PROCESSING AND MARKETING 



Tlie entire Venezuelan shrimp catch is sold locally, the 

 majority as fresh-;fhole because of consumer preference. Some are 

 frozen in Puerto de la Cruz, and some, usually the smaller shrimp 

 from the eastern zone, are dried. All canned shrinp are imported, 

 although construction of a small cannery in Maracaibo was under way. 

 Almost all of the whole fresh shriir^) come from the western zone. 

 Trawlers out of Panto Fijo supply large and jumbo shrimp, and cast- 

 net and seine fishing near Maracaibo furnish small shrimp* 



The ex-vessel price, depending upon demand, for large and 

 jumbo shrimp, heads-on, runs between about 27 and SS cents a pound. S9 / 

 V/hen the ex-vessel price xjas 2? cents a pound, the vrholesale and 

 retail prices in Caracas were Ul and 68 cents . The retail price 

 for heads-on shrimp would be comparable to about Jm.lU a pound on 

 a headless basis. The large and jumbo shrinp, P. aatecus mixed with 

 a few P. brasiliensis , were trawl-caught. 



Small whole white shxrimp from Lake Maracaibo at about the 

 same time were retailing, in Caracas, for about U8 cents a pound. 

 The ex-dugout price in Meiracaibo was about lU cents a pound. Frozen 

 headless medium-sized shrinp were about $1 cents for a 12-ovince carton, 

 Tlie frozen shrimp were from Puerto de la Cruz. 



FORSIG!i TRADE 



Venezuela does not exj-^ort slirimp. 



In tlie import records shrimp are grouped \n.\h all other 

 shelli'ish (tabic 37). The majority of shellfish imports, mostly 

 canned shrimp, are from tha United States. Some dried shrirp are 

 iiiiported from the United States, too, as well as small amounts of 

 frozen shrimp from the United States and Mexico, 



Venezuela, in order to encourage local fishing, has a 

 high iiiport duty, which amounts to approximately 27 cents a gross 

 pound on fishery products. 



59/ Conversion rate 1 bolivar = approximately U. S. 30 cents. 



165 



