THE CARIBBEAN AREA, — HONDURAS 



The total, annual catch is estimated at about 300, OCX) pounds, Inports, normally, 

 total about 200,000 pounds yearly — more than half of ■»ihich is canned sardines. The annual, 

 per-capita consimption of fish, therefore, is less than one pound (converted to basis of 

 fresh, ■vriiole fish). 



Late in 1^i^2, a fish dealer from the United States set up a bvisiness of marketing fish 

 in Tegucigalpa that were shipped by airplane fi-om Amapala. This project was yet in its 

 initial stage when observed in September 1942. A house in Tegucigalpa was reconditioned 

 into a market and the 200 to 1,200 pounds received each Tuesday and Thursday were sorted 

 there and iced for advertised sales on Wednesday and Friday. Prices were cut from the usual 

 25 cents per pound to 12 1/2 cents. A steady stream of customers buying fish were observed. 

 It was reported that supplies were insufficient to stysply the demand. Fishermen at Amapala 

 were receiving a reduced price for fish delivered to the collection point but, with fish 

 plentiful in the Bay of Fonseca, they were being better paid than they were formerly because 

 of the greatly increased volume of business. Clams at 7 1/2 cents per pound in the shell 

 and other shell^flsh items, also, were being offered to Honduran citizens. 



However, this new marketing development was dependent on a highly-speculative type of 

 transportation system that seemed to be established on a tentative basis. It, also, was 

 utilizing, as fishermen, laborers who in normal times are anployed as stevedores in loading 

 and unloading ship cargo. The project does, however, demonstrate the favorable public 

 acceptance of fish-marketing developments that provide quantities of good, wholesome fish 

 at ccmparatively low price. Tegucigalpa, with between 35,000 and iiO,000 inhabitants, was 

 immediately and enthusiastically supporting a new fish market that was furnishing products 

 at the rate of 2 l/2 pounds per capita per year. This was accon^lished with only one retail 

 outlet and without an established demand for fish. 



The manager of this business hoped to raise the volume of sales to 4,000 pounds a week 

 and to produce, also, shark-liver oil and hides. 



Fishermen 



There is no indication as to the nianber of individuals engaged in fishing on the 

 Honduran coasts, but estimates indicate that about 200 are employed more or less regularly. 

 Of native, full-time professional f ishermen^ there are but few on either coast but possibly 

 more on the Pacific side than on the Caribbean. In normal times, the demand for agricultural 

 and stevedoring labor offers greater inducements than fishing. On the Pacific side, where 

 shipping is the only industry, fishing becomes more important. 



On both coasts, the Indian populations fish primarily for their own needs. This is 

 particularly true on the Caribbean coast. The fishermen have never developed any extensive 

 commercial fishery because transportation and handling facilities are lacking. 



The Uiskito Bank area, however, has for years been visited by fishermen from the Z&'^msD. 

 Islands, Their chief activity was turtle fishing and their catch was carried in their 

 schooners to Florida ports, to the Canal Zone, and to Jamaica. They also collected some 

 spiny lobsters and caught grov^sers and snappers both for their own use and for sale in the 

 Canal Zone, The Cayman Island fishermen are reputedly the best fishermen and sailors in the 

 Caribbean, and their knowledge of the waters and fishing conditions in the Western Caribbean 

 is very coii;>lete. 



The Gulf of Fonseca has been visited by United States tuna vessels in search of bait 

 and, for a number of years, a tuna fishery has been prosecuted offshore by California vessels. 



That Honduran fishermen can supply a wider market, if developed, was dancnstrated in 

 1942 when buyers purchased entire catches for forwarding to Tegucigalpa by plane. The fish- 

 ermen were paid in cash and their catches increased greatly. There are numerous indications 

 that a class of excellent fishermen can be developed in Honduras if sufficient incentive is 

 furnished to compete with labor demands in agricultural and other activities. 



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