in the northern fishery and about 2 thousand at Rio Grande in the south- 

 ern fishery. Almost all the rest of the fishernen are located south 

 of Rio de Janeiro. 



In the northern fishery shrimp are taken with stop seines and 

 trap nets. The stop seine consists of a series of upright stationary 

 poles, between which is strung a wall of mesh, usually 500 to 600 fathoms 

 long and 8 or 9 feet high. It is fished on the outgoing tide, and the 

 catch is usually against the webbing. Trap nets are fished on both out- 

 going and incoming tides. A trap net is a tapering rectangular bag of 

 webbing usually l5 to 20 feet square at the mouth and 2 or 3 feet at the 

 end. The sides of the mouth are suspended between two fixed vertical 

 poles, and the bottom is pushed into the mud and held there by other 

 poles. The two fixed poles are usually braced by other poles, and fre- 

 quently a runvjay is constructed along the top to ensure better management 

 of the net. Sometimes three or four nets are fished in a row. 



Near Rio Grande, in the southern fishery, trap nets and beach 

 seines are used. The beach seines are about 80 fathoms long and 3 

 fathoms deep. On occasions two or three of the seines may be fastened 

 together to form one net. From 12 to 20 men will work a seine. 



Trawlers, some using otter trawls and others working in pairs 

 with a paranzella-type travel, operate from the ports of Rio de Janeiro 

 and Santos. These trawlers do not fish exclusively for shrimp. 



PROCESSING AND MARKETING 



Considerably more than half the Brazilian shrimp catch is sold 

 in the semidry state. The shrimp are boiled in brine and dried for only 

 a day or two. They are salted well before shipping to market. Probably 

 more dried shrimp are handled in Bel em than in any other port. The 

 shrimp arrive there in large baskets which hold about 65 pounds. They 

 are sold at auction, usually held each Friday. Since the shrimp are only 

 partially dried, spoilage is rapid, and considerable quantities are lost 

 each year. Retail prices, according to quality, ranged from about 2^ cents 

 to over 60 cents a pound (values are in United States currency) . Partially 

 diy shrimp from the southern fishing grounds were retailing in the Porto 

 Alegre market for about 25 cents a pound. 



17 



