FISHERIES AND MARKET FOR FISHERY PRODUCTS IN MEXICO, ETC. 19 



The imports of dried, salted and smoked fish for the years 1913, 

 1919, and 1920, according to Guatemalan customs statistics, are 

 stated below. This table does not convey a correct idea of the market 

 however, because, on one hand, European goods enter via the United 

 States, and, on the other, certain kinds of preserved fish are not 

 included in this table but figure in the general custom statistics 

 among unclassified preserved products. 



As the market in Guatemala for fish products is so limited, it is not 

 considered of sufficient interest to the American exporter to justify 

 an advertising campaign or the sending of a representative to solict 

 business except as a side line. Fish products are sold by the grocers 

 in Guatemala, who purchase directly from abroad, and the best 

 means of selling these products is to place them in the hands of one of 

 the principal dealers. 



HONDURAS. 



PUERTO CORTEZ. 



[By Albert H. Gerberich, vice consul, August 31, 1921.] 



There are small deep-sea fisheries in the vicinity of Puerto Cortez, 

 and for this reason fresli fish are always available at the port and coast 

 towns. In San Pedro Sula and the interior of the district, however, 

 fresh fish is a rarity. The following tropical fish are those usually 

 sold hereabouts : Jackfish, barracuda, grouper, red and black' snap- 

 per, etc. Many lobsters and crayfish from the keys of British Hon- 

 duras find a ready sale. Fish marketed in this consular district are 

 usually taken with a seine. The fish mentioned and the following 

 additional varieties are salted and cured on the keys of British Hon- 

 duras and are sold in the local market: Spanish mackerel, kingfish, 

 rockfish, and others. The fish are cured by cleaning, salting, and 

 drying in the sun. No fishery products are exported. 



The following fishery products are imported: Canned salmon, 

 sardines, salted herring, codfish, and mackerel, pickled mackerel, 

 smoked herring, and codfish bricks. The salted fish come in cases 

 of 20, 40, and 100 pounds; the pickled fish,* in 50-pound tubs; the 

 smoked fish, in 20-pound wooden boxes; the codfish, in bricks in 

 40-pound boxes. With the exception of the smoked fish the market 

 is comparatively small. Canned salmon and sardine's sell very well 

 throughout the district. All imported fish come from the United 

 States, with the exception of a very small quantity of mackerel 

 from Spain. There is no reexport of imported fish products. 



American fish products practically monopolize the Honduras 

 market, and it is believed by the officer who submits this report 

 that all methods of increasing the market for such products from the 

 United States have been exhausted. While there is a good market 

 at the present time in proportion to the number of inhabitants. 



