TOE CARIBBEAJl AREA 



THE FISHERY INDUSTRIES 



Since before the discovery of America, the fishermain of the Caribbean Area has strained 

 its waters through his nets and lowered his lines and fish pots to the floor of the sea. He 

 has chosen fishing because of the life it gives him — simple, carefree, and vigorous — and he 

 has little aspiration to fame and fortune. From the day's toll he hopes to obtain enough to 

 keep himself and his family alive with a scanty roof over their heads, and to buy replace- 

 ments for his boat and fishing gear. 



Fishermen throughout the Caribbean and on the Pacific side of Central America are much 

 the same in type, though they may vary in color and language. With very few exceptions, they 

 are poor, living from day to day on the sales of the catch of the day before. Their homes 

 are usually huts of thatched grasses, sun-baked clay, or unpainted wood, Iheir food is the 

 cheapest and the most siii5>le that nature and world trade can deliver to their doors. 



All coastal communities seem to have developed or accumulated a few fishermen. These 

 men furnish the communities a fairly regular supply of fresh fish, selling them from their 

 boats to street or market vendors. In almost all coastal conmmnities fish are sold in the 

 public majricets. Most of the large inland connunities are also supplied with small quantities 

 of fish. In places where fish are exceptionally abiindant, comparatively large communities of 

 fishermen have been formed. 



PHODUCTION OF FISH AND SHELLFISH IN THE CARIBBEAN AREA 

 (Estimated and from Various Sources) 

 Normal Annual Catch prior to the War 



Country or Colony Pounds 



British West Indies 11,100,000 



(Eastern Group) 



Venezuela 100,000,000 



Colombia 3,500,000 



Panama 2,000,000 



Costa Rica - 1,000,000 



Nicaragua 300,000 



Honduras 300,000 



British Honduras 500,000 



El Savador 700,000 



Guatemala 100,000 



Cuba 15,000,000 



Jamaica and the Cayman Islands 10,000,000 



Haiti 2,000,000 



Dominican Republic 1,000,000 



Puerto Rico 3,000,000 



American Virgins 600,000 



Dutch West Indies 1,000,000 



French West Indies 9,000,000 



Total 161,100,000 



In general, fish are handled without refrigeration and are sold and consumed within a 

 few hours after being caught. In many places, however, preservation of fish permits their 

 sale in localities off the coast or at a considerable distance fran the fishing grounds. 

 Under such circumstances, ice is used or crude salting or smoking is employed. 



Only one canned Caribbean fishery product, spiny lobster, appears in international 

 trade. Several species of fish are canned in Venezuela for consumption in that country and 

 a few cases of tuna are produced in Costa Rica and Cuba. Canned fish is very acceptable in 



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