Mexico's Fishing Industry 



by Lie Jorge Echaniz R. 



Director General of Fisheries and Related Industries of the 



Department of Industry and Commerce of the Government of Mexico 



Before describing Mexico's efforts to foster the development 

 of our fishing industry, permit me to convey to the National 

 Fisheries Institute of the United States, the Canadian Fisheries 

 Council, and the National Chamber of the Fisheries Industry 

 of Mexico the thanks of Mr. Octaviano Campos Salas, Sec- 

 retary of Industry and Commerce of the Mexican Govern- 

 ment, and of General Abelardo L. Rodriguez, Chairman of 

 the National Fisheries Consultative Committee, for the kind 

 invitation extended to them to attend this First North Ameri- 

 can Fisheries Conference. 



For reasons known to many of you, these gentlemen were 

 unable to attend this important meeting. In their name I 

 should like to speak in broad terms of Mexico's general eco- 

 nomic situation and our activities with respect to our fishing 

 industry. 



In discussing contemporary Mexico — which lives and builds 

 under the aura of the creative peace that presides over our 

 progress, which affords work in our fields and cities, and which 

 regulates our civic conscience — we must bear in mind that 

 this peace is the product of a long and bitter struggle, nourished 

 by the efforts of our best sons and the vitality of our national 

 heroes. 



That struggle was to win our political independence, our 

 economic self-sufficiency and our own distinctive social well 

 being. To affirm our sovereignty and the expression of the 

 will of our people, we daily live and practice our Independence, 

 our Reformist Movement and our unique Mexican Revolution. 



The triumphant Revolution of 1910 dramatically trans- 

 formed us from a land submerged in backwardness to one of 

 vital progress. It wrote finis to a dictatorship and swept away 

 its military and financial supports. It paved the way to 

 agrarian reform and to free universal education at all levels. 

 It stimulated formation of our domestic markets and diversified 

 production and employment in a manner that favored the 

 growth of our population and cities. 



The Mexican Revolution, mentor of our economic develop- 

 ment, made possible the rational exploitation of our natural 

 resources, ensured a higher standard of living for the bulk of 

 our population, forged and strengthened our independence 

 and greatly enlarged the scope of our international cooperation. 



What are the specific products that the Mexican Revolu- 

 tion gave us through the exercise of our constitutional rights? 



— Our manufacturing production has increased twenty times 

 since 1910; 



— Fifty million hectares of land have been distributed to 

 small farmers, and land distribution continues, paralleled by- 

 substantive measures to expand our domestic market; 



— Gross national product in terms of 1910 prices rose from 

 13.5 billion pesos in 1910 to 72.2 billion in 1960; 



— We now have more than 50,000 kilometers of paved high- 

 ways and 24,000 kilometers of railroad ; 



— Our daily petroleum production of 384,000 barrels has 

 enabled us to strengthen and integrate our industry. Our 

 present production of transportation equipment and machinery 

 is extraordinary. Our steel industry and the manufacture of 

 rubber goods, metal products, chemicals, fertilizers, synthetic 

 fibers and cement reveal an accelerated rhythm of growth. 



In short, we enjoy an industrial diversification that derives 

 from the expansion of our domestic market made possible by 

 the Revolution of 1910 and the calculated participation of the 

 State in our economic life. 



We have made many significant advances over the past 

 decade. Here are some of them : 



— Our gross domestic product in terms of constant purchas- 

 ing power has increased 73 percent; 



— Our population grew by ten million, from 31 to 41 mil- 

 lion, at an annual growth rate of 3 percent ; 



— Real industrial wages increased at a mean average rate of 

 4.2 percent; 



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