THE VENEZUELAN SALT-FISH INDUSTRIES 



Salt-fish products prepared according to the methods described, with the exception 

 of the "light-salted" product and savrfish prepared by the special method at Maracaibo, have 

 a normal keeping period of from 3 to 6 weeks . The fish "redden" after that period of time 

 and cannot readily be sold. Dry-salted fish now are usually consumed before reddening oc- 

 curs and consequently little of the red discoloration normally is seen in Venezuelan cured 

 fish. It is the opinion of the mission that if this condition could be remedied, more fish 

 would be caught and prepared by the fishermen during seasons of abundance and consequently 

 larger quantities would be available for local consumption and for export. Salt-fish deal- 

 ers will handle only quantities that can be marketed rapidly and fishermen are therefore 

 often idle when fish are most abundant. An approach to the problem of prolonging the keep- 

 ing quality by controlling reddening has already been made and is discussed more fully in 

 later sections of this report. 



Attempts have been made by local producers to brine-salt herring (arenque) but this 

 product has not found a ready market ,because of its poor keeping quality. Evidence was 

 obtained that in some instances the fish were stale before packing and that watertight con- 

 tainers were not used. Experimental packs revealed (Table 13) that the principal reason 

 for spoilage was the reddening of the brine and fish with subsequent "souring". Tests in- 

 dicated that fish prepared experimentally kept well for a storage period of one month. 



Apart from the above-mentioned difficulties there are no outstanding problems in regard 

 to quality. The condition of salt-fish as prepared in Venezuela, before reddening occurs , 

 is good enough to enable the product to enter practically all Caribbean markets; and, in 

 some cases, markets outside of the Caribbean area as well, A very little more care in clean- 

 ing, salting, and drying and closer attention to packaging, grading, and marketing will in- 

 sure steady market demands provided reddening can be overcome. 



Spaol«a 



leita 

 Preparad 



(i24iL 



^ 



Bible 13 



Plaoa 

 Prgpajad 



Data 

 Exaalnei 



- Qaallty ofBrlnB 3al»-flih Pranared by th« Mlgtion 



12/22/43 



ippaarano* 



of 



Brin» 



Odor 



of 



Brlns 



Ferorat 



Saturation 



of Brine 



Appaarano* 



of 

 1*1 sh rieah 



I^aaaiks 



Ifecfaaalo 



10731 



Isla 

 Cocha 



light r«l 



■usty; 



Bl. 



aoor 



100 



•l.pink 



"WW 

 10/26 



m — 



Hatlllo 



T7W 



kga of fish bafora 

 ■altiiut not knom 

 (est. 8 hrs.) off odor 

 near back bone. 



Tish frash (2 hrs. old)t 

 heads reaoved laae- 

 diataly after catching. 



Labranoha 



orange 



1/3/44 



si. 

 sonr 



100 



orange- 

 rad 



iranqaa 



Cuaan* 



orange 



si. 

 sour 



100 



si. pink 



"n73o" 



VW 



Hsh In top layer of 

 barrel red; under sur- 

 face pink; fish about 

 12-18 hrs. old; heads 

 and entrails reaoved. 



Corblna 



Uar*. 



calbo 



niht 



orange 



■vary 



sll^t 

 odor of 

 da coup. 



T5o" 



li^t 



orange 



rish approziaataly 4 

 hi)sra old. 



PART II 



POTENTIAL PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY OF THE 

 YENEZUELAN FISHERIES AND ITS ACHIEVEMENT 



There is no doubt that the fishery resources of Venezuela will support an increased 

 production without incurring immediate danger of depletion. Just how much added fishing 

 intensity can be supported is, of course, unknown at this time. The following sections 

 of this report deal with the various factors that influence increases in the production 

 of salt-fish. 



28 



