THE VENEZUELAN SALT-FISH INDUSTRIES 



to August. They first appear at Cape Malapasqua far to the eastward. Gradually they reach 

 points to the westward along the coast. In succession, the schools are reported off Rio 

 Caribe, Carup&no, Esmer&ldas, Chacopata, Isla Coche, Pampatar and then off Araya where they 

 swing into the Gulf of Cariaco. These fish remain in the Gulf for soae months feeding on 

 arenque; and they are, in turn fished heavily by the fishermen in the Gulf. Toward the 

 end of August, the schools disperse and move out. Ther* is evidence to indicate that the 

 various species do not all appear at one time — some species come into the Gulf before others. 

 Also, resident populations of tahali, arenque, lisa, pargo, mero and other species may be 

 found throughout the year. 



Another run of migratory fish is reported to come in from the westward. This run swings 

 in from offshore — possibly from the region of the offshore islands — and arrives at Morro 

 Barcelona about January. It progresses on through the bays and straits from Guanta to the 

 Gulf of Cariaco. A portion of this run seems to continue on to the south coast of Isla 

 Margarita without entering the Gulf of Cariaco, 



Lebranche leave the lagoons of Unare and Tacarigua during the rainy season when com- 

 municating channels are opened between these lagoons and tha sea. The schools are reported 

 to travel eastward along the coast arid they also possibly enter the Gulf of Cariaco. 



Pargo are reported to assemble in dense concentrations prior to spawning but little 

 definite information as to the time or place of these occurrences is available. 



Central Zone . — There is little information concerning the seasonal abundance of fish 

 in this zone. Pargo are reported to concentrate during Noveiriser and December close to shore. 

 Scattered runs of carite and other species sometimes occur. Offshore, from La Orchila to 

 Los Testigos, schools of sardines, tuna, bonlta, and other migratory fish are reported dur- 

 ing November to April. 



Western Zone . — Information concerning seasonal occurrence in this zone is limited to 

 observations of the shore fishermen on the west coast of the Paraguana peninsula and to 

 the observations of fishermen in the Lago de Maracaibo on the west coast of Paraguana, Car- 

 ite appear from August to October. Lebranche are caught from January to May. In late No- 

 vember, offshore in the Gulf of Venezuela, the members of the mission observed tremendous 

 schools of carite and Jurel moving eastward. Evidently the runs come in from off the Goajira 

 peninsula, proceed to the entrance of Lake Maracaibo, then move eastward along the coast 

 to the Golfito de Coro where they mill around for some time. From the Golfito they proceed 

 northward along the Paraguana coast. In the Lago de Maracaibo big runs of curbina are usu- 

 ally present from January to April. In 1943, however, curbina were present during the en- 

 tire year. Other species seem to remain in the lake the year around or enter only with 

 the tides or at certain seasons. 



While big runs of fish appear on the coast, in general, from January to August, there 

 is reason to believe that resident populations and offshore concentrations would be suf- 

 ficient to supply large quantities of fish during the remaining months of the year. 



The following list outlines the seasonal occurrence of fish concentrations in different 

 localities, and the known and suspected migration routes of fishes in Venezuela are indi- 

 cated in Figure 2, 



Location Months of Abundance 



Cape Malapasqua December-January-February 



Rio Caribe January to July 



Puerto Santo May-July 



Carupano January to July 



Guaca June to August 



Chacopata January to August 



Isla Coche June-July-August 



Porlamar May to September 



Pampatar May to September 



15 



