THE CARIBBRA:! AREA — TCNEZUELA 



Fresh and frozen fish for increased local consiimption and export ; — •".Thj le possibilities 

 exist for enlargement of Venezuela's catch of fish, there appears to have been little 

 incentive for improvement of fishing tecliniques and effort under existing conditions of 

 transportation, storage, and marketing. Lack of ice and cold-storage facilities have made 

 it possible to use seasonal surpluses of fish for only salting or canning, and shortage 

 and high prices of ice have handicapped the shipment of fresh fish to inland or distant 

 points, Markets have been poorly equipped to handle fresh fish. 



For these reasons, attempts to furnish the capital city, Caracas, and many other centers 

 of population with fresh fish have attained only very linited success. It is estimated that 

 half a million to one and a half million more persons could be added to those already buying 

 fresh fish regularly in Venezuela if an efficient system covering all phases of fresh-fish 

 production and handling were developed. Radical change should be effected in all fish-catch- 

 ing methods and handling processes, providing reasonable sanitary precaution and preservation 

 by ice and freezing. 



It is anticipated that the unit cost of fish production can be so greatly reduced by the 

 adoption of mass-production methods that the costs of adequate handling can be easily absorbed 

 and the price of fish to consumers made markedly lower. Low-priced, fresh, and clean fish 

 products will sell in greatly increased quantities in all populated parts of Venezuela, and 

 at a few points where there are high-income groups, such as in Carr.cas and Caripito, fresh 

 fillets and specialty products of relatively high price could be marketed to advantage. 



Bluefish, Spanish mackerel, red snapper, and some other fishes occurring in abundance in 

 Venezuelan waters have comparatively high value as fresh or frozen fish for sale on United 

 States markets. The quantities that could be secured for export would be considerable and 

 should justify the establisliment of a fish-export industry in Venezuela when adequate trans- 

 portation becomes available. Products should be filleted or steaked, packaged, and quick 

 frozen to conform to United States trade requirements. Low- temperature boat transportation 

 is necessary for such products. These quick-frozen fishery items would be fully adaptable 

 to limited sale in Venezuela and other Central-and South-American areas. 



Salt fish for increased local consumption and export ; — Although nationally-produced salt 

 fish is distributed widely to coastal and interior communities, there appear to be possibilities 

 in enlargement of national trade in the commodity if the product would be better prepared or 

 lower priced. These conditions probably could be accomplished by lowering of unit production 

 costs through mass production of fish and the, development and adoption of improved and stand- 

 ardized methods of salting and drying, 



Venezuelan salt fish are poorly prepared when judged by standards established in the 

 international salt-fish trade. Without improvement of the pixiducts, Venezuela could sell 

 scarcely any of its salt fish to buyers from other natiais. However, if products can be and 

 are prepared to comply with export requirements, and prices lowered to acceptable figures, 

 Venezuelan salt fish would find an immense emergency market throughout ttie Vfest Indies, 

 which normally import more than 125 million pounds of salt and pickled fish each year. 

 Restrictions in shipping have reduced materially the imports that have been reaching these 

 islands over the long ocean routes from northern som-ces. The deficiencies in imports couM 

 be at least partially filled by Venezuelan salt fish. It appears that the Tfest Indies should 

 offer an immediate market for 50 million pounds or more of this product. Additional amounts 

 could be supplied to Colombia and Central America. Adoption of mass-production methods should 

 reduce unit costs sufficiently to pennit price quotations acceptable to foreign commerce. 

 Trade created in this way could be continued after the war if prices were sufficiently 

 attractive . 



It is recognized that the species of fish found in Venezuelan waters are not adequately 

 tested to determine their potentialities as first-grade salt fish. Therefore, experimental 

 work in fish preseirvation is a prerequisite to development of export trade in Venezuelan salt 

 fish. 



Canned fish, fish meal and oil, and other fish products ; — ^Venezuela's shrimp resources 

 might prove to be the basis of an extensive industry. Frozen and canned shrimp hold enviable 



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