and mullet from that source during the last few weeks.