NICARAGUA 



Nicaragua, the largest of the Central American republics, has 

 a coast line of about 200 miles on the Pacific and 300 miles on 

 the Caribbean, The ivaters off both coasts contain sizable fishery- 

 resources, particularly those off the Pacific coast. The lack of 

 population and the poor transportation facilities, however, make 

 the commercial utilization of these resources extremely difficult. 

 Consequently, Nicaragua has an exceedingly small tuna fishing in- 

 dustry. There are no knovm exports of tuna, and the few tuna 

 caught by native fishermen are consumed locally. The government 

 has made no effort to develop a domestic fishing industry or to 

 establish Nicaraguan bases for foreign fishing fleets. 



HONDURAS 



Comiiercial fishing is not conducted in Honduras, except for 

 the operations of one small company engaged in providing fish for 

 the Tegucigalpa market. It is known that tunas migrate along the 

 coast of Hunduras, but they are rarely seen on the market. Refrig- 

 eration or canning plants do not exist, and the government shovjs 

 no interest in the development of a fishing industry. 



PANAMA 



Panama has neither a tuna fishing fleet nor tuna processing 

 establishments. Its only interest in the tuna fisheries is the 

 fees obtained by issuing bait-fishing licences to California tuna 

 clippers. In 1951, fees received amounted to $73,000. Exports of 

 tuna or tunalike fishes from Panama to the United States are re- 

 ported, but these are predominantly transshipments of fish caught 

 by American boats. In 1950, Panama reported tuna imports of 

 41,895 pounds, valued at ^16,000. As far as known, no Panamanian 

 plans exist for the development of a tuna fishing fleet nor for 

 the establishment of shore plants. 



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