United States Department of the Interior, J. A. Krug, Secretary 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, Albert E. Day, Director 



Fishery Leaflet 267 



I V.'ashington 25, D. C. Se.^^at;6>8fartr~a9i,^. 



SAO PAULO FISFDJG E'DUSTFY l/ 

 Ey John F. Foot, Vice Consul 



iiiiie Bioiogical Ubo. 



Xi I 3 « -A. jtt Y 



MAR 3-1949 



WOODS HOLE, MASS. 



Fishing c.s an industry in the State of Sao Paulo is restricted mainly 

 to inshore fishing- in the coastal waters. Individual professional fishermen 

 or small associations account for most of the catch, which goes nrimai'ily to '. 

 the city of Sao Paulo and other markets within the State. 



Many types of fish abound in the waters off the coast and. a manner of 

 organization for exploiting the onportuniti.; s offered has gradually been 

 evolved. Put the fishing fleet is much too small and the facilities for receiv- 

 ing and distributing the fish much too inadequate for a full realization of 

 the possibilities. By the best current standards of efficiency, quantity of 

 production and hygiene, the Sao Paulo fishing industry continues in a rela- 

 tively backward condition. 



. With 2,007 ia'ofessional fishermen and a fleet of motor-driven fishing 

 vessels numbering 111, the industry brought to the Sao Paulo markets in 194-5 

 an officially-estimated 10,227,988 kilograms of fish valued at 16,033,713 

 cruzeiros (ahcu.t USf 801,686). The bulk of this catch was consumed promptly 

 as fresh fish. The preserving and canning in Sao Paulo of seafood (except 

 sardines) and by-pfoducts is in only the incipient stages of development. 



\'7hero fish is concerned, the State of Sao Paulo would seem to offer all 

 cf the best features of a consuming market, especially in its capital city of 

 nearly 2 mlllioii inhabitants and other urban concentrations: A population 

 .predominantly Catholicy. made up largely of I'ortugiiese, Italian, Spanish and 

 other maritime elomcnts; a low standard of living v-?iich clliges most families 

 to apply from 30 to at least 50 per cent of the family budget to food; and, 

 at the present time, high pr-ices for meat and other foodstuffs. 



Indeed, the supply of fish from local sources far from satisfies local 

 requiremcntf: . Dried, canned and frozen fish, vdth ccdfish and sardines the 

 principal items, i"? now being imported from Portugal, Norway, the United 

 States and other countries at the rate of 2,000,000 kilograms annually, while 

 imports of fish from Pio dc Janeiro, Fio Grande do Sul and other States of 

 Erazil, in 19^5, the latest year for which data is available., exceeded 3,000,000 

 kilograms. 



Since 1939, fishing .in Erazil has been under the control of the Fish and 

 Game Division, Department of Animal Proc?uction, of the li-dnistry of Agriculti-ire. 

 In Sao Paulo, the governmental organization parallels i;xactly that of the 

 Federa;i Government. The industry is presently regulated by the Code of Fishing 

 set down in Decroo-law Ko. 79/^ of October 19, 193o " 



1/ American Consulate General Report No. 131, Sao Paulo, Erazil, August 26, 19A7 



