.....uhh, that sounds like "bar" talk from a BI dragger; back during the years you mentioned, we had a great buyer for our squetegue (he was up here from MD)....for top quality iced, rod/reel caught fish, our price was 85 cents/lb...which was considered a real good price. we were selling the fish in Galillee....take what the dragger said "with a grain of salt"....