The action was taken through Amdt. No. 16 to MPR 418--Fresh Fish and Seafood. The amendment became effective November 9, 1943. Excerpts follow: 1. Section 2 (a) is amended by inserting after the words "depending on the character of sale." the sentence "Also, a producer who performs the functions of a primary fish shipper wholesaler or other wholesaler at an established place of doing business, and who prior to July 13, 1943, was engaged in performing those functions at an established place of doing business, may sell at the prices provided in Table B, D or E depending on the character of the sale." 2. Section 13 (c) is amended by inserting after the words "as provided in section 7." the sentence "If the statement furnished a purchaser at the time of delivery does not identify the size, grade and style of dressing, the maximum price which may be charged for the fresh fish and seafood involved in the sale is the maximum price for the lowest priced size, grade and style of dressing of the species of fresh fish and seafood sold: Provided, That this paragraph shall not apply to any sales made at prices listed in Table A in section 20." 3. Section 13 (d) is added to read as follows: (d) Every primary fish shipper wholesaler selling fresh shrimp and/or prawn in containers shall mark in clearly legible numbers and letters on the outside of each container or on a tag attached thereto the count and net weight of the shrimp and/or prawn within the container and the name and address of the shipper. 4. Section 19 is amended by inserting after the words "for which provision is made," the sentence "Any seller who fresh processes fresh fish and seafood which he purchased in containers may add to his selling price for the fresh processed fish as container charge that amount, not exceeding 34, which will enable him to recover the full amount of the container charge paid by him when he purchased the fish involved in the fresh processing." 5. The title of Table C in section 20 is amended to read as follows: TABLE C-MAXIMUM PRICES FOR RETAILER-OWNED COOPERATIVE SALES AND SALES BY WHOLESALERS AMENDMENT 17 TO MPR 418 ISSUED NOVEMBER 26 The pricing of fresh head-on shrimp and prawn by wholesalers was revised November 26 by the OPA in a manner designed to cut the cost of this seafood to the consumer in New Orleans, where most head-on shrimp and prawn is consumed, and to make it possible for canners in the Louisiana city to buy in competition with canners buying at ports-of-entry. These changes were made in an amendment to the regulation controlling prices of fresh fish and seafood, which also made several other changes in that regulation--among them one re-establishing a normal differential of 2 cents a pound in favor of bluefin lake herring, weighing one pound or more, caught in Green Bay over ordinary Great Lakes herring. This is a customary differential in normal times. The bluefin herring of this size go almost altogether to processors. The margin allowed a primary fish shipper-wholesaler of head-on shrimp or prawn is lowered by 1 cents a pound on all sizes and a like deduction is made in the margins of all other wholesalers of this seafood. Any margin for a sale by an intermediary wholesaler to other wholesalers is eliminated entirely. The actual cost of transportation, not to exceed in any case $1.50 for a 210-pound barrel, from a port-of-entry to New Orleans by a producer may be charged the buyer and may be passed on by wholesalers of head-on shrimp. This charge, however, must be absorbed by the wholesaler of headless shrimps, who buys headon, or by the canner or other processor who buys in the New Orleans market. OPA regional or district offices can publish applicable transportation rates between ports-of-entry and New Orleans. These actions will bring about a decrease of from 2 to 3 cents a pound to the consumer of head-on shrimp and prawn in New Orleans. They also will bring about a reduction of about one cent a pound of the price of head-on shrimp to the shipper who removes the heads and sells headless shrimp at the maximum prices established for him. At the same time, the changes mean that the price of head-on shrimp to a New Orleans canner will be raised by the cost of the transportation approximately 2 of a cent a pound. These canners, a small segment of the industry, have bought at higher prices than those prevailing at the port-of-entry in times when there was no price control. them to compete equally with others for the purchase of shrimp. The action allows The marketing of head-on shrimp is almost entirely a localized operation confined to shrimp producing centers and customary in the New Orleans market. Rapid deterioration prevents the shipment of head-on shrimp for any distance. The fresh shrimp distributed on a large scale throughout the United States are headless. Other changes in the fresh fish and seafood regulation clarify or make minor corrections in existing provisions. These actions were taken through Amendment No. 17 to MPR 418--Fresh Fish and Seafood. The amendment, which became effective December 2, 1943, is excerpted as follows: 1. Section 2 (b) is amended by deleting the words "Where a producer (fisherman), besides producing and bringing his catch to port" and inserting in their place the words "Where a producer, besides bringing fresh fish or seafood to port". 2. Section 3 (a) is amended by deleting the words "A sale by a primary fish shipper wholesaler is a sale by a person who buys fresh fish or seafood from a producer" and inserting in their place the words "A sale by a primary fish shipper wholesaler is a sale by a person who buys and receives fresh fish or seafood from a producer at a port-of-entry or inland". 3. In section 18 the definition "Producer" is amended to read as follows: "Producer" means the fisherman and those persons allied with him in the catching and landing of fresh fish or seafood, and includes any person who sells or delivers at a port-of-entry or at any other place fresh fish or seafood which he bought and received on a vessel owned or hired by him. 4. In section 20, Tables A, B, C, D, and E, the columns heading "Price in cents per pound" is amended to read "Price per pound" and the "O" sign before the decimal point in each of the prices listed for Schedule I, Item 1 in Tables A, B, C, D, and E, is replaced by a "$" sign. 5. In section 20, Table A, the designation footnote 33 is added to Item Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Schedule No. 61. 6. In section 20, Table A, the sizes of Item Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Schedule No. 61 are amended to read respectively as follows: Under 9 count per #. Over 15-18 count inclusive per #. 9-12 count inclusive per #. per Over 12-15 count inclusive per 7. Footnote 31 following Table A in section 20 is amended to read as follows: 31Maximum prices listed apply only to fish caught in Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron, and waters tributary there to but not in Saginaw Bay, except that the maximum prices for Bluefin lake herring, weighing one pound or more in the round and caught in Green Bay, are the prices listed in Schedule No. 63. 8. Footnote 33 is added at the end of Table A in section 20 to read as follows: 33 When a producer delivers head-on shrimp from a port of entry to New Orleans, Louisiana, add the actual cost of such transportation, not to exceed $1.50 per barrel (210) of head-on shrimp, to the maximum prices listed. 9, 10, 12, and 13. In section 20, Tables B, C, D, and E, Item Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Schedule No. 61 are amended to read as follows: .05% .08 .10 TABLE B-MAXIMUM PRICES FOR PRIMARY FISH SHIPPER SALES OF FRESH FISH AND SEAFOOD. FISH SHIPPER WHOLESALERS TO OTHER WHOLESALERS OF FRESH FISH AND SEAFOOD. *Added at the end of Table C only to read as follows: For sale of this item by a retailer-owned cooperative, it may add 1 cents to the maximum prices listed. AMENDMENT 18 TO MPR 418 ISSUED NOVEMBER 30 Fishermen who are also wholesale distributors of fresh fish and seafood were given on December 1, a clarification of the maximum prices they may charge by the Office of Price Administration in an amendment to MPR 418 issued November 30. OPA also redefined a sale by a primary fish shipper-wholesaler and fixed producers ceiling prices for dressed codfish. The action makes it clear that a fisherman may receive prices set for primary shipperwholesalers only under the following conditions: He must sell fresh fish or seafood to other wholesalers or to a retail chain store warehouse from his plant or the established place of business where he handles the fish and has been doing so for most of the year prior to July 13, 1943. Fishermen who have sheds where they package fish and send it to brokers may not charge the primary shipper-wholesaler price because they do not make and have not made sales from their plant or established place of business. By the terms of the maximum price regulation for fresh fish and seafood before the action, fishermen could receive no more than the maximum set therein for "producers," regardless of the character of the sale or the function performed by the fisherman. Later amendments to the regulation provided certain exceptions by which cooperatives and primary shipperwholesalers could receive the higher prices set forth in the amendment for other types of sales. This resulted in many "producers" selling fresh fish and seafood at prices listed for primary wholesalers, although they had not performed the wholesaler function immediately prior to July 13, 1943. The action, making specific the conditions under which fishermen or producers may sell at primary shipper-wholesaler prices, corrects the disruption in distribution that was caused when these producers began performing the functions of wholesalers and by-passing the normal channels of distribution. In redefining a sale by a primary fish shipper-wholesaler, OPA made it necessary for such a sale to be made to wholesalers or to a retail chain store warehouse from the established place of business of the primary wholesaler. Maximum price for sales of dressed codfish by producers are set in line with those already established for producers' sales of round and drawn codfish. The new prices reflect average 1942 prices at this time of year when fish are coming into market. They are fixed for three size classifications: 5 to 10 pounds, 10 to 25 pounds and 25 pounds and up. Amendment 18 to Maximum Price Regulation No. 418--Fresh Fish and Seafood--makes the foregoing changes, effective December 6, 1943. Excerpts follow: 1. 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 for 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 Tables B, D or E 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. 2. Section 3 (a) is amended to read as follows: (a) Sale by a primary fish shipper-wholesaler. A sale by a primary fish shipperwholesaler is a sale by a person who buys and receives fresh fish or seafood from a producer at a port of entry or inland and who sells bulk, boxed, barreled or packaged fresh fish or seafood from his established place of doing business to other wholesalers (retailer-owned cooperative, cash and carry, and service and delivery) or to a retail chain store warehouse. 3. In section 20, Table A, Item Nos. 10, 11 and 12 are added to Schedule No. 2 to read as follows: TABLE A MAXIMUM PRICES FOR PRODUCERS OF FRESH FISH AND SEAFOOD Price in cents per pound for bulk ex-vessel--Boxed prices are 1 cent per pound higher Issuing Amendment 3 to MPR-439, effective September 21, OPA increased the coverage of this regulation to include the following species: 48. Pilchards (Sardinia caerulea) Whitefish (Coregonus clupeiformis) (Caught in Canadian waters) 49. 50. Lake Trout (Cristivomer mamaycush) (Caught in Canadian waters) 51. Yellow Pike (Yellows or Wall-eyed Pike) (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) (Caught in 52. Pickerel (Jacks, Great Northern Pike or Grass Pike) (Esox lucius) (Caught in Canadian 53. Sauger (Sand Pike) (Stizostedion canadense) (Caught in Canadian waters) 54. Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) (Caught in Canadian waters) 55. Shrimp and Prawn Section 2 (a) of the regulation was amended by deleting in Item 34 the word "(Salmogrirdnerii)" and inserting in its place "(Salmo gairdnerii)," and by deleting in Item 44 the words "(Pacific Coast)." RULING MAKES IMPORTED FRESH FISH SUBJECT TO PRICE CEILINGS Retailers selling fish which they themselves imported must apply their permitted retail mark-up to a cost figure no more than the maximum price which a primary fish shipper could charge them under the regulation controlling fish prices in this country, OPA announced November 2. The ruling covers all the salt-water fish and seafood now under price control, including lake herring, which also is under the regulation controlling the salt-water fish and seafood. The action was taken through Amendment No. 5 to Maximum Price Regulation No. 439-Fresh Fish and Seafood at Retail. The amendment became effective November 6, 1943. Two things caused the action. Retailers importing fish not under price control at the source of supply and then applying their normal mark-up to their net cost simply are passing on to the consuming public the unrestricted cost of the fish. At the same time, since the primary fish shipper must sell under maximum prices, these retailers are in a position to divert fish which normally would go to the primary fish shippers. The action will tend to strengthen the existing price controls over fish. Excerpts from Amendment 5 follow: 1. Section 2 (a) is amended by adding the following item: 56. Lake herring (Leucichthys artedi). 2. Section 4 is amended by inserting after the sentence ending with the words "supplier's ceiling price." the following sentence: To compute the maximum selling price for fresh fish or seafood of any species listed in section 2 which the retailer bought outside of the United States or Alaska or which were delivered to him from outside the United States or Alaska, the retailer shall use as his "het delivered cost" whichever of the following is lower: (1) The "net delivered cost" as computed above or (2) the maximum price for the sale of such fresh fish or seafood by a primary fish shipper-wholesaler as listed in Maximum Price Regulation No. 418, Article IV, section 20, Table B, plus the container price as listed in MPR-418, Article IV, section 19, where a container, as there defined, is used, plus all transportation charges. Frozen Fish Trade 35 MILLION POUNDS OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FROZEN DURING AUGUST Fishery products frozen by domestic freezers during August 1943, totaled 35,621,000 pounds, an increase of approximately 9 percent over the same month the previous year, according to Current Fishery Statistics No. 83, published by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The main items frozen during the month were rosefish, whiting, salmon, and mackerel. Freezings of Fishery Products in United States Cold-storage Plants |