THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

By
KENNETH R. ROBINSON

During November, 1972,
most daily newspapers carried
accounts describing the record
catch of chum salmon being
taken by commercial fisher-
men from British Columbia’s
Nitnat Lake on the west coast
of Vancouver Island. Using
terms like ‘“‘the sea’s silvery
bonanza’’, news reports gave
the impression that fishermen
were reaping tremendous
profits from the bumper crop
of fish they were harvesting
from the sea. There was no
mention of anyone else sharing
in the windfall and consumers
reading the item were left with
the impression that a large
number of west coast fisher-
men were about to retire for
life.

There is, of course, far more
to the story than what ap-
peared in the press, and
piecing it together provides an
illuminating insight into the
correlation between what the
fishermen were paid for their
efforts, and who else was able
to cash in on the ‘‘action”’
before the fish finally found
their way to the consumer who
eventually paid for it all.

During the brief 11-day
fishing season in Nitnat Lake
the .catch exceeded 1,200,000
fish, weighing an average of
ten pounds each. Fishermen
were paid 17 cents a pound for
the fish by packing companies
who operated packer boats
collecting the catch from the 80

seiners and 90 gillnetters that
made up the fishing fleet.

The weight of the entire
catch turned out to be in the
neighbourhood of 12,000,000
pounds, for which packing
companies paid the approxi-
mately 500 fishermen on the
scene who either owned,
operated or crewed the fishing
boats, $2,040,000 for 11 days of
around-the-clock work.

After waiting a reasonable
time for the catch to reach
supermarket shelves and
freezers, a check on salmon
prices was made at three
major supermarket chains in
the Ottawa area: Dominion,
Loblaws (where, ‘‘by golly, the
price is right’), and Stein-
bergs. Because some of the
catch was quick frozen for im-
mediate sale, and some was
canned, two prices were ob-
tained. The average of all three
supermarket prices was as
follows: frozen — pieces $1.59
Ib., slices $1.69 lb.; canned —
334 oz. tin 40 cents each, 734 oz.
tin 82 cents each.

Simple arithmetic makes
one immediately want to jump
to conclusions about profit
taking when you are ap-
parently faced on one hand
with a fisherman who is being
paid $1.70 for a ten-pound fish
and a supermarket which is
selling the same ten-pound fish
for $17.90!

There is, of course, labour,
handling, transportation and
other costs, such as trimming
etc., which must be assessed
against the ultimate price the

FEDERATION REQUESTS
GOVERNMENT ACTION

The eight-point program on
labour-management relations
spelled out by Premier David
Barrett when he was still
leader of the opposition should
be dealt with without further
delay, according to the B.C.
Federation of Labour which
submitted its annual brief to
the cabinet March 12th.

The NDP government is
making an intensive study of
industrial relations before
bringing in major legislative
changes. The Mediation Com-
mission Act has already been
revised and the minimum
wage increased. However, the
Federation believes that more
of the eight points can be
implemented at once, while the
study continues.

On the whole, the submission
commended the government

for its decisive steps in areas
such as the report of the com-
mission of enquiry which
recommended full bargaining
rights for provincial em-
ployees, its Land Commission
Act which is being bitterly
attacked by the opposition, its
auto insurance legislation, its
$200 minimum monthly
guaranteed income for senior
citizens, and its proposals for

court and police commission ~

reform. cau

The brief aske or
strengthening of the Landlord
and Tenant Act, on-the-job

im-
B.C.

training programs and
provements in the
Medical Plan.

It urged inclusion in the Plan
of all medical and paramedical
expenses, such as'dental care,
prescription drugs, ambulance
service, artificial limbs, eye
glasses and hearing aids.

The government has since
announced the introduction of
preventive dental care for
children under 12.

The submission called for the
appointment of a Human
Rights Commission and two
new ministries to deal with
fisheries and senior citizens.
ESE ee ee ee

Local 1-367 IWA Haney has
retained the legal firm of John

Laxton & Associates to provide
free legal advice to its mem-
bers. :

The members will be entitled
to a free ten to fifteen minute
interview concerning any legal
problem they might have. If a
member requires legal service
beyond the free service
provided, the usual legal fees
will be charged and will be
according to any agreement
made between the member
and the firm.

consumer is asked to pay for a
ten-pound fish.

Flash freezing and bagging
in a plastic bag is probably the
least labour intensive treat-
ment a fish could receive
before being marketed and
probably amounts to pennies
per fish. Other costs are also
minimal because the size of the
catch allowed cheaper volume
handling. What we are left
with, even after a generous
allowance is made for these
costs, is an enormous profit for
the packing and supermarket
processes which in some cases
are owned by the same cor-
poration. Even given an exces-
Sive cost allowance of $2.00 or
$3.00 per fish, there is still a
profit of over $10 on each fish to
consider! This profit picture
must also be viewed against
the fact that this type of food
does not require any planting,
fertilization or expensive land
to produce.

Overall, a $10 profit on each
frozen fish, which allows for
$7.90 packing and handling
costs, would net the middle
men $12,000,000 in clear profit.
Compared with the $2,040,000
paid to the workers who
produced the harvest, it does
not require much imagination
to realize that the food industry
is probably the most lucrative
in the world.

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When the fish is processed
and canned the picture
remains basically the same,
although at 37 cents for a 334
oz. tin, a 10 lb. fish cost the
consumer over $17 or 10.6 cents
per ounce. The 734 oz. tin
marginally lowers the price.
The canning process adds
water weight to the fish the
same as the freezing process
does, and one must also keep in
mind that bones and skin are
also canned.

Organizations such as
George Weston Limited which
owns British Columbia

Packers, with its fish buying
and processing plants in ad-
dition to the Loblaws’ super-
market chain, can handle a
product such as the Nitnat
salmon catch entirely within
its own organization, realizing
a profit from each step from
producer to consumer. On the

Cutter!
Look for this sign at your dealer's

Division

other hand, supermarkets in
Ontario have lately taken to |

buying large ads in the daily ~

newspapers to the effect that a
one per cent profit on any food
item is considered normal. One
cannot help but wonder what —
kind of a fish story that is when ~
viewed against a product that
was bought for $2,040,000 and
sold for over $19,000,000!

—Canadian Labour
| WENN See ese ef

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