T h e Economic VsZue c . f ths Mi-nk Faod F i s h e r y
i n Oregon i n R e l s t f o n :,o t h e O t t e r Trawl F i s h e r y ,
3.952 %u,d 1953
.
,
The economfc. v s l u e o f t h e mink f o o d . f i s h e r y in. Oregon i n r e l q -
t i o n t o the t o t s 1 Or-?gon trawl f i s h e r y i n 1952 and 1953 was l a r g e l y
dependent on f i l l e t msrket c c x d i t ? - o n s .
1,
The demand f o r t r a w l - c s u g h t
fish for t h e f i l l e t 39rke.t i.n 1953 w s s muoh l e s s thsn i n 1352, T s l i s
caused a r e d u c t i o n i n t h e numbers o f pounds of' f i l l e t c a r c a s s e s
e v s i l s b l e f o r mink fqod snd r e s u l t e d i n t \ e d e l i v e r y
qf
more t r s w l -
csught whole fish f o r mink t o a d ,
In 1953, rnore t r s w l b o s t s l a n d e d
fish f a r mi-nk food than in 1952,
Tblrty-three boats, slmost a11 o f
t % e Oregon trswl fleet, made some l a n d i n g s of wbole f i s h f o r mink
food 'during t h e g e a r .
ii few h s t s ,
p s r t i c u l s r l y s t Idewport, f i s h e d
slmost e n t i r e l y f o r mink f o o d throughout '1'353,
-
Flowever,
t h e 111sj o r l t y
of t h e mink f o o d l e n d i n g s of rr:hole fish were i n c i d e n t s 1 %a ff s h
l s n d e d far t%s f i l l e t m s r k e t ,
L
The whole f i s h landed fa;. mink f o c d I n c l u d e d such fish a s t u r b o t ,
bellinghem s o l e , s k s t e , sand d a b , a n d other f i s h which h s v e I f t t l e
o r n o v s l u e s t p r e s e n t on t h e f i l l e t msrket,
T h e Psndfngs slso i n -
cluded r e x s o l e , s t s r r y f l o u n C e r , and rockfishes which a r e u s e d to s
limited extent by t h e f i l l e t ~ s r k e t ;2nd dover, e n g l i s h , and p z t r s l e
s o l e s snd r s c i f i c , ocean p e r c h .
Tbe ].%st f o u r s p e c i e s include t h e
b u l k of t b e fish bought f o r t h e f i l l e t m s r k e t s ,
The whole P l s h
l s n d e d i.n 1953 f o r mink f ~ o dt r ~ scomposed, by w e i z h t , o f
of f i s h s p e c t e s not u t i l i z e d
by7
35 p e r cent
t h e f i l l e t fndustry, 35 p e r cent of
f i s h used t o s l i m i t e d extent !?or . t h e f i . 1 1 e t m s r k e t , and 30 p e r c e n t
of f i s h s p e c i e s u s e d e x t e n s i v e l y by t h e f . i l l e t i n d u s t r y ,
F ~ l l o w i n gi s s t a b l e which shows t h e l a n d i n g s of t r s w l - c a u g h t
f i s h for the f i l l e t markets snrl t h e l a n d i n g s of brkle f i s h f o r mink
food d u r i n g 1952 and 1953,
Also l i s t e d s r e t h e d o l l s r v a l u e s r e -
c e i v e d S y the fishermen for t ' t e s e p r o d u c t s .
The p r i c e r e c 2 i v e d b y
t h e fishermen f o r t h e f i l l e t m a r k e t f i s h r s n ~ e dfrom f o u r c e q t s
pound f o r r o c k f i s t l t o seven c e l t s
sverspe
3f
2
pound f a r p e t r a l e sole with an
f I v 2 c e n t s s pound, w3ich w s s the f i g u r e used t o compute
ttle v s l u e t o t h e fishermen f o p t h e f i l l e t f i s h .
ceived
2'4
3
Tbe f is%ermen r e -
c e n t s p e r pou'nd f o r whole fish d e l i v e r e d t o t h e Oregon Fur
Producers A s s q c i a t i o q ' s p l a n t s for mink f o o d .
'
Tsble 1, Pounds of G!hole P i s h Lsnded for t h e
Fillet
snd f o r t h e Mink Food M ~ r k e tand
the V s l u e s Receive=d, by the F i s h e r m e n for These
P ~ o d u c t s , 1952 a n d 1953,
-
Pounds L s n d s d
1952
P
\
4
Fillet
Market fish
Mink h o d
b?hole F i s h
20,SCO ,000
V ~ l u eReceived
195 3
6,000,000
1,300,008
S,300,000
21,B00,006
1
: ,ooo,ooo
1.952
$l,025,000
32,500
'$~,057,500
1953
$4OO,OOO
125,000
$525 pOOO
The ccnnomic c o n d i t i o n of the 1953 f i l l e t market i s r e f l e c t e d
i n the f a c t t h s t o n l v 39 per c a n t s s much f i s h was l a n d e d f o r t h e
f i l l e t m g r k e t 1~ 1953 a s i n 1952,
The effect of the f i l l e t m a r k e t
c o n d i t i o n s on the whole f i s h l m d i n g s of mink f o o d can be s e e n when
i t 3 s noted tbst i n 1952, 6,0 per cent by weight of the t o t a l o t t e r
trawl
landings was s o l d for m f n k f o o d , w h i l e i n 1953, 38 per cent
of t h e t o t s 1 o t t e r l s n d i n g s was used f o r mink f o o d ,
As hss been mentioned, t h e smc~untof f i s h c s r c s s s e s e v s i l s b l e
f o r mink f q o d c o n t r o l s , t o s ? r e a t e x t e n t , t h e snount o f whole f i s h
t h s t i s l a n d e d for mink f o o d ,
According t o Varve H i l l e , msnsger of
t h e Oregon F u r P r o d u c e r s Association, t h e f i l l e t c e r c s s s e s used f o r
mink f ? o d r e p r e s e n t 60 p e r went by weight of t h e t o t s 1 pounds o f
f i s h l a n d e d for t h e f i l l e t mer4iet.
.1D
M
On t h i s b s s - l s , t h e approximate
poundsges o f f i s h c a r c a s s e s t h a t were s o l d f o r mink f o o d i n 1952 and
1953 were 12,000,000 pounds snd 5,OOO,OOO
pounds r e s p e c t i v e l y ,
The
s s l e of f i s h c s r c s s s e s for mink f o o d i n c r e a s e d t h e p r i c e r e c e i v e d by
the f i s h e r m e n for a l l t r a w l - c s u g h t fish s o l d t~ the f i l l e t market by
about 1
4 cent
s pound,
an i n d i r e c t v s l u e t o t h e f i s h e r m e n ,
The f o l l o w i n g t a b l e & o w s t h e v a l u e t o t h e f i s h e r m e n f r o m the
.
s s l e of whole fish f o r m:nk f o o d and t h e v a l u e d e r i v e d i n d i r e c t l y
for the sale d f i s h c s r a s s s e s f o r m:nk f o o d ,
I n both 1952 and 1953
some o f the f i s h c a r c a s s e s w e r e ground s n d f r o z e n and s ' z i p p d b o u t o f - s t a t e mink ranchers,
T s b l e 2. The Approximate V s l u e Received by the
Fishermen from t h e S a l e of W"lsle Fish snd Fish
C s r c s s s e s for Mink Food, 1952 and 1953.
D i r e c t Value'.:I n d i r e c t Value::--'.:Totel
;:- Whole f i s h landings f a r
mink food ( s e e T s b l e 1) C
?:-aTotsl f i l l e t market f i s h l s n d i n g s ( s e e Tsble 1) 43
21/26 p e r
lb.
per lb.
The r e l s t i o n s h i p between t h e d a l l s r v s f u e Peceived by t%e fishermen from t h e s s l e of whole f i s h snd ff sh c s r c s s s e s and t h e d o l l a r
v a l u e r e c e i v e d b y the f i s h e ~ m t r nf o r s l l t r s w l f i s h l ~ l n d e din 1952
1953 w
grid
'
1
5
~
000
~
~
,
?gi&m~' 6 5 ~
~
:r e s~p e o~t i v e~l y .
Thus, 13 p e s
in 1952 snd 38 p e r cent i n 1953 of t h e t o t s l . dollar value r e -
cent
c e i v e d by t h e t r s w l fishermen i n t'?ose r e s p e c t i v e y e s r s was d e r i v e d ,
d i ~ e c t l vo r I n d i r e c t l y , from t h e s s l e of whole f i s h snd f i s h c s r c a s s e s
f o r mink f o o d ,
The c s l c u l s t e d f i r s t w t l o l e s s i e v a l u e of whole fish snd fish
carcasses, which were s o l d t o r n n k r a n c h e r s , f n d i c s t e s t h e s p p r a x i mste t o t a l m ~ n e t s r yv a l u e of t h e mink food *ffshery, The f i r s t wholes a l e v s l u e used here i n c l u d e s the p r i c e p a i d to t h e fishermen f o r
whole f i s h and t o fillet p l m t s far t h e f i s h c s r c a s s e s ancl. t h e c o s t
of p r o c e s s i n g snd o p e r a t i n g n ~ s r g i nof t h e mink food p l s n t s ,
should r e p r e s e n t t h e t o t s l mocstary value
gf
This
the mink focrd f i s h e r y ,
'These v s l u e s f o r 1952 s n d 1953 s r e given i n t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e ,
Tsble 3, The T o t s l . Monetsry V ~ l u eo f t h e M 3 b
Food F i s h e r y s s Bssed on t h e F i r s t hrbolessle
Value, 1952 snd 1953,
Whale fish-::F i ah' Carcassem:--::-
a 5,000,000 pounds Q 3'4b p e r l b O
1,300,000
II
tt
II
4:-s:-
5,000,000 p.ounds @
P2,OOO,OOO
. tt
"
lb.
2
-
1952
--
1953
1952
1953
The f o r e g o i n g d a t a i n d i c a t e t h a t the m o n e t s ~ yv s l u e of t h e mink
food f i s h e r y i n 1952 snd 1953 Mae s little less than $300,000 snnuslly,
The vslue o f the mink food f i : ; h e r y 'to t h e fishermen, however, v a r i e d
with the economic condf t i o n o f t h e f i l l e t f i s h market,
Thus, the
1953 mink food f f s h e r y wss war7-th eonsidersibly more t o t h e f i s h e r m e n
t h a n w s s t h e 1952 mink food f l s h e r y ,
d.
Q
The mink f o o d f i s h e r y h a s r e -
s u l t e d i n q r e s t e r u t i l i z a t i o n o f t r a w l - c s u g h t f i s h by p r o v i d i n g s
market for s portion of t h e c a t c h which would h s v e been d i s c s r d e d
desd a t s e a ,
As
9
r s s u l t of e x p e r i m e n t s s t t h e E x p e r i m e n t a l Fur
Farm st Oregon S t s t a College
9
miok food market has developed for
some s p e c i e s of f i s h thet ape n o t u s e d f ~r hum=
hoped thst other species of
consumption.
It i s
f i s h , which a r e not used f o r human
food, w i l l b e f o u n d useful a s mink food? t'..us reducing or eliminating
the l a n d i n g s of whole f i s h that are u t i l i z e d a s 11uman food,
Wslter G , Jones
A q u s t i c Biologl s t ,