Official Mexican statistics on the value of the shrimp catch 

 (table III) are inaccurate at times. They are, based on the valuation 

 piven by the local fishery inspectors, who occasionally make serious 

 eri'ors. The 19^2 valuation of fresh shrimp obviously is extremely low. 



TABLE lU. --VALUE OF MiiXICAN SHRIMP CATCH, BY YEARS, 1950-5U 



(Converted, to thousands of United States dollars. Valuations 

 given by the local inspectors of the Direcction General de 

 Pesca Industries Conexas. Average value of peso =11.6 cents, 

 from l950-52j 11.7 cents in 195^1; and 9.1 cents in 19^ii.) 



COMI-ffiRCIAL SPECIES AND FISHING GROUNDS 



Mexican commercial marine shrimp, "camarones," all belong to 

 the family Penaeidae. The more important species belong to one genus, 

 Penaeus. Although the commercial naraes may be the same (white, brown, 

 pinJc), the species on either side of the continent are quite distinct. 



West coast 



On the west coast of Mexico, the four species of shrimp caught 

 commercially 33/ are the blue "azul," Penaeus styliro stris, the white 

 "bianco," P. vamiamei , the brown "cafe," P~. calif orniensis , and the pink 

 or red "rojo," "rosado," or "piojillo," P. b'reviros tris . Because of 

 variations in color, confusion of names among fishermen and dealers is 

 common. The blue shrimp occasionally is white in color, particularly 

 near the mouth of the Colorado River. The white shrimp is sometimes 

 bluish or brownish, and the brown and pink shrimp are at times difficult 

 to distinguish by color alone. Broxjn and red shrimp are "grooved," that 

 is the grooves that appear on either side of the headspine (rostrum) 

 continue back almost to the end of the head (carapace). In the blue and 



33/ Various other species such as X iphopeneus kroyeri var. riveti , 

 Trachypeneus fac e , and several species of Sicyonia are taken but they 

 are of no comrnercial significance. 



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