MAY 1 CANADIAN COLD-STORAGE HOLDINGS 47 PERCENT ABOVE 1943

Holdings of frozen fresh fish in Canadian cold-storage warehouses on May 1, totaled 16,922,000 pounds, according to preliminary data furnished by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. This was a decrease of 11 percent compared with April 1, but a gain of 47 percent over holdings on May 1, 1943. Tullibee, cod fillets, salmon, and whitefish holdings were. considerably higher than those of a year previous.

Giving wholesalers west of the Mississippi River an additional 11 days after April 30, 1944, within which they may figure their net cost of frozen fish or seafood on the basis of the prices in effect prior to Amdt. 16 to MPR-364, Amdt. 17 was issued on May 1 by the OPA. This exception applies only to sales to other wholesalers or retailers west of the Mississippi.

Amendment 16 to MPR-364 reduced the base prices on which a wholesaler's net cost for East Coast species must be based. That amendment was issued on April 17, 1944, effective on April 22, 1944. A press release had been issued on April 1, 1944, stating that frozen fish prices were to be reduced on the basis of the summer fresh fish prices. This intention was also announced at an industry meeting held March 10 and 11, 1944.

Eastern processors and wholesalers who had received this information appear to have unloaded large quantities of frozen fish on dealers west of the Mississippi River. The western dealers were unaware that this reduction was to be made and bought large quantities of East Coast species.

Inasmuch as the new prices under Amendment 16 became effective April 30, there was insufficient time for western dealers to dispose of these inventories on hand or in transit from the East Coast. This amendment provided western dealers one more week to dispose of their purchases of eastern frozen fish at the winter prices. Excerpts from Amdt. 17 follow:

The effective date provision of Amendment 16 to this Maximum Price Regulation 364, issued April 17, 1944, is amended to read as follows:

This amendment shall become effective April 22, 1944, except that with respect to sales made by sellers to buyers, both located west of the Mississippi River, the prices established by this Amendment No. 16 shall become effective May 11, 1944.

AMENDMENT 18 TO MPR-364 EFFECTIVE MAY 20

Reductions in ceiling prices for frozen Pacific Coast fish, averaging about 20 percent below current prices at all levels, were announced May 12 by the Office of Price Administration. This is one of four changes made in a new amendment to the frozen fish and seafood regulation.

The processors' prices established in the action, effective May 20, 1944, are based on and follow the recent seasonal reduction of producer and wholesale ceiling prices for fresh fish.

The reductions in processors' prices which amount to 4 to 6 cents per pound for fillets reduce consumers' prices 7 to 10 cents per pound after wholesalers' and retailers' mark-ups are applied.

Following are some examples of consumer price reductions for the most expensive type of distribution involving a primary distributor, a service and delivery wholesaler, and a Class I or II store; in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, the retail price of Pacific sole fillets are reduced from 52 to 42 cents per pound. Petrale sole fillets are reduced from 54 to 46 cents per pound and true cod fillets from 45 to 35 cents per pound.

The processor of frozen fish is in a comparable position to that of the primary shipper of fresh fish. He is generally allowed a differential of 12 cents over the primary shipper's ceiling prices to allow for freezing and boxing costs.

Some examples of processors' ceiling prices included in the new amendment are as follows:
Fillets

Wholesalers and retailers are to apply their allowable mark-ups to net cost based on processor's prices.

The other three changes made by the new amendment to the frozen fish and seafood regulation are as follows:

1. After May 31, 1944, the wholesaler's net cost, regarding any of the frozen Pacific Coast fish for which a new base price is set by the new amendment, must be based on the newly established summer price for the frozen fish irrespective of the time the fish was purchased and regardless of the base price at the time the purchase was made.

Wholesale dealers of frozen fish were notified by an advance story released to the press on April 30 that they would be given until after the middle of May to dispose of their higher priced winter inventories.

2. The 10 percent broken lot allowance is prohibited: (a) On sales of fillets or steaks because these items are usually packed in small containers holding but 10, 15, or 20 pounds and they may be sold without separating the contents of the original container; (b) if a processor sells directly from the original freezer because he does not need to break any boxes since the desired quantity can be taken from the freezer before the fish is boxed.

The 10 percent mark-up on broken lot sales, to retailers or purveyors of meals is allowed: (a) If a processor making such sales from his established place of doing business had the fish or seafood frozen elsewhere, or (b) if the sale is made from a processor's branch warehouse, or (c) if the sale is made by

a wholesaler.

3. Transportation costs may not be added to the frozen fish base price when shipping certain specified fresh fish from named ports of entry in California to any other place in California, Washington, or Oregon where the fish is to be frozen.

The specified fish are: Sole: Petrale, Dover, English, Sand, and Rex; Lingcod, Turbot, and Pacific flounder. The named ports are Half Moon Bay, Point Reyes, Bodega Bay, Crescent City, Trinidad, and Shelter Cove.

Producers are able to purchase the above listed varieties of fish at the named ports of entry in California 1 to 2 cents per pound less than fish landed elsewhere because the producer's ceiling prices for fresh fish is 1 to 2 cents per pound less when landed exvessel in the named ports.

The prices established in the action are based on the prices of fresh fish landed in ports other than the ones named.

Amendment 18 to MPR-364--Frozen Fish and Seafood--became effective May 20. Excerpts

Item

No.

The 1943-44 seasonal peak in freezer-space occupancy appears to be past, the War Food Administration said May 17 in comment on its report on occupancy of U.S. public cold-storage space as of May 1. However, the 1944 seasonal peak in cooler-space occupancy still lies ahead.

According to the report, freezer occupancy was 85 percent, down from 92 percent 2 months earlier, whereas cooler occupancy increased from 74 percent on March 1, to 82 percent on May 1.

Relaxation of the freezer stringency is in part a result of WFA orders intended to reduce stocks of frozen and cold pack fruits and vegetables and frozen poultry by 20 percent,

to make room for 1944 production. Actually, the report shows, reductions in holdings during the 2 months ended May 1 amounted to 30 percent for frozen and cold pack fruits and vegetables and to 41 percent for frozen poultry. The excess of actual reductions over the 20 percent called for, WFA said, indicates how well warehousemen and food handlers have cooperated.

The 82 percent cooler occupancy of May 1 was an all-time record, made possible, WFA said, by cooperation of warehousemen and food handlers with WFA information centers which have been set up throughout the country for the purpose of telling handlers in what warehouses they can find the space they are seeking. As a result of this clearinghouse method, millions of cubic feet of space of the type not ordinarily used at this time of year now are stored with the large seasonal production of eggs, lard, and other products.

Demand for cooler space is expected to continue to increase for at least another month. Meanwhile, WFA will continue to push forward on its over-all food and fiber storage program, which includes:

1. Getting out of cold storage the products that do not require it, and using low-temperature space only for products that require it.

2. Speeding up processing, to cut down the time processed products need remain in cold storage.

3. Preventing reservation of empty space for future needs.

4. Forcing removal from storage of excess stocks of frozen fruits, vegetables, and poultry.

5. Conducting a program of making space convertible from "cooler" (320-500 F.) to "freezer" (310 and below), and vice versa.

6. Restricting the storage period for all commodities to 10 months.

7. Obtaining from all warehousemen semi-monthly reports on their available space, and conducting information centers throughout the country to tell commodity handlers where to get space.

8. Working with warehousemen to obtain the most effective use of their space.

9. Encouraging the storage, during off seasons, of general commodities in private space built for the seasonal storage of particular commodities.

10. Getting expansions of facilities (almost all with private funds) in areas of greatest need.

11. Maintaining regular contact with the industry through the Refrigerated Warehousing Industry Advisory Committee while developing and carrying out this program.

12. Exchanging information among Government agencies through the Inter-Agency Cold Storage Committee. 13. Collecting and releasing complete, up-to-date information on (a) space capacity, (b) space occupancy, and (c) commodity holdings.

Canned and Cured Fish Trade

FOUR-MONTH CALIFORNIA TUNA PACK 73 PERCENT ABOVE 1943 WHILE MACKEREL PACK DROPS 9 PERCENT

The pack of tuna by California canners during the month of April increased 44 percent over the previous month and was 52 percent more than the pack of the same month in 1943, according to information released by the California Division of Fish and Game. The April pack totaled 198,445 standard cases of tuna compared with 137,725 packed during March and 130,309 cases canned during April 1943. The pack for the first four months of 1944, which totaled 509,000 cases, exceeded that of the similar period of 1943 by 73 percent. This year's increase was due almost entirely to the larger catches by the purse seine vessels in March and April. By species, the largest increases have been made in the pack of bluefin, yellowfin, and striped tuna, with the bluefin pack more than triple last year's figure; striped, nearly double; and yellowfin, up about 45 percent. The pack of bonito and albacore

has been smaller than last year, but the heavy catches of these species do not normally begin until later in the year.

The production of canned mackerel was at a standstill for the second consecutive month. In April 1943, only 7 cases were packed. The four-month pack of the current year amounted to 84,444 standard cases, a decrease of 9 percent compared with the previous year.

Standard cases of tuna represent cases of 48 7-ounce cans, while those of mackerel represent cases of 48 1-pound cans.

SHRIMP CANNING CONTINUES SLOW DURING APRIL

A small portion only of the shrimp caught in the Gulf were used for canning in April, according to the Service's Fishery Market News office in New Orleans. The 646 standard cases packed by the canneries under supervision of the Food and Drug Administration brought the season's total to 383,173 cases. This was 69 percent of the total for the corresponding date a year previous and 53 percent of the 5-year average to the end of April.

1944

Wet and Dry Pack Shrimp in all Sizes in Tin and Glass--Standard Cases*

*All figures on basis of new standard case--48 No. 1 cans with 7 oz. per can in the wet pack and 65 oz. per can in the dry pack.

Canned shrimp prices, remaining at ceiling figures, were as follows on May 1. Quotations are from Gulf Coast packers, and are per dozen for No. 1 standard tins, f.o.b., point of production.

Achieving the most impressive gain in production made by any major U. S. fishery this year, the Maine sardine industry has reported a pack of 12,082,023 pounds during the first third of 1944, or nearly triple the pack of 4,548,771 pounds in the same period last year, the Office of the Coordinator of Fisheries announced May 24.

Maine sardine canneries normally pack about 10 percent of the year's total during the period from January 1 to April 30, the most active months for the industry being those from June to October.