Cannery workers are furnished certain items of clothing, and 

 the women are paid from 2 to 2,50 pesos (about U3 to 59 cents) daily- 

 while the men receive ii to 5 pesos (about 8? cents to $1.09). They 

 work k.& hours a week but are paid for 56 hours. There is no social 

 security, but the employers must pay for hospital and medical services. 



The women at La Cienega who peel cooked shrimp for freezing 

 are paid by the measure. A measure will yield about 1.1 pounds of 

 peeled meats for which the women received about 30 centavos (7 cents). 

 These shrimp are quite small, averaging about 3 inches in total length. 



Pacific Coast 



There is a small cannery in Tumaco that dry-packs some shrimp 

 for consximption within Colombia. Here the shrimp arrive at the cannery 

 raw headless. They are peeled, blanched in boiling brine for 20 to 30 

 minutes, cooled — and the larger ones deveined — then placed in parchment- 

 lined cans and processed at 15 poimds for 50 minutes after a 10-minute 

 heating-up period. The "zebra" or "tiger" shrimp are usually used for 

 canning. 



The minimum daily wage in Tumaco is 1.60 pesos (about 33 cents) 

 for women and 2 pesos (ii3 cents) for men. The workers also receive h5 

 days extra pay a year and medical care at the expense of the employer. 

 There is no social security. 



Almost all of the shrimp catch from the Pacific is frozen 

 aboard vessels, although some are frozen in a shore plant at Buenaventura, 

 Shrimp for export are layer-packed in 5-pound cartons, as are some of 

 the shrimp for sale within Colombia. Some of the shrimp for sale within 

 the cotmtry are frozen in 50-gallon drums, in blocks of about 100 pounds. 

 These blocks are wrapped in burlap and covered with a rubberized cloth 

 to protect them during air shipment to Call. On arrival in Call the 

 shrimp are defrosted, washed, and refrozen in blocks containing about 

 150 pounds of shrimp. The second freezing is done in tins used for 

 making block ice. 



Aboard one boat the shrimp are headed immediately after capture 

 and placed in chilled brine until evening. They are then sorted, layer- 

 packed, and frozen in 5-pound boxes and given a solid glaze. 



The ex-vessel price for frozen unsorted tails, averaging be- 

 tween 8/10 to 16/20, wrapped in burlap, was 1.80 pesos (about 36 cents) 

 a pound. 



39 



