THE CARIBBEAM AHKA — COLOiiBIA 



rivers, new fishery industries were established where pearl oysters were foimd. An 

 agricultural country, Colombia was well supplied with other meat and only in isolated 

 commijnities were fish relied on for subsistence, 



Distribution and Marketing 



Continuous movement of commerce up and dcnm the rivers made a condition conductive 

 to a limited trade in salted native fishes. This beca>ne a standard item of river trade. 

 Salt-water fish were salted in coastal fishing communities and shipped up-river to river 

 settlements, and fresh-water catfish were salted at points of abundance in the rivers 

 and transported to points further inland. 



Tfith the establishment of artificial ice plants in Barranquilla, Cartagena, and 

 other points, some traffic in iced fresh fish also has developed. Coiiuiercial fishing 

 activity is centered in the lower reaches of the Magdalena River and near its mouth. 

 Some salt-water fish is carried by airplane from Barranquilla at the mouth of the 

 liagdalena River to Bogota. Other inland communities receive little if any salt-water 

 fish, and those along the river courses are supplied with fresh-water fish. 



Fish distribution is unorganized. Several concerns in coastal cities buy fish from 

 the fishermen, reselling them to inland firms, to peddlers, and in retail trade. In the 

 main, however, fish are brought to public markets and sold in market stalls by agents for 

 the fishermen, liaricets are constructed on or near the water, and much of the catch is 

 sold directly out of the boats by the fishermen. Any surplus fish is salted or smoked. 

 In Barranquilla, much of che catch that is brought to market is cleaned and salted by the 

 salesmen or the fisherman between sales, the salted fish being packed for sale in towns 

 farther up the river. Fish are shipped in boxes by river freight boats. Considerable 

 difficulty is experienced by the fishermen in bringing their fish to markets, however, 

 as they have only oars, and poles to propel their dxjgout canoes against the river currents. 

 Only a few fish are purchased directly in the fishing communities by buyers with motor 

 boats. No fish is held in cold storage. 



Processing 



Ko fish are canned in Colombia, but large quantities are salted and smoked. Both of 

 the lattef processes produce dry products that will remain edible two or three weeks under 

 normal conditions. This gives an^jle time for trsmsportation and sale, as well as a moder- 

 ate cimount of storage by consumers. 



Imports and Exports 



The volvime of fishery imports flowirg into the Colombian ports in 194-0 totaled 1,951,000 

 pounds valued at ft206,000 United States. Of the volume received, S3 per cent came from the 

 United States. The 19-40 totals were much smaller than those of 193*5, when 3,661,000 poimds, 

 valued at $358,000 were imported. Only 58 per cent of the 1939 volume was shipped from the 

 United States. In both years, the predcxninant item in import trade was canned fish. Limited 

 quantities of dry-salt fish were received. Exports of nationally produced fishery items were 

 non-existent . 



Production 



Only vague information was avsdlable to indicate the magnitude of Colombian fishing 

 activities and the commercial catch of fish. A few estimates on the volume of local trade 

 were obtained. From these estimates, coupled with observations, a total commercial catch of 

 fish of about 3 1/2 million pounds a year was calculated. This total includes 2 1/2 million 

 pounds of salt-water fish and one million pounds of fresh-water fish. The volume of fish 

 caught for personal and family use, undoubtedly, eclipses the commercial totals. 



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