THE CARIB3EAM AREA 



The land topography of the Caribbean Rim countrit.-3 varies greatly. The Antilles are 

 relatively mountainous. A spur of the Andes parallels the north coast of South America in 

 Colombia arid Venezuela. In many places, it rises to great heights within short distances 

 from the coastal belt of sweltering lowlands. For instance, in Colombia the perpetually 

 snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta can Oe seen from the sea. In 

 Venezuela, Caracas the capital, is only about 23 miles by road from its port, la Guaira. 

 Yet it is located at an altitude of about 3,500 feet. The ranges between Caracas and 

 La Guaira rise to an elevation of 9,000 feet. Through Central America runs a range of 

 mountains which sinks to a low level in the Isthmus of Panama. The Caribbean Basin, thus 

 is like an amphitheater until the Yucatan Peninsula is reached. Yucatan and Florida are 

 flat, as is the Gulf coast of the United States, 



The Caribbean coastline, too, is varied. Long stretches of white and dark sand beaches 

 pouinded by a foaming surf rising out of inky-blus depths are backed by quiet lagoons fringed 

 by swamps choked with shiny, metallic-green mangroves. Outside of the beaches, coral reefs 

 thrive. Often where sand beaches are found, coconut palms rear their plumed heads. At 

 other places, dry desert extends to the ocean edge, with only a few ragged sea-grape bushes 

 to give relief from the head-splitting glare of the sun. In the Windward Islands, there 

 are, in some cases, no beaches at all — the steep slopes of the islands slanting directly into 

 the water. In other places, there are rocky surf -swept stretches. Many areas of the 

 Caribbean are strewn with scattered cays and coral reefs. These are flat and barren irastes 

 of sand and coral. At times, heavy seas and hurricanes sweep over them. On some, coconut 

 palms are able to maintain themselves. Fishermen from nearby islands or from the mainland 

 came to capture turtles, spiny lobsters, and fish. Often, they live on these sun-scorched 

 sands for weeks, fishing in the nearby waters cuid drying their catches on shore. Sometimes, 

 fresh water may be procured by digging shallow wells — most often the water secured is brackish. 



Much of the land in the Caribbean area is of volcanic oidgln. Volcanic activity is still 

 widespread and there are many volcanoes scattered throughout Central America and on some of 

 the Antilles. Earthquakes and eruptions have always been a prcminent featui* in Caribbean 

 history. The fertility of the volcanic soils, however, is great, and small farms can be found 

 on the slopes of volcanoes and, in some cases even within the craters of extinct ones. 



Because of the topography of the Caribbean countries, transportation by land always has 

 been difficult. The sea itself and the rivers and lagoons have had to serve as highways for 

 travel and coranerce. For this reason, the customs, industries, jind other characteristics of 

 the peoples of the Rim are surprisingly homogeneous. In Central American coiintries, such as 

 Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras, the Caribbean coast is definitely West Indian in atmos- 

 phere while the interior and Pacific coast is just as definitely Latin American, 



THE FISHERY RESOURCES 



The characteristics of the sea itself deteimine whether or not man can successfully 

 establish extractive industries utilizing marine plants, animals, and chanlcals. The sciences 

 of oceanogr^hy and, to a lesser extent, meteorology are concerned with the physical, chemical, 

 and biological factors affecting the aquatic world. Investigators in these sciences have suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining many basic facts which have enabled them to isolate and describe the 

 factors influencing the productivity 1/ of water aresis. Since the fishery industries, in the 

 final analysis, are dependent on the productivity of the sea, men familiar with this know- 

 ledge and trained in oanmercial fishery practices are able to perform valuable services In 

 developing new fishery industries. 



Several expeditions have studied the oceanography of the Caribbean Sea and the information 

 thus gained can be utilized in determining the probable productivity of this area as well as 

 for the purpose of cco^jaring this with other sea areas. It is quite impossible to gauge pro- 

 ductivity by direct comparisons of production by fishery industries since the methods vised, 

 the fishing intensity, and the species themselves vary greatly from place to place. It is 

 possible, however, to state in general terms what the productivity might be and, also, to 

 indicate certain areas where the indicated productivity is higher than others. While a 

 thorough discussion of the oceanography of the Caribbean would be very useful, it is imposs- 

 ible in the scope of this report. A review of the salient factors inflxiencing the produc- 

 tivity, however, is presented below. 



i/ Productivity here means the capacity of the sea for organic production of which 

 fish is but a part. It should not be directly correlated with the present or possible 

 yield in fishery products even though it has a great influence on this. 



