TOE CARIBBEAN AREA — BRITISH VrEST INDIES 



ST. VIIIC2NT 1/ 



General Conditions 



Tl'ie scarcity of fish has not approached an acute condition in St. Vincent, but the 

 local authorities are keenly aware of food problems not only for St. Vincent but also for 

 nearby islands. 



Fishing at St. Vincent is not as highly important to the economy of this island as in 

 other islands of the British V.'est Indies, Most of the fishing is carried on in the general 

 region of Kingstown with the object of supplying the Kingstown market. Fish taken in other 

 parts of St. Vincent is consumed chiefly in the immediate vicinity in trtiich it is landed. 



Sane fish are lightly salted and sold in the interior districts by hawkers. Kingstown 

 is the only large organized market on this island. The bulk of fish is sold on Saturdays 

 and is brought to Kingstown by the Bequia fishing fleet. The limited aunount of fish avail- 

 able during the week is produced by Kingstown boats or by boats from La you or Bamiallies. 

 Vne fresh fish supply for St. Vincent has remained at a fairly constant level; but the con- 

 sumption of fish could be materially increased. A relatively lar^je amount of corned fish 

 produced in the Grenadines is sold in the Kingstown market. 



There are approximately 150 fishing crait and about 10 haul seines used in St. Vincent 

 proper employing a^out /iOO fishermen. The annual production of fish for St. Vincent is 

 about 400,000 pounds, valued at about 5^0,000. Total fish imports, including fresh and 

 corned fish from Bequia and salt and dried fish from other sources abroad, is approximately 

 1,300,000 pounds annually. The per-capita consun^stion is in the neighborhood of 76 pounds 

 per year (in fresh, 7*iole-fish equivalents). 



The only cause for the reduction of the catch is the shortage of fishing gear, and cumu- 

 lative decreases in the landings are likely to develop in the near future from this cause. 



Since St. Vincent is privarily an agricultural community, the number of regular fisher- 

 men is relatively small, and the Island relies to a large extent on the efforts of the fish- 

 ermen of the Grenadines for its supply of fish. The actual amount of available fishing 

 bottom aro-ond St, Vincent proper is small, and with the exception of the fishing villages of 

 Layou and Barruallies, there are no organized fishing communities. Therefore, no consider- 

 able expansion of the fisheries of St. Vincent may be expected. 



Re commendati ons 

 It is recommended that: 



1. At the present time, and under present conditions, no great expansion of the fisher- 

 ies of St. Vincent proper be undertaken, 



2. In order to maintain the supply of fish to the Kingstown market during the week, the 

 local Government take steps to furnish fishermen immediately with supplies of seine twine, 

 handlines, leader wire, hooks, rope, sail canvas, and other needed fishing supplies. 



1/ St, Vincent is here considered apart from Bequia and the St. Vincent Grenadines, 



206 



