CHICAGO RECEIPTS IN MAY ABOUT ONE THIRD BELOW 1943 Dropping 27 percent below the May 1943 total, receipts of fresh and frozen fishery products in the wholesale market in Chicago totaled 5,464,000 pounds in May 1944, according to the Service's Chicago Market News office, This decline was caused by reduced receipts of salt-water fish and shellfish, notably halibut and shrimp. The delay in operations of the halibut fleet on the Pacific Coast and a general shortage of shrimp in the Gulf area were given as factors affecting the supply of the se products. Total receipts gained seasonally over April. During the first five months of 1944, arrivals in Chicago were il percent below those of 1943. This is reportedly due to the fact that cold-storage holdings have stayed high at a time when they would normally decline and the possibility that a saturation point may have been reached last year, particularly on "rough" fish. These species, particularly carp, enjoyed unprecedented sales in 1943. RECEIPTS OF FISHERY PRODUCTS AT SEATTLE SHOW IMPROVEMENT DURING MAY Seattle's receipts of fresh and frozen fish and shellfish during may increased 80 percent over those received during April, according to the Service's local Market News office. The beginning of the halibut fishery accounted in large measure for this gain after a long fleet tie-up caused by a disagreement on price schedules between the fishermen and OPA. Salmon receipts, while somewhat lighter than those received during May 1943, were considerably heavier than in April. Salmon showed a 14 percent increase for the first 5 months of 1944 over the same period in 1943. Ground or bottom-fish operations also showed improvement during May. This improvement was due largely to the fact that a number of new boats entered the fleet. New gear and equipment installed on many older boats, wider fishing areas, and longer fishing trips also contributed to greater efficiency of operations and a resultant increase in production. Receipts of fresh and Frozen Fishery Products at Seattle May 1944 5 mos. Compared with May Jan. - May 5 months 1943 Classification: Pounds Peroent Percent Pounds Percent Total Fish and shellfish 5,940,000 + 80 -45 21,221,000 -20 Important Items: Halibut 173,000 +850 -97 2,924,000 -68 Lingcod $1,000 +134 +1 2,524,000 Rockfish 509,000 + 46 -25 1,583,000 -28 Sablefish 306,000 + 19 -21 871,000 -38 Salmon 629,000 +125 -39 3,302,000 +14 Sole 2,037,000 +212 +28 3.425,000 +25 *Halibut and shark fleets and receipts from local and all other sources, 24,384,000 6,942,000 4,506,000 5,046,000 16,895,000 10,093.000 OPA REVISES HALIBUT PRICE DIFFERENTIALS IN AMDT. 31 TO MPR-418 Fishermen's prices on drawn halibut have been increased by lè cents per pound, the OPA announced on June 2. The current prices and the new prices in cents per pound for drawn No, I halibut (10 to 60 pounds dressed weight) are as follows: The new prices, effective June 2, more equitably adjust the differentials that have always existed between the drawn and dressed fish, OPA said. Prices for halibut heads and cheeks have not been set at this time. However, they , will be set after the first catches of halibut arrive in Seattle so that tests can be made of the yield of the edible halibut from the head, the labor costs involved in processing the head, and the relationship between the weight of the head and the weight of the drawn halibut, the OPA said. The action also raises the prices on all halibut landed at Alaskan ports by $ cent. This increase was found necessary after a re-examination of the transportation differential between Alaskan ports and Prince Rupert. It was found that the cost of transportation from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert is more nearly in than the one cent transportation cost originally used in setting the differential. Thus, the Alaskan prices were raised accordingly. Amendment No. 31 to MPR-418--Fresh Fish and Seafood--became effective June 2, 1944. Excerpts follow: Maximum Price Regulation No. 418 is Deduct 34 cents in American currency for amended in the following respects: sales of halibut landed on the Pacific Coast of Canada. 1. In section 20, footnote 38 following Table A applicable to Schedule No. 23, For sales of dressed hallbut landed on the Hallbut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) is Atlantic Coast add 2 cents. For sales of round hallbut deduct 6%2 cents amended to read as follows: from the appropriate dressed price. ** When landed in the following Alaskan For sales of drawn hallbut deduct 1% cents ports deduct the following amounts: Ketchi- from the appropriate dressed price. kan, 344 cents; Wrangell and Petersburg, 340 cents; Juneau, Sitka and Pelican City, 3% 2. In section 20, footnote 39 following cents; Port Willams, 4%, cents. When landed Table B applicable to Schedule No. 23, in any other ports in Alaska, deduct the Halibut (H'ppoglossus hippoglossus) is amount specifed for the nearest port listed. read as follows: » Deduct the following amounts for sales of steaks processed from hallbut landed in the following Alaskan ports: Ketchikan, 4 cents; Wrangell and Petersburg, 4% cents; Juneau, Bitka and Pelican City, 4% cents; Port Williams, 6%4 cents. For sales of steaks processed from hallbut landed in any other port in Alaska, deduct the amount specided for the nearest port listed. For sales of steaks processed from hallbut landed on the Atlantic Coast, add 2% cents. For sales of steaks processed from hallbut landed on the Pacific Coast of Canada, deduct 344 cents. AMDT. 32 TO MPR-418 EFFECTIVE JUNE 17 A nation-wide reduction of one cent in the dollar-and-cents prices for sales of fresh fish and seafood to retailers by primary fish shipper wholesalers and by many service-anddelivery wholesalers, was announced on June 13 by the OPA, Another reduction which will affect the retailer's price was made in the provisions of the fish regulation limiting conditions under which container allowances may be charged or passed on at all wholesale levels of distribution. This will prevent pyramiding of such charges, a practice which had developed. The combined actions, effective June 17, 1944, will result in a reduction in consumer prices of from one to three cents per pound. Also, the price of shrimp is reduced in the action by lì-cents per pound to 3 cents per pound for a cash-and-carry sale by a primary fish shipper, and by là-cents per pound to 2-cents per pound on sales by a service-and-delivery wholesaler. These reductions have been made as a result of a reexamination of wholesaler margins which resulted in a more accurate breakdown of types of sales and their appropriate markups. The reductions are effected by specifying a lower table of prices in the wholesale fish regulation under which the primary fish shipper sells to a retailer. Formerly, in such sales, the primary fish shipper used Table D in the regulation. Now he must use only the lower prices, which are contained in Table C, as his prices in such sales. Table D prices covered all cash-and-carry sales to retailers and purveyors of meals. They now cover such sales by secondary handlers. Table C previously covered only sales by retailer-owned cooperatives and sales by secondary wholesalers to other wholesalers. In the current action, also, Table E, which sets prices for service and delivery sales, is eliminated from the regulation. Service and delivery sales are broken down into sales to retailers and sales to purveyors of meals, The margin provided in Table E prior to its elimination, was set primarily with reference to sales to purveyors of meals. The cost of service and delivery to a retailer is ordinarily less. Thus, a service and delivery allowance of là-cents per pound is now allowed for port sales and for sales by a primary fish shipper to retailers. One and one-half cents is also allowed for a service and delivery sale to a retailer by a wholesaler who buys at Table B prices. (Table B prices formerly covered sales to wholesalers by primary fish shippers.) This wholesaler ordinarily buys in large quantities and his sales to retailers are in large quantities. The wholesaler who buys at Table C prices is ordinarily a small volume wholesaler and/or a combination wholesaler and retailer. He is allowed 25-cents per pound on his service and delivery sales to retailers. The service and delivery allowance of 2g-cents per pound for sales to purveyors of meals remains unchanged. However, this allowance is further restricted to deliveries from the seller's own motor truck or similar vehicle or such a vehicle used solely for his own deliveries. The allowance cannot be taken where deliveries are pooled in a truck nor where a cart is used. Sales in a port area and sales outside a port area are distinguished for the first time in the regulation, with the former now stated as sales made by seller within 50 miles from the place where the fish and seafood have been landed. All port sales of fish by a wholesaler except fillets, must be sold at prices no higher than those in Table B to other wholesalers irrespective of where the purchasing wholesaler is located. Thus, no shipment from a port area to an inland wholesaler can be made at Table C or higher prices. However, OPA Regional Administrators are now empowered to designate a port area with a radius larger than 50 miles, but the Table B prices will still cover sales from this larger area for the above mentioned type of sales. Further restrictions covered in the action are as follows: : (1) Except for sales of shrimp, salmon, and halibut, the branch warehouse of a primary fishshipper may still sell at Table B prices to wholesalers and at Table D prices to retailers. service and delivery allowance for sales to retailers is reduced to 15-cents per pound. The branch warehouse can base its prices to retailers on Table D only when both the sale and delivery is made from the stock of the branch warehouse and the sale is negotiated and made from the branch warehouse. A warehouse can qualify as a primary fish shipper's branch warehouse if the primary fish shipper has two or more employees stationed at the warehouse who are engaged in making sales and performing services solely for the primary fish shipper from such warehouse. Shrimp, salmon, and halibut, unlike East Coast species, are sent inland in carload lots. Primary fish shippers send carload lots of these species to their branch warehouses. Such branch warehouse sales are usually in large quantities both to wholesalers and retailers. Sales to retailers can therefore be based on Table C. (2) The container provisions in this regulation are revised to prevent the pyramiding of such charges. In no event, now, can a container allowance be made if the container is returned by the customer to the seller. Also, the container allowence now depends upon the net weight of the fish rather than the amount of fish the container can hold, A seller of fresh fish and seafood can now add a container charge only for the container in which he sells. He cannot pass on a charge for the container in which he bought his wares and which he owns. This has been currently happening and has resulted in a higher cost of fish to the retailer. The only exception is a wholesaler who processes fish or seafood into fillots, steaks, or boned fish. He may pass on an amount (not exceeding 3 cents per pound) sufficient to enable him to recover the permitted container allowence he paid. A wholesaler who merely guts or dresses fish is not permitted to pass on a container allowance since he may reuse the container in which he buys. The box allowance given the fisherman is similarly restricted to those cases where the fisherman actually ships the fish or seafood. This was the original intent of that section of the regulation, The allowance price of one container size has been changed in the regulation, change has been made in the 200-pound container, the price of which is now 5/8 cent per pound. The previous allowance price was 3/4 cent per pound. This change is consistent with the general plan for container allowances in the regulation, (3) For the purposes of transportation charges by importers, Boston is established as a port from which a substantial volume of cod, baddock, pollock, hake, cusk, yellowtail, blackback, lemon sole, gray sole, sea dab, and rosefish is shipped. Boston and nearby ports are the major production centers for these species. An importer of these species cannot now add transportation in excess of transportation from Bostoa. However, where the transportation from Boston for these species exceeds (a) the actual transportation costs from the seller's shipping point to the importer's receiving point or (b) the actual cost of the transportation to the importer's receiving point from the point at which the fish or seafood entered the United States, or, the carload rail rate from the point in the United States nearest the foreign shipper's shipping point, the importer must use as the transportation allowence whichever of these alternatives is lowest. (4) The regulation as now amended redefines a primary fish shipper sale and other types of sales, This action makes explicit that the maximum price is established by reference to the particular sale rather than the class of the seller. The particular type of sale is now tied to the classification of the person to whom the fish or seafood is sold. A wholesaler is thus defined as a person who buys fresh fish and seafood and resells 20 percent or more of such fish or seafood. to persons other than ul timate consumers. A retailer is defined as a person other than & purveyor of neals who buys fresh fish and seafood and resells more than 80 percent of such fish or seafood to ultimate consumers. Sales by a retailer-owned cooperative still depend, however, on the type and classification of the seller. A pricing on the basis of the type of sale involved and the classification of the buyer accomplishes the same result as the former Section 5 (a) in the regulation, which stated that regardless of the classification of a wholesaler, his maximum price depended on the particular type of sale involved. This section is therefore eliminated in this amendment. The current action also clarifies the method of setting prices for halibut. An importer's buying price for halibut is explicitly restricted to the Table A or B price. This will prevent the multiplication of mark-ups at Canadian ports. The term "grade" as used in the invoice provision of the regulation is defined to mean a qualification of the species in the regulation that is, "seine caught" and "troll caught" in the salmon schedules. This makes explicit the requirement that such qualifications must be stated on the invoice where they are a factor in the maximum price. The action also exempts Canadian lake fish caught in international waters from price control until the American production from the same waters is placed under control. Regional OPA administrators are given the power to modify the invoice requirements in accordance with local marketing conditions. The differential between California ports and Seattle and Astoria, Washington, has been abolished for troll caught chinook, king and silver salmon. This increases the prices for these species landed in California ports by là cents. It conforms with an earlier action establishing differentials for specific California ports, Ex Amendment 32 to MPR-418--Fresh Fish and Seafood--became effective June 17, 1944. cerpts follow: 1. Sections 6 through 20, inclusive, are redesignated sections 8 through 22, inclusive. 2. Section 1 is amended to read as follows: Section 1 What this regulation does. (a) This regulation fixes maximum prices at which producers and wholesalers may sell fresh fish or seafood. It sets prices for various types of sales by wholesalers to other wholesalers, retail chain store warehouses, government agencies, retailers and purveyors of meals. A wholesaler is a person who buys fresh fish or seafood and resells 20 percent or more of such fresh fish or seafood to persons other than ultimate consumers. A retailer is a person other than a purveyor of meals who buys fresh fish and seafood and resells more than 80 percent of such fish or seafood to ultimate consumers. This regulation also sets prices for sales at retail by such producers and wholesalers as are not covered in Maximum Price Regulation No. 507 and Maximum Price Regulation No. 439. (b) Prohibition against selling or buying above maximum prices. Regardless of any contract or obligation, no person shall sell or deliver, or buy or receive in the course of trade or business any fresh fish or seafood at a price higher than the maximum prices established for it by this regulation; and no person shall agree, offer, solicit or attempt to do any of the foregoing. However, prices lower than the maximum prices may be charged and paid. 3. Section 2 (a) is amended to read as follows: (a) Ex-vessel fish. Table A (Article IV, section 20 (a) lists the species of fresh fish and seafood (including shellfish and mollusks) for which maximum prices are established by this regulation. The prices are fixed for each month. For each month, there are two columns of prices. The prices in Table A on sales by producers apply irrespective of the nature of the purchaser and irrespective of whether the fish are sold through an agent of any kind. Nevertheless, a producer who performs the functions of a primary fish shipper wholesaler or other wholesaler at his established place of doing business, and who for the substantial portion of the year prior to July 13, 1943, was engaged in performing the functions of a primary fish shipper wholesaler or other wholesaler at his established place of doing business, may sell at the prices provided in Table B, C, or D depending on the character of the sale. The left-hand pricing column is the producer's maximum price at the port of entry for the designated species in bulk, ex-vessel, i. e., in the customary way in which the particular species is landed at that port, and of the customary size, where size is a factor in the price. War risk insurance premiums may be paid in addition to the listed maximum prices for those species of fish and in those localities where such premiums have customarily been paid by purchasers of the fish. 4. Section 2 (b) is amended to read as follows: (b) Boxed fish. Where a producer, besides bringing fresh fish or seafood to port, also boxes or barrels his fish at or near the port of entry and ships such fish by common carrier or where his sale of such fish involves transportation to the buyer other than local trucking, hauling or handling, his maximum prices shall be the prices listed in the right hand pricing column of Table A for the species and the month involved. Such prices shall include all brokerage, commission, or any other customary selling fees, transportation and any other expenses incurred. 5. Section 3 is amended to read as follows: Sec. 3. Primary fish shipper sales. (a) A primary fish shipper sale is a sale of fresh fish or seafood by a person (herein called a primary fish shipper wholesaler) who buys and receives such fresh fish or seafood from a producer at a port of entry or inland and who sells such fresh fish or seafood boxed, barrelled, packaged or in bulk from his established place of doing business. (b) Maximum prices for primary fish, shipper sales to wholesalers and chain store warehouses. The maximum price for a primary fish shipper sale to a wholesaler or chain store warehouse, whether made by the primary fish shipper wholesaler himself or his agent, or any other person acting on behalf of or under control of such primary fish shipper wholesaler or through a branch warehouse, is the price listed in Table B in section 22, plus the appropriate container allowance provided in section 21, plus the transportation allowance in section 9, if the fish or seafood is sold and delivered from a branch warehouse. (c) Maximum prices for primary fish shipper sales to retailers or purveyors of meals. The maximum price for a primary fish shipper sale to a retailer or purveyor of meals, except from a branch warehouse as provided in subparagraph (d), is the price listed in Table C in section 22, plus the appropriate container allowance, if any, provided in section 21, plus the allowance provided in section 6 for a service and delivery sale where such sale is made. (d) Branch warehouse sales. The maximum price for a primary fish shipper sale of fresh fish or seafood (except shrimp, salmon and halibut) to & retailer or purveyor of meals where the sale is negotiated or made at a branch warehouse as herein defined and where the fish or seafood is sold and delivered from the stock of a primary fish shipper wholesaler's branch warehouse which is remote from his main place of doing business, and at which warehouse the primary fish shipper employs two or more full-time employees who are stationed at and engaged in making sales and performing services solely for the primary fish shipper from such warehouse is the price listed in Table D in section 22 plus the allowance provided in section 6 for a service and delivery sale, where such a sale is made, plus the transportation allowance in section 9, plus the appropriate container allowance in section 21. The maximum price for such a sale of shrimp, salmon or halibut is the price listed in Table C in section 22 plus the allowance provided in section 6 for a service and delivery sale, where such a sale is made, plus the transportation allowance in section 9, plus the appropriate container allowance in section 21. 6. Section 4 is amended to read as follows: SEC. 4. Port sales. (a) A port sale of fresh fish or seafood is a sale by a wholesaler which is made at or which involves delivery from any place in the United States or outside the United States within 50 miles from the point where the fish or seafood was landed. A port sale is also a sale which is made at or which involves delivery from a place within a port area with respect to any species and period as established by the Administrator or otherwise established by order in accordance with paragraph (b). (b) Regional designation. Any regional office of the Office of Price Administi. ion or any such other office as may be authorized by the appropriate regional office may by order designate as a port area, for any species and any period, any area within its jurisdiction in which a substantial volume of that species is landed or to which a substantial volume is shipped by producers. (c) Port sales to wholesalers and chain store warehouses. The maximum price for a port sale of fish or seafood other than fillets to a wholesaler or chain store warehouse is the price listed in Table B in section 22 plus the transportation allowance provided in section 9, plus the appropriate container allowance provided in section 21. 7. Section 5 is amended to read as follows: SEC. 5. Sales other than primary fish shipper sales by wholesalers-(a) TO other wholesalers and chain store warehouses. Except as provided for a port sale of fish or seafood other than fillets and a primary fish shipper sale, the maximum price for a sale to a wholesaler or a chain store warehouse by another wholesaler is the price listed in Table C in section 22 plus the transportation allowance as provided in section 9, plus the appropriate container allowance as provided in section 21. (b) To retailers or purveyors of meals. The maximum price for a sale other than a primary fish shipper sale to a retailer or purveyor of meals by a wholesaler is the price listed in Table D in section 22 plus the transportation allowance in section 9, plus the appropriate container allowance in section 21, plus the addition for service and delivery where such a sale is made, as provided in section 6. (c) Sales by a retailer-owned cooperative wholesaler. (1) A sale by a retailerowned cooperative wholesaler is a sale by a person which is either a non-profit organization or a corporation of which 51 percent or more of the stock is owned by its retail customers and which generally sells f. o. b. warehouse or delivers to afiliated retail stores. (2) Maximum prices for sales by a retailer-owned cooperative wholesaler. The max mum price for a sale by a retailer-owned cooperative wholesaler is the price listed in Table C in section 22, plus the appropriate container allowance provided in section 21, plus transportation as provided in section 9. 8. Section 6 is added to read as follows: SEC. 6. Service and delivery sales. (a) A service and delivery sale is a sale of fresh fish or seafood to a retailer or purveyor of meals by a person (herein called a service and delivery wholesaler) who delivers such fish or seafood in his own motor truck or wagon or in a motor truck or wagon used solely for his own deliveries from his established place of doing business to the individual retail store or to the place of doing business of the purveyor of meals. (b) To retailers. For a service and delivery sale of any fresh fish or seafood to a retailer by a primary fish shipper wholesaler, his agent or branch warehouse, or for a service and delivery sale of fresh fish or seafood other than fillets by a wholesaler (other than a retailerowned cooperative wholesaler) who bought such fish or seafood through a port sale, such wholesaler may add 142 cents per pound to the price as determined in section 3 (b) (based on Table |