Each vessel operates with a crew of from 2 to U men. The 

 gear used for shrimp fishing consists of floating trawl nets having an 

 average length of approximately 2)9 feet and a mesh which measures about 

 0,9 inch when stretched. 



The catch is boiled in salt water on the boats as soon as 

 caught and is marketed in that form. Only negligible quantities are 

 canned, frozen, or processed into fish meal. Practically all shriir^) are 

 retailed unpeeled at the equivalent of about 55 cents (United States 

 currency) a pound. Some are peeled by the retailers and are sold at 

 approximately $1.80 a pound. 



Only a small part of the catch is exported - 5 or 6 percent on 

 the average. The principal destination is France, but some shrimp go 

 to the Belgian Congo and Western Germany. 



The United States enjoyed a considerable export trade in canned 

 shrimp with Belgium. In the prewar period 193U-38, about 280,000 pounds 

 annually were exported. In 1957, exports of canned shrimp to Belgium 

 totaled only lil,502 pounds, valued at $ii5,U07. Annual export statistics 

 for the period since 1950 are as follows: 



Pounds Value 



The Belgian import duty on canned shrimp is 20 percent ad valorem. 

 In addition to this, there is a 10 percent "sales tax" applied to the cost 

 price plus the ad valorem duty. 



Belgium imports more than a million pounds of peeled and xmpeeled 

 shrimp annually, almost all from the Netherlands, 



16 



