The Pacific-coast catch is estimated not to exceed ^00,000 

 pounds annually, headless v/eight. The best fishing season usually is 

 betvjeen May and November. 



OUTLOOK FOR PRODUCTION 



The Caribbean shores of Colombia appear to be producing 

 about as many shrirap as they likely wil]. in the near future. Prospects 

 of developing a trawl fishery for shriiup are poor. V/here the white 

 shrimp ( Penaeu s schiaitti ) occur, trawling grounds are few and weather 

 conditions unfavorable. In the ocean areas adjacent to the brown-shrimp 

 (P. brasiliensi s) nursery grounds, the bottom is sandy and the shrimp 

 apparently are "scattered. Reports of experimental trawling off La 

 Cienega indicate that the shrimp are not concentrated. 



Prospects in the Pacific, on the other hand, are quite good, 

 providing certain governmental policies are settled. The west-coast 

 annual production can probably be developed to produce from 3 to 6 

 million pounds, headless vreight, of large and jumbo shrimp. In addition, 

 if markets can be developed for the species of smaller size, perhaps 

 this amount might be doubled. 



FISHERiffiN AND GEAR 



On the Caribbean coast there are about 200 fishermen engaged 

 in part-time fishing for shrimp. On the Pacific there are about 35 

 full-time fishermen. 



In La Cienega the men fish at night near the inlet to the sea. 

 They use a triangular semifixed net each side of which is 10 to 15 

 feet long at the mouth. The mouth of the net is held open by two poles 

 sunk in the mud and lashed together at the top to form an inverted V. 

 The body of the net is 20 to 25 feet long and tapers to about 3 feet 

 at the end where it is tied off. The net is usually supported by lines 

 running from the poles to mangroves or to other poles sunk in the mud. 

 The tidal currents are not strong, and fishing is done on both outgoing 

 and incoming tides, the nets being emptied every hour or so. The fisher- 

 men operate from dugouts. No ice is used by the fishermen, but every 

 few hours they deliver their catch to the "buy-boats" where it is iced. 



36 



