in the southeastern Pacific area, it was natural that interest should be 

 concentrated upon them in this particular section of the coast line of 

 Ecuador. The area investigated by the expedition included Manta on the 

 north to Salinas in the south and was primarily devoted to the area 

 surrounding La Plata Island. This site was chosen because it is probably 

 the only area in the world where black marlin are caught commercially in 

 a well defined season. These marlin, both black and striped, have been 

 caught here for many years, but it was not until 1950 that they supported 

 a commercial operation. 



As a result of research by an American seafood corporation, it was 

 deemed practical to establish a refrigeration plant and a cannery at Manta. 

 In the course of the establishment of the original operation of this enter- 

 prise, it was discovered that marlin in the vicinity of La Plata Island and 

 Manta, the adjacent part on the mainland, could be caught in profitable 

 commercial quantity. This situation developed primarily because of the 

 demand for large bulk fish in the West Indies. The operation arose from 

 a contract with the Ecuadorian government to collect and process the 

 bottomfish from the Galapagos Islands and the coastal shelf of Ecuador. 

 When it was determined that billfish could be caught in quantity in the 

 vicinity of Manta, the local fishermen were encouraged to expand their 

 operation and were supplied with the necessary equipment to increase 

 the production of this type of fish. This experiment has proven to be very 

 successful since its inception. 



The area for commercial marlin fishing around Manta is undoubtedly 

 the largest in the world, and it is our opinion that the production possibili- 

 ties have barely been scratched, if the demand for this type of seafood 

 continues to exist. With training in the improved modern methods of 

 fishing and equipment, the catch of these billfish could be vastly increased. 



This area of the southeastern Pacific is not productive of swordfish. The 

 Gulf of Guayaquil appears to be the northernmost limit of the swordfish 

 schools. Possibly due to the extensive coastal shelf and the meeting point 

 of the Humboldt and the south equatorial current, the schools of swordfish 

 may be driven far offshore in the vicinity of Ecuador. From all reports, 

 only a few fish are ever seen, and only in the latitude of Salinas, from 40 

 to 60 miles from the coast. 



The principal billfish caught off the coast of Ecuador are the black 

 marlin, the striped marlin, the so-called silver marUn and the sailfish. 



Since there are no accurate governmental records available, it is impos- 

 sible to estimate the yearly production of the various species. A conserv- 

 ative estimate of the yearly export of these fish from the port of Manta, 

 would be between L50 and 200 tons. Practically all of this export of fish 

 is picked up by refrigeration vessels and sold in Puerto Rico. It is interest- 



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