Fisherman's co-ops

[Sea Gristle]

How many of you work at jobs where you bust your hump all day, and then somebody, after the fact, tells you how much they are willing to pay for your efforts?

The current commercial fish market model promotes a "fish derby" mentality, get the most while the price is high, beat the other guy to market competition. The middlemen are exploiting this mentality, pitting them against each other.

Does VA have fisherman's coops? Seems like I'm more aware of them in other states than I am here. I know VA is a right-to-work state, and fisherman are fiercely independent, but some kind of collective organization might give them a little more control over their situation.

So what does that have to do with conservation? I guess I'm wondering if with less finacial pressure to take more fish to make more money, price stabilty would allow fisherman the luxury of a longer-term veiw of the resource.

[eastduck]

They do have co-ops for the clamming industry. Most commercial guys work together to ensure the highest price.

[goose70]

This is why we have antitrust laws.

[Sea Gristle]

So how come they don't go after WalMart? Or the oil cartel?

Oh wait, the oil cartel IS the government[sad]

[goose70]

If by oil cartel, you mean OPEC, OPEC's arrangement IS illegal under U.S. law (and EU law). But, OPEC is obviously not a U.S. entity. I can tell you that lawyers at the Federal Trade Commission were did not rubber stamp any of the petrol industry mergers over the past decade. These deals were approved only after significant divestitures and a long, expensive discovery process.

I'm not aware of Walmart price fixing with anybody. In fact, Walmart competes vigerously and drives DOWN prices (some say, too much). If it were to drastically lower prices, run the competition out of business and then drastically raise prices, that could be a legal problem. If you're aware of it doing so, please let me know. I would love to bring in another client.[smile]

[Purdue1]

[grin][grin][grin]