38 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



should likewise keep in close touch with the exporting firms in New 

 York City. Besides canned fish there are usually large importations 

 of dried shrimp in barrels, mostly from New Orleans, La. There 

 should be a growing demand here for this product, depending to a 

 great extent upon the market price at that port. 



VALPARAISO. 



[By Edwin H. Livingstone, vice consul, December 9, 1921.] 



In the territorial waters of Chile, in the neighborhood of the thirty- 

 eighth parallel, the center of which is the port of Lebu, south of T'al- 

 cahuano, there is an abundance of edible fish and shellfish. To date 

 the fishing industry in this section exists in a crude and ancient state 

 on a small scale. Deep-sea fishing has not been inaugurated, as no 

 company has undertaken this task with sufficient capital to carry it 

 through to a successful business. The fishing industry employs but 

 3,350 fishermen, or about 8 per cent of the population of 4,000,000 

 inhabitants. It is calculated that the products of the fishing indus- 

 try of Chile amount to 11,172 tons of fish a year, or 3.34 tons per per- 

 son engaged in the industry. 



In Chile fishing has never been prosecuted on a scientific basis but 

 is handed down, generation by generation, from father to son, the 

 new generation carrymg on the work exactly the same as the old 

 generation, with very little progress, consequently, in the develop- 

 ment of the industry. The Chilean fisherman uses a small boat, 

 manned by two or three oarsmen, and generally fishes at a distance 

 of 1 or 2 miles from shore, and never more than 4 or 5 miles. The 

 majority of the fishermen use rowboats, very few boats being 

 equipped with steam engines or motors. The industry is so small 

 that it is far from adequate to meet the demands of the home market, 

 resulting in an enormous difference between the prices at the point 

 where caught and the final retail price in the cities. The following 

 table will demonstrate this difference, taking as a basis the prices of 

 the products on the island of Santa Maria, one of the industrial 

 centers of the Chilean fishing industry. The prices are based on the 

 metric quintal of 101 pounds. 



In this large difference that is observed in comparing the cost 

 price and the retail price the railroad rates are not the influence 

 that cause the high price, as might be thought, but the scarcity of 

 fishermen and the small production against demand. The small 

 retailers of fish and shellfish sell their stocks at very high prices. 



